How hot is too hot for my aquarium?

My AC broke and its starting to get warm. I've turned off all the tank heaters, but all the tanks are on average 82-84 degrees. I've been floating bags of ice cubes to try to bring them down. The AC will get fixed friday but will the fish be ok until then? (bettas, guppies, otos, cory cats, african cichlids) What is the highest temp they can be in and not die?

 

what you're doing is fine and they should make it.. they can tolerate temps around 90 for short times and 82-84 is definitely within their ability to handle until friday.

 

ok good! maybe its the mom in me but I REALLY freak out about things with these darn fish!

Are there any other methods that help keep the tanks cool? It's 96 degrees here and its only 12! I've got fans rotating by the tanks and i'm using the ice cubes in the bags but the temps are still rising. I assume if I add cooler water it might make them go into shock, is this correct? Gotta love crazy Iowa weather.... (and what a week for the ac to break!!)
any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

-Michelle

 

82-84F as said above is definitely in their tolerance range. That said... Warmer water has less oxygen so an extra water change wouldn't hurt, just try to match temps within a degree or so.
Carol

 

you know its too hot when your fish starts sweating

 

yea, if you have an extra airstone to put in there, i'd do that.. running the fan air over the surface of the tank water.. the ice cubes are what i'd do.. and I don't think changing out a gallon of water for some cold treated tap water every so often would be bad.. just sort of pour it all over the tank to spread it out and the temp. lowering effect it would give.

 

Yeah not to complain but it's like a sauna in here! I've kept the lights off on all the tanks, and they've been staying at a steady temp of 84-85 degrees. We just have to make it through today and tomorrow it will be fixed! yay!

 

I know the feeling.. we went a week with endless heat & humidity after a hurricane knocked the county power offline.. filling the tub with ice cubes and laying there sounds good then.

 

Yeah not to complain but it's like a sauna in here! I've kept the lights off on all the tanks, and they've been staying at a steady temp of 84-85 degrees. We just have to make it through today and tomorrow it will be fixed! yay!

You should try FL heat. You walk down to the mail box, by the time you get make, it looks like you've been swimming!!

 

yea, if you have an extra airstone to put in there, i'd do that.. running the fan air over the surface of the tank water.. the ice cubes are what i'd do.. and I don't think changing out a gallon of water for some cold treated tap water every so often would be bad.. just sort of pour it all over the tank to spread it out and the temp. lowering effect it would give.

I added an airstone or 2 to each tank last night. The fish don't seem to mind the temps, I think it's just me over-reacting but I just wanna make sure they're gonna be ok!

 

yea, if you have an extra airstone to put in there, i'd do that.. running the fan air over the surface of the tank water.. the ice cubes are what i'd do.. and I don't think changing out a gallon of water for some cold treated tap water every so often would be bad.. just sort of pour it all over the tank to spread it out and the temp. lowering effect it would give.

I added an airstone or 2 to each tank last night. The fish don't seem to mind the temps, I think it's just me over-reacting but I just wanna make sure they're gonna be ok!

They should be ok....I mean, what's the worst that can happen?? Besides boiled fish.....j/k

 

yea, if you have an extra airstone to put in there, i'd do that.. running the fan air over the surface of the tank water.. the ice cubes are what i'd do.. and I don't think changing out a gallon of water for some cold treated tap water every so often would be bad.. just sort of pour it all over the tank to spread it out and the temp. lowering effect it would give.

I added an airstone or 2 to each tank last night. The fish don't seem to mind the temps, I think it's just me over-reacting but I just wanna make sure they're gonna be ok!

we'd be doing the same, i'm sure. they'll make it & you will too.

 

You should try FL heat. You walk down to the mail box, by the time you get make, it looks like you've been swimming!!
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That's about what it's like here in August. We've just been spoiled cuz it's been like 75 the last week. now its 98 out, then in 6 months it'll be -10 (without windchill) Good ol Iowa! = )
Thank goodness for my daughter's kiddie pool!

 

Yea, until you get all sunburnt!!!

 

That's about what it's like here in August. We've just been spoiled cuz it's been like 75 the last week. now its 98 out, then in 6 months it'll be -10 (without windchill) Good ol Iowa! = )
Thank goodness for my daughter's kiddie pool!

you probably have higher humidity there too than we have here on the coast.. if only you could save some heat in a bank for winter, huh? what heaters do you have for your tanks?

 

Yea, until you get all sunburnt!!!

nah, we moved the pool under the big tree out back. And with sunscreen we'll be ok. After nap we're loading up on popcicles and going to sit in the pool some more. thinking about adding a bag of ice to make sure it's nice and cold!

 

Yea, until you get all sunburnt!!!

nah, we moved the pool under the big tree out back. And with sunscreen we'll be ok. After nap we're loading up on popcicles and going to sit in the pool some more. thinking about adding a bag of ice to make sure it's nice and cold!

I thought there's no eating in the pool??

Oh, wait, those are my apartment complex rules!!!

 

lol.. i'd be floating in the pool on a bag of ice.

 

The air stones were a good a good idea!
Carol

 

That's about what it's like here in August. We've just been spoiled cuz it's been like 75 the last week. now its 98 out, then in 6 months it'll be -10 (without windchill) Good ol Iowa! = )
Thank goodness for my daughter's kiddie pool!

you probably have higher humidity there too than we have here on the coast.. if only you could save some heat in a bank for winter, huh? what heaters do you have for your tanks?

Yeah I don't mind the heat so much as the humidity!
I'm not sure what kind of heaters I have, I've got a 100 w in the 20 gallon, 2 150ws in the 55, and 25ws in the 10 gallons. (all which are turned off right now). All my fishtanks are in the living room in the basement so it's usually cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter (mostly underground). Although I just started with fish in Feb. so I haven't had the tanks running when its REALLY cold out yet.

 

Since we'll be moving out to Denver, I want to get visitherm stealth heaters for all the tanks.. plus a few spares, just in case.

 

Yeah it can get chilly out there, especially in the mountains. I've got a lot of family in the denver area. I love it out there it's so beautiