Cooling Down A Small Betta Tank

Tried putting fan on the tank all day while checking temperature and digital thermometer kept saying hi

 

Tried putting fan on the tank all day while checking temperature and digital thermometer kept saying hi

Fans can only blow heat away if the air coming through them is cooler than the object their blowing on. That's why central heat uses fans too. You could make some dechlorinated ice cubes and add just a few once in awhile to help. A lot of hoddiest have cooling problems this time of year.

 

Fans can only blow heat away if the air coming through them is cooler than the object their blowing on.

Arrrgh... The fan doesn't blow "heat" away. The cooling comes from evaporation of water. For water to change phase (liquid to gas) energy is required and this energy (latent heat) taken from the water body causing the temp of such to drop.

Your icecube idea is good. The OP could also do water changes with cooler water.

What volume is the tank and what's the actual temperature? Bettas are quite tolerant to higher temps and lower oxygen levels than other fish.

 

Arrrgh... The fan doesn't blow "heat" away. The cooling comes from evaporation of water. For water to change phase (liquid to gas) energy is required and this energy (latent heat) taken from the water body causing the temp of such to drop.

Your icecube idea is good. The OP could also do water changes with cooler water.

What volume is the tank and what's the actual temperature? Bettas are quite tolerant to higher temps and lower oxygen levels than other fish.

Evaporation of water does carry heat with it so half the damned tank can evaporate and not cool the tank at all if the the air temperature in the room is the same or higher. Check my profile. I'm a retired Chemist and know a little about evaporative heat.

 

Evaporation of water does carry heat with it so half the damned tank can evaporate and not cool the tank at all if the the air temperature in the room is the same or higher.

Where does the heat go which is needed to evaporate the water? As long as there is evaporation, there is a cooling effect on the water.
This goes as long as the air is not saturated with water. If your statement would be correct, there would be no cooling effect due to sweating in the, say Arizona heat.
However, the cooling effect is way better there in an arid climate with low relative humidity and it is e.g. here in SC with a relative high humidity.

 

Where does the heat go which is needed to evaporate the water? As long as there is evaporation, there is a cooling effect on the water.
This goes as long as the air is not saturated with water. If your statement would be correct, there would be no cooling effect due to sweating in the, say Arizona heat.
However, the cooling effect is way better there in an arid climate with low relative humidity and it is e.g. here in SC with a relative high humidity.

Water can also go from a frozen state to its gaseous state completely skipping its liquid form. I can also evaporate without reaching boiling point. If water is 80 degrees and the temperature in the room is also 80 degrees and some water evaporates...what temperature does the tank water drop to?

 

Water can also go from a frozen state to its gaseous state completely skipping its liquid form. I can also evaporate without reaching boiling point. If water is 80 degrees and the temperature in the room is also 80 degrees and some water evaporates...what temperature does the tank water drop to?

It's a rather small 4 gallon (16 litre) tank I have a digital thermometer but I'm guessing it is running close to 30 in this heat wave with no means of being able to move him to a larger tank as these are stocked with unsuitable tank mates

It's a rather small 4 gallon (16 litre) tank I have a digital thermometer but I'm guessing it is running close to 30 in this heat wave with no means of being able to move him to a larger tank as these are stocked with unsuitable tank mates

Turtles in 1 and guppies in other

Turtles in 1 and guppies in other

I have dechlorinated ice cubes nearly ready and also small bottles of water freezing and I'll just keep checks

 

Digital thermometers may not be 100% reliable depending on where you bought it and the brand.
I had one that was reading 114 F and I was alarmed, but it turned out it was just a defective thermometer. I got a chinese one off ebay.

 

Water can also go from a frozen state to its gaseous state completely skipping its liquid form. I can also evaporate without reaching boiling point.

That has nothing to do with it. But a fun fact, at 0.006bar pressure and a temperature of 0.01C water can be solid, liquid and gas all at the same time.

If water is 80 degrees and the temperature in the room is also 80 degrees and some water evaporates...what temperature does the tank water drop to?

The air gets the latent heat

 

That has nothing to do with it. But a fun fact, at 0.006bar pressure and a temperature of 0.01C water can be solid, liquid and gas all at the same time.


The air gets the latent heat

Which means no cooler than the environment around it.

 

Keeping a sponge filter or airstone in the tank is hands down the best way to keep tanks cool (my house was over 90 this weekend and my hottest tank went up to 81F just from keeping the aeration going).

Also when water evaporates, you shouldn't just 'top up' but remove some water and then add more (which you can do at a few degrees cooler than the tank temp).

Also remember your Betta comes from a climate where their stagnant puddles actually DO get very hot. He's okay up to 85 F, and won't be distressed.

 

Baba is correct, water cools via evaporation as evaporation takes energy, cooling the water down. How does sweating work? Are you saying if its 100* outside and your sweating up a storm your sweat is useless? Don't think that makes sense. When I went out west, (live on the east coast where summers are huuumiiid so sweating doesn't work as well, sitll cools you off though), you could be sweating a ton at 100+*, and you would feel dry and be a whole heck of a lot cooler then when its 80* here on the east coast and the humidity is 80%. Sweating works. Because of evaporation. Same principle with evaporating a fish tank. Ask anyone with large reefs and MH that don't have a chiller, they just run fans on it.

Run the fan so its rippling the surface of the water decently, it'll help chill it, and also, you can freeze water bottles and put them in. The problem with putting ice cubes in is they melt and raise the water level. Putting ice cubes in baggies with some salt sprinkled on, or frozen water bottles combined with the fan will cool it down quickly.

 

Which means no cooler than the environment around it.

Nope, water cooler, air the same plus the latent heat

 

It's a rather small 4 gallon (16 litre) tank I have a digital thermometer but I'm guessing it is running close to 30 in this heat wave with no means of being able to move him to a larger tank as these are stocked with unsuitable tank mates

Turtles in 1 and guppies in other

I have dechlorinated ice cubes nearly ready and also small bottles of water freezing and I'll just keep checks

Up to 30c will not harm your betta.

 

Up to 30c will not harm your betta.

I was worried because we don't normally have such warm temperatures for so long,