scatty

Hi. Like Bad Wolf mentioned in another thread, I find myself in a similar position of having my tanks temperatures increase dramatically as summer descends upon us. Yesterday all were sitting at about 26 celcius, today, after a particularly hot one they are 30. Officially it's still spring, if it continues like this we are in for a very hot summer. My tanks are only small - 10, 5 and a 2g with a few cory fry. Today I kept my house, which is well insulated, dark and kept fans on and they still got 30! can anyone tell me the max temps I can get away with before I start losing fish? I have corys and neons in one, and a betta in another. I'm starting to really worry now....

aquarist48

Hello Dru. Hope you're doing well today. I don't know the exact temperature your tanks would have to be before you start to lose fish. I think once the levels start getting to high you'll start seeing signs of stress. As for your fans, make sure they are blowing over the "top" of the tank, with lids open or screened (to prevent jumpers from jumping) and not blowing directly onto the tank. Too, additional air supply may be needed if you aren't currently using an air stone.
Best wishes. I'm sure you'll get some more responses.
Ken

mosin360

Curious, don't you folks have air conditioners there?

Shawnie

with smaller tanks, you can float frozen water bottles that will help alot...we just got over summer and although we have AC, i still float them in my smaller tanks because it takes no time to heat them up

scatty

Lol, of course we have air conditioners. Mine is a hundred years old and in need of replacing though, which just isnt an option financially for me atm.

I lost a few cory fry, as we had a 42 degree day on sunday (thats about 108 F). Ice bricks and fans just didnt get them all through - I'm not surprised really, there was a moment there I wasn't sure I was going to survive myself . Now we've had a cool change and I've had to turn my heaters back on...

Shawnie, what size bottles do you use? I tried that and they melted without making much of an impact on temp, but maybe I need a bigger bottle.

P.S. Shawnie.....stop stealing my fish!!!!

Shawnie

awwwwww im sorry for your losses
I use 12oz soda bottles...i fill them and have a ton always in my freezer..but now I have a ton of hand warmers that you break in half and heat comes out of them ...

i didnt mean it stealing is just so much fun

TedsTank

Hi Scatty,

Do you have a bubble wand or airstone?? As Ken mentioned....Running a nice flow of air thru the water will assist the fish. Warm water holds less oxygen. It is really the bubble agitation on the surface water that allows better gas exchanges.

If you used a bottle of frozen water in your tanks is possible to insulate 3 sides of your tanks and maybe 1/2 the front? flat styrofoam or something?

And how about your tank lights?...get them as far away from the water as is reasonable.

btate617

Something that may help also.

Could you put the tanks directly on the floor? I have some tanks on the floor that I use for cool down tanks, and they stay about 4 degrees cooler than those on a stand. It may help a little during the hot period.

Brian

scatty

Thanks guys. I have airstones but I may get a wand. And I imagine styrofoam insulation would be pretty easy too - great ideas, thanks. There's no lights on the tanks, not for a while now. And Brian, even if I had a concrete slab floor I still wouldnt have thought of that, what a great idea, I bet it works really well! Unfortunately my house is elevated with floorboards, I'm not sure it would make much of a difference...would it??

btate617

No matter the house heat rises. It may help some, it won't solve your problem but 2-3 degrees may make a difference. You could put it on the floor and then use a fan to blow across the top of the water to help also. Who knows

Brian

scatty

Ok thanks for that, makes sense. I'll be giving everything a try if I need to.