How do I keep my tank cool?

I am considering purchasing some cooling fans for my 20-gallon freshwater, just the clip on kind. Right now, the tank is fluctuating between 77-80 degrees fahrenheit. I have 4 mystery snails who don't seem to mind a little hotter temperature. However, I would like to get some pygmy corys, and 80 degrees is way too hot for them.

Has anyone had luck with just the fans (not the chillers)? Also, if I buy some of the clip on cooling fans, what do you do about the part of the tank that is uncovered? The snails love to climb, and I know the corys can jump. Also, my tank is planted so the plants need the light.

Any advice about how to both cool adequately and avoid the critters climbing/jumping out, as well as keep the plants happy, would be great!

 

Corydoras(ln4) pygmaeus • Callichthyidae • Cat-eLog

Not "way" too high.

 

77-80F is fine. maybe they zip around a bit more and need a bit more food because the metabolism is running a little high from the higher temp.
my tanks run hot and when I kept cories they were ok at those temps, even up to 84F the hottest my Tank will get if the AC is broke for a week. They certainly don't like that. but they survived that also.
if you are constant 80F or higher, might worry about it, but I don't think it's a big deal if you could run that high, sometimes, or with the heat of the day while at night it drops back down some and cooler in the mornings.

You could add a small wave maker I suppose for surface disruption and gas exchange so more Oxygen enters the water, and the tank circulates better. that might save you a degree or two, but it will certainly help the fish breathe when the temp goes up which is usually the hard part for them.

 

Okay, great. I'm in Texas, so it's regularly 100 degrees. I like my apartment warm, so I'm sure my room temperature is contributing. I have an air stone on the way and some floating ice packs. Hopefully that will get the water circulating a bit more. Is a wave maker exactly what it sounds like? Can you get them small? I only have a 20 gallon.

Corydoras(ln4) pygmaeus • Callichthyidae • Cat-eLog

Not "way" too high.

Okay. Perhaps I'm getting some conflicting info about it being "way" too high. Many of the cory people said it was pushing it with their comfort level. I'm trying to find a good balance for the snails and the fish.

 

I've used fans and ice cubes to get the water temperature down...

 

The fans should work to some degree. I just got a spray bar Im hoping works better this summer. Mine gets pretty warm too.

Ice cubes....make sure to use dechlorinated or filtered water, or just add some dechlor beforehand. I use the jugs you buy at the store to make ice anyway. Hard water and chlorine make ice taste bad...lol

 

I am considering purchasing some cooling fans for my 20-gallon freshwater, just the clip on kind. Right now, the tank is fluctuating between 77-80 degrees fahrenheit. I have 4 mystery snails who don't seem to mind a little hotter temperature. However, I would like to get some pygmy corys, and 80 degrees is way too hot for them.

Has anyone had luck with just the fans (not the chillers)? Also, if I buy some of the clip on cooling fans, what do you do about the part of the tank that is uncovered? The snails love to climb, and I know the corys can jump. Also, my tank is planted so the plants need the light.

Any advice about how to both cool adequately and avoid the critters climbing/jumping out, as well as keep the plants happy, would be great!

An idea you could get is a heater and turn it down I don’t know how well that works as I live in a colder state

 

Okay, great. I'm in Texas, so it's regularly 100 degrees. I like my apartment warm, so I'm sure my room temperature is contributing. I have an air stone on the way and some floating ice packs. Hopefully that will get the water circulating a bit more. Is a wave maker exactly what it sounds like? Can you get them small? I only have a 20 gallon.

Okay. Perhaps I'm getting some conflicting info about it being "way" too high. Many of the cory people said it was pushing it with their comfort level. I'm trying to find a good balance for the snails and the fish.

yes they make small wavemakers, and it's sort of like it sounds, it causes a current and flows at different speeds and kind of creates "waves" in a sense, more like eddy's. you can get a 500-600gph one for under $20 that will be moving roughly 8-10 gallons per minute of current (sounds a lot, it's not) its .17 gallons a second of flow. but that will disturb the surface significantly and send a current across the tank and create circulation. Which should add o2 to the water and maybe cool it bit across the surface.

Honestly, me, I just keep a filter running with aeration, keep the light off as much as possible and leave the rest up to God. It's worked out so far, but I wouldn't try it with a goldfish.

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yes they make small wavemakers, and it's sort of like it sounds, it causes a current and flows at different speeds and kind of creates "waves" in a sense, more like eddy's. you can get a 500-600gph one for under $20 that will be moving roughly 8-10 gallons per minute of current (sounds a lot, it's not) its .17 gallons a second of flow. but that will disturb the surface significantly and send a current across the tank and create circulation. Which should add o2 to the water and maybe cool it bit across the surface.

