Red_Rose

We've been having a stupid heat wave here that's lasted well over a week and there is still no sign of it going away anytime soon.

I normally keep my guppy tank at 78F but because of the weather, it tends to linger in the 80-82F range. At night, it gradually drops back down to 78F at night depending on if there is a cool breeze coming through my bedroom window.

Sometimes I put a small block of ice in a ziploc bag and put it in my betta's tank to help cool it down but since livebearers can be quite sensitive to sudden temperature changes, I don't want to take the chance of trying this with them and then they end up with the shimmies.

How can I cool down their tank for them during all of this hot, humid, crappy heat?

Tony G.

What ive done is just get a regular house fan ( the kind that have like a stand). Open the lid of the aquarium, and position the fan so that the air hits the surface of the water.

Gouramiguy17

This is a great tread, but tony, what if you have fish that like to jump out, my tank has been 82-84 almost all summer, I have tried floating ice cubes but in a 55 gallonnit doesn't make much if a difference

Tony G.

oh i had forgotten! thanks for bringing that up. If you dont want to open the tank's lid, you could grab a ziploc bag and put ice in it. Now, instead of floating it in the tank, you could make it float or just stick it inside your filter ( if you have a HOB)
that way, the water will come out cool instead of the same temp in the tank. Keep in mind to not do drastic temp changes because this will shock your fish.

Gouramiguy17

Won't the water be really cold and kill the benifical bacteria? I have a hob and I float the ice and the ice moves under the steam of water.

Red_Rose

The ice in the bag is what I do for my betta's tank. It tends to drop the temperature down a degree, two degrees tops. I didn't know if this would cause shimmies which is why I was always leery about trying it.

I don't have a HOB for my guppy tank, just a sponge filter but I normally just put part of the ziploc bag underneath the edge of the hood so it stays in place instead of floating all around in my betta's tank. Would this be okay to do for my guppies or do you think it would be too risky?

I'd try the fan but unless I'm standing over the tank with my hand in there, my guppies don't like having the hood off of the tank because they get very nervous. They've always been use to having something over top of the tank. That, and the tank is heavily planted so I can't just turn off the lights during the day because the plants need it.

Gouramiguy17

You could take a binder clip and clip it to the side of the tank by the filter out put

janiskfp

I dunno. If it's not too sudden, which it shouldn't be with a decent sized tank, I think a couple of degree swing over 12 hours is OK. If they can stand 86 degrees for an ICH treatment, shouldn't they be OK heat-wise? I have the same trouble, and I don't think it's contributed to any of my current problems, they were great all summer.

I wonder, if you did want to go the fan route, if a steel screen topper would work to keep them in, but still keep the air moving. Maybe you could freeze the water you use for water changes in cubes or blocks and put the ice on the screen and it'll drip as it melts, pretty cold, but not sudden, and it would keep the air above the tank cooler, too. Hm. That might be more of a long-term solution... it got pretty complicated, didn't it.

aquarist48

Hello. This thread is fairly old and the problem is probably resolved by now. Please check the dates of the original posts before responding.
Thanks!
Ken

Red_Rose

You're right, Ken. The problem is resolved. Next year, I'm getting a small air conditioning unit for the room my tanks are in because most of my guppies died during that heatwave.

Feel free to lock this thread, if you wish.