Highest acceptable temperature

Hello everybody. As I'm preparing for the summer heatwaves, I bought 2 boyu cooling fans that I hope will help keep the temperature at acceptable levels.

However, since I've got celestial pearl danios, scarlet badis and Neocaridina in a 30l planted nano cube, what temperature would that be?

I know that cpds and shrimp need cooler water, with rcs being very sensitive to big temp fluctuations. I plan on keeping the thermostat plugged to keep the temp stable, in case it drops too much. However I wonder if it is manageable to lower the water temp enough with the fans to acceptable levels for these inhabitants.

Also 2 of my shrimp died recently and another 2 are missing, probably due to accidental ammonia rise in addition to a big water change with big water temp difference. Should I bother with restocking more of them or should I avoid risking any more deaths and leave them as they are, since they are that sensitive?

 

My tank gets up to 85 degrees during hot spells and the neocaridina and amano shrimp do fine, as do the honey gourami and lambchop rasboras.

I had a few shrimp die when I first added them, they've been breeding ecer since.

Good luck.

 

Be sure to provide more aeration. A power head or bubble wand would be a good idea.

 

I kept CPD when I lived in FL and my tank would reach about 76F during the day and didn't have any problems. The river they are from in Myanmar and Thailand reaches up to 80F in summer. The main thing is that it isn't a sudden swing. The regular temp change from day to night of your home shouldn't be a problem if it remains below 80. As A201 stated though, extra aeration is very important. Warmer water holds less oxygen. Also, ammonia and nitrates are more harmful in higher temperatures as well, so keep your water changes and make sure you match the new water temperature to the tank.
For those on who use Celsius, that's 24.5 to 25C for my tank, and 27C for average summer high of the Salween River which the CPD are native too.
How hot are you expecting your home/tank to get?

 

Thanks for your replies
I've been keeping the CPDs at a stable 25 degrees C (about 75 F) without issues and I know more oxygen will be needed in hotter temps, so I will adjust the water flow for bigger surface agitation. The tank is also heavily planted which will help with the oxygen I suppose. My biggest fear is about shrimp, regarding their sensitivity in water temperature flactuation and upper limit.

I live in a big greek city and I expect the temps to rise dangerously, but I don't remember the house temps exactly. I believe it was somewhat around 30 degrees C inside the house (85 F). A 4-5 degrees C drop is a big difference but if it is manageable then I guess I could keep the inhabitants safe.

 

Thanks for your replies
I've been keeping the CPDs at a stable 25 degrees C (about 75 F) without issues and I know more oxygen will be needed in hotter temps, so I will adjust the water flow for bigger surface agitation. The tank is also heavily planted which will help with the oxygen I suppose. My biggest fear is about shrimp, regarding their sensitivity in water temperature flactuation and upper limit.

I live in a big greek city and I expect the temps to rise dangerously, but I don't remember the house temps exactly. I believe it was somewhat around 30 degrees C inside the house (85 F). A 4-5 degrees C drop is a big difference but if it is manageable then I guess I could keep the inhabitants safe.

I'm in south Florida there have been a couple times after hurricanes where my tank water has hit low to mid 90F (32-35c)without power, no aireation or filtration. the only thing I did was check tap water temp, if it works out cooler water change with that, if it doesn't just use a large cup and take out a cup of water and pour it back in from about 12 inches (30cm) above the tank and do this for like 5 minutes. It will lower the temp a little bit and it will add oxygen to the water.

I use a small battery powered aerator and sponge filter now bit at the time that worked and no fish died.

A lot of times because the water pipes are in the ground, the water from the faucet will be cooler than the water in the tank in which case water changing will help. Where I am this doesn't work, the house is air conditioned and it's always hot outside and so is the ground. So while my house ac will keep the tanks at 76F, at peak of summer the tap water will come out at 88F-92F except at early AM before the sun comes up and it's had all night for the ground to cool some.even then it's like 84F.

You may find when it's hot outside and the tank is running hot where you are, that your tap water is still cool, in which case a small daily water change can keep you worry free.

 

I know that cpds and shrimp need cooler water, with rcs being very sensitive to big temp fluctuations. I plan on keeping the thermostat plugged to keep the temp stable, in case it drops too much. However I wonder if it is manageable to lower the water temp enough with the fans to acceptable levels for these inhabitants.

Also 2 of my shrimp died recently and another 2 are missing, probably due to accidental ammonia rise in addition to a big water change with big water temp difference. Should I bother with restocking more of them or should I avoid risking any more deaths and leave them as they are, since they are that sensitive?

RCS aren't particularly sensitive to big temperature changes, but they are sensitive to sudden temperature changes. Changes in water temperature as a result of the room warming or cooling won't hurt them, but suddenly adding water that is much warmer or cooler than the existing water can.

Mine do just fine outside in tubs. The temperature gets up to the upper 90's to low 100's in summer, with it seldom getting much below 80° at night, to several days with the top iced over in winter.

 

So it could probably work out keeping shrimp if I manage to reduce the water temp difference during water changes.
All I can do is hope that the fans will succeed in keeping the water temp below 26-27 C.

 

RCS aren't particularly sensitive to big temperature changes, but they are sensitive to sudden temperature changes. Changes in water temperature as a result of the room warming or cooling won't hurt them, but suddenly adding water that is much warmer or cooler than the existing water can.

Mine do just fine outside in tubs. The temperature gets up to the upper 90's to low 100's in summer, with it seldom getting much below 80° at night, to several days with the top iced over in winter.

curious question I have that maybe you can answe from experience. with RCS, you say that a sudden temp change will hurt them, what I've noticed is that, during the summer my cold tapwater is hot, and if I water change with it, I try to keep them small changes of 10-20% but this will raise the temp of the tank by 2 degrees, my fish havent' had a problem with it, but if I did a big water change and the tank went up by 5-10 degrees the fish would struggle.

I'm wondering how severe a short term temp shift are you talking about to cause RCS harm? is that 1 or 2 degrees a problem, are they that sensitive to it, or its it a larger swing? I've had interest in keeping shrimps, however I know I can't run it cool, but I also know in the canals and lakes just down the street, ghost shrimp are plentiful and dont' have issues no matter how hot it gets.

 

I have White Cloud minnows (cool water fish) in an unheated tank. In the summer it get's to 80F. Winter temps are in the mid to high 60s. Using a fan in the summer I am able to reduce the temp 1-2 degrees F. Not much!

I would unplug your heater. The temperature change overnight will be gradual and minimal as in nature and I doubt it would do harm. You don't want to add any heat to the tank in a heat wave IMO.

 

The heater is intended to keep the temp stable if it drops too far from the surface agitation, like below 26 C. But I suppose it will even itself without the need of a heater.

I guess the efficiency of the fan depends on many variables, 1-2 F drop is too low. Perhaps you're using too few/small fans for too big water volume? My tank is only 30 l and since it's a cube it has small surface area in relation to volume.

 

curious question I have that maybe you can answe from experience. with RCS, you say that a sudden temp change will hurt them, what I've noticed is that, during the summer my cold tapwater is hot, and if I water change with it, I try to keep them small changes of 10-20% but this will raise the temp of the tank by 2 degrees, my fish havent' had a problem with it, but if I did a big water change and the tank went up by 5-10 degrees the fish would struggle.

I'm wondering how severe a short term temp shift are you talking about to cause RCS harm? is that 1 or 2 degrees a problem, are they that sensitive to it, or its it a larger swing? I've had interest in keeping shrimps, however I know I can't run it cool, but I also know in the canals and lakes just down the street, ghost shrimp are plentiful and dont' have issues no matter how hot it gets.

I'm sorry, but I don't have any definitive information on where the line is.

 

I have fire buckets of old waste tank water sitting outside in the Australian summer.
As well as duckweed the odd juvenile cherry shrimp finds its way into a container of old water with no current , no food and no water changes.

42 c= 107 F




Fans will lower water temperature by at least 3 degrees C but be aware they increase evaporation.

 

The heater is intended to keep the temp stable if it drops too far from the surface agitation, like below 26 C. But I suppose it will even itself without the need of a heater.

I guess the efficiency of the fan depends on many variables, 1-2 F drop is too low. Perhaps you're using too few/small fans for too big water volume? My tank is only 30 l and since it's a cube it has small surface area in relation to volume.

I have a large fan (about 18") and the tank is 24" x 18" x 8" Volume is 10 gal. Hopefully you hve better results than me. You won't know until you try.

 

Well that sounds ominous. Perhaps you have too high humidity? Did you place the fan directly on the water surface?

 

It blows across the the surface. I don't think it's the humidity. That's usually not an issue here.

Others have better success than me, so I would still try it if I were you. Flyfisha says 3 degres C are possible, so it's definitely worth a try.

 

In hot southern California summers, fans on my 55gal could easily dropped 4 or 5 degrees with evaporative cooling. As others stated, extra oxygen is helpful as Temps rise

One thing to remember is that the water that evaporates will be pure water. This will make your tanks tds raise. You will be losing more water to evaporation than normal so you may need to ad pure ro water to keep tds in check for the shrimp.

 

Guess it remains to be seen. If the two little fans fail to reduce the temperature, I will add a bigger table fan to blow on the surface.

Thanks for the tip, I'm aware of the evaporation. I plan on doing 2 weekly water changes instead of one and just adding dechlorinated water, which will be the best approach if I'm correct, since I don't plan on adding a RO system at the moment.

 

Some days you may not need water change depending on nitrate levels. Just top off with dechlorinated water.

 

No need to worry about shrimp. They are much more adaptable than the original info given about them. I keep cherrys with my discus. 86*. My shrimp tanks are at 78-80 all the time. When moving culls out Ive forgot them on the counter (many times). In little jars for the night in air conditioned rooms where the temp in the jar dropped into the low 70s. Added warm water from a tank and added to tank. Never seen a dead one.
CPD ive never kept. But I’ve found cool water fish do not do well in long term warm temp changes. It speeds up their metabolism. They die much faster. To cool the tank try freezing water bottles. Add a bottle to lower temp. May need different amounts of water in the bottle to reach desired temp. So testing will be needed.

 

Thank you for your input. Perhaps someone who has kept CPDs could shed some light. I know that their metabolisms speed up and require more oxygen, and with it may come aggression issues due to hyperactivity.
Unfortunately the bottle trick but it's not a viable or long term solution, which is what I'm after.

 

CPD do ok in my climate NicKtheGreeK . Although I no longer keep them many members of my local club do . They have success breeding them.

I had issues with ordinary danios and hillstream loaches in the summer before I started using an air conditioner. To be honest most tropical fish survive a water temperature of 30 centigrade if it’s only for a week straight . It’s plants that have trouble. Java moss will almost disappear but comes back over time.?

Something I have found.
Any filter that has the electric pump in the water will increase water temperature. Some hang on backs have the motor/ pump outside the water some do not. Internal filters are not ideal for the same reason. Power heads again will often have the motor in the water.

 

Good to know. Lamps tend to raise the temperature as well, especially if you can't adjust their height or brightness. Perhaps LEDs keep it somewhat low. I know my current lamp emits some heat.