jemmyyong

Hi....,

My freshwater tank temperature in the morning is 30-31 C...Though the fishes can adapt, I think It's to hot. I want to aim 26 C..I try to use fan blowing air directly on the water surface but only lower 1-2 C & losing lots of water because evaporation..chiller is expensive solution..Is there any other solution in the cheaper way?

Thanks,
Jemmy

namehater

what is the temperature of the room that the tank is in?

jemmyyong

room temperature 30C - 32C

namehater

i googled for an answer, and it seems as tho most of the answers consisted of blowing a fan on the surface of the water, pointing a fan 'at' the tank, and/or chilling/freezing bottles of water that you could float in the tank to cool it down.

what is the size of the tank in question? if its a large tank i would try the floating bottles suggestion. it doesnt seem like you need to drop your temperature to much, id say 3C would be nice, but 2C would be tolerable. i would try filling a bottle with your coldest tapwater and let it float in your tank for a few hours, after cleaning the bottle well with bleach or vinegar, not both tho!

i would keep a record of what the tank temperature is and the room temperature every hour. once the tank stops cooling down, you will know how long the bottle is good for and you could make any adjustments you might need based off that record, like if you need to add a second bottle or something.

Llama

A method which I found to work for me, is using PWCs. My source water (well-water) is at around 10 degrees C, so if I replace enough water, the temperature will go down.

Otherwise you can try filling up a bottle with ice water and sinking it in. Make sure the bottle is sealed, DONT let waters mix.

jemmyyong

thanks Namehater..I would try freezing bottles and make the record. The tank size 100cm x 40cm x 50cm about 200 ltrs..

jemmyyong

Llama..what is PWCs ?

namehater

i think he means "partial water changes". i wouldnt suggest that because you will spent a ton of money on conditioning that much water.

if you do try the bottle method, make sure you keep your water an inch or so low because the bottles with sink and displace the water possibly making it overflow.

jemmyyong

OK..I'll start "freezing bottles" tomorrow.

aquarist48

Your tank temperature will not stay any lower than your room temperature. I don't know how your tank is set up but is there a way you can position the lighting so it's raised a couple inches above the tank and not sitting directly on it? Too, of course, turn your heater down. As for my tanks, as it gets warmer outside, I turn my heaters down yet maintaining 78 degrees. Good luck!

Butterfly

If the heater is set at a lower temperature it should go off when the water gets above what it's set at. With temps that high extra aeration will be needed to add oxygen to the water. Bubbler(s) are the most common way of doing this.
What kind of fish are in the tank? The requirements of the tank inhabitants depend on whether you even need to worry about the tank temp
carol

jemmyyong

It's a community tank : 10 rummy noses, 2 congo tetras, 8 albino cory, 3 bloodfins, 5 columbian tetras, 2 golden wonders, 3 albino paradises, 1 red tail shark, 1 penguin tetra, 1 discuss, 1 flame gourami..the lighting is very dim only 2x11Watt fluorescent bulb 10cm above water surface.

Llama

That's not exactly true. Water is hard to heat up and cool (4200 J/KgK), so it might be a few degrees lower or higher than the rest of the room, depending on whether its cooling or heating.

aquarist48

I see your point

agabr123

also, you probably will want to put the water bottles into a plastic bag before you float them so that the sudden temperature change doesn't shock your fish

namehater

i just thought about something...

if you could fit your bottle into your filtration unit, that would probably be about the best way to achieve a gradual temp change.

jemmyyong

I'll put the bottles in filtering chamber. is it kill the bacteria?

namehater

i dont think it will kill the bacteria, lower temperatures will make them slow down a little, but you shouldnt have any problems

jemmyyong

here is the result.
room temp = 30C
water volume = 160 ltrs
water temp = 28C
add bottle contain freezing water = 2.5 ltrs
30 minutes water temp = 27C
60 minutes water temp = 26.5C
90 minutes water temp = 27C
120 minutes water temp = 27C

namehater

not bad considering your goal was 26C

jemmyyong

after 2 hrs temperature raise up again, so i've to replace the bottles every 2 hrs..need extra effort.

namehater

the ice was totally melted after only 2hrs?

jemmyyong

yes totally melted.

Nick G

Is this the tank with the Cardinals in it?

jemmyyong

No cardinals are in another tank.

Nick G

Just wondering as they won't spawn in temps that high. It needs to be around 70-75