Honestly, me, I just keep a filter running with aeration, keep the light off as much as possible and leave the rest up to God. It's worked out so far, but I wouldn't try it with a goldfish.

.

This is good advice. Thank you. I think I just, like you said, need to get the water moving a bit more. I'm going to try a wavemaker because I think the snails will have some fun with that. Thanks again!

 

Ice cubes....make sure to use dechlorinated or filtered water, or just add some dechlor beforehand.

We can use ice cubes of tapwater easily. For our water purification is higher than a lot of states of America. So, we don't need extra filtered water or bottled water for that reason. So, those countries and regions that have the same situation as you do, should use dechlorinated or filtered water for sure.

 

We can use ice cubes of tapwater easily. For our water purification is higher than a lot of states of America. So, we don't need extra filtered water or bottled water for that reason. So, those countries and regions that have the same situation as you do, should use dechlorinated or filtered water for sure.

it's not that it's higher, it's that you don't use chlorine or chloramines, and instead approach water purification from using base filters, UV sterilizers and RO/DI filters, and Ozone or Peroxide oxidization if absolutely necessary.
Netherlands is just one of the few countries that totally avoids chlorine to treat drinking water. I'm not saying it's not necessarily "better" than the water in the U.S. or not, I'm sure it is, to avoid using chlorine completely you have to start with the best sources you can locate to draw the water from.
I'm just saying it doesn't have chlorine which is harmful to fish which is the problem.

Just New York State is about 3x the size of Netherlands, The U.S. is about 240x a bigger country, population of Netherlands is 17.5 million or so, population of the U.S. is 329.5 million.
what works for yall, isn't really functional here with 19x the population spread out across all of the country.

 

Wave makers or any electric motor pump in water increase the water temperature. Internal filters are just the same. A small water pump ( wave maker / filter ) may not seem like much but when you have a week of 40 plus centigrade nights /104 f nights you learn first hand. Don’t forget the filter is running 24/7.

No RoseFlower10 turning the heater off or removing it does nothing. A heater with a thermostat will not turn on for months in a hot climate.

Yes air stones are helpful.

The death zone for many plants is 104 F / 40 centigrade. All fish can survive this short term . Cold water species will struggle the most.

To answer your question gabra47 small fans definitely do work . They increase evaporation meaning you have to add more water more often.

Cherry shrimp were alive in this outdoor tank.

 

it's not that it's higher, it's that you don't use chlorine or chloramines, and instead approach water purification from using base filters, UV sterilizers and RO/DI filters, and Ozone or Peroxide oxidization if absolutely necessary.
Netherlands is just one of the few countries that totally avoids chlorine to treat drinking water. I'm not saying it's not necessarily "better" than the water in the U.S. or not, I'm sure it is, to avoid using chlorine completely you have to start with the best sources you can locate to draw the water from.
I'm just saying it doesn't have chlorine which is harmful to fish which is the problem.

Just New York State is about 3x the size of Netherlands, The U.S. is about 240x a bigger country, population of Netherlands is 17.5 million or so, population of the U.S. is 329.5 million.
what works for yall, isn't really functional here with 19x the population spread out across all of the country.

Great explanation, thank you! I can do that, easily. I'll give it a shot.

Wave makers or any electric motor pump in water increase the water temperature. Internal filters are just the same. A small water pump ( wave maker / filter ) may not seem like much but when you have a week of 40 plus centigrade nights /104 f nights you learn first hand. Don’t forget the filter is running 24/7.

No RoseFlower10 turning the heater off or removing it does nothing. A heater with a thermostat will not turn on for months in a hot climate.

Yes air stones are helpful.

The death zone for many plants is 104 F / 40 centigrade. All fish can survive this short term . Cold water species will struggle the most.

To answer your question gabra47 small fans definitely do work . They increase evaporation meaning you have to add more water more often.View attachment 849617

I love this. Thank you! I'm going to get a multi-head fan and try that with the ice. Sounds like I don't need it a lot cooler, just 2-4 degrees. This is awesome!

 

I am considering purchasing some cooling fans for my 20-gallon freshwater, just the clip on kind. Right now, the tank is fluctuating between 77-80 degrees fahrenheit. I have 4 mystery snails who don't seem to mind a little hotter temperature. However, I would like to get some pygmy corys, and 80 degrees is way too hot for them.

Has anyone had luck with just the fans (not the chillers)? Also, if I buy some of the clip on cooling fans, what do you do about the part of the tank that is uncovered? The snails love to climb, and I know the corys can jump. Also, my tank is planted so the plants need the light.

Any advice about how to both cool adequately and avoid the critters climbing/jumping out, as well as keep the plants happy, would be great!

My tank is 78ish. My pygmy Cory's don't mind.

 

I've used fans directed at the tank and the water surface when my "unheated" aquarium gets to 80F. I brings the temp down a couple of degrees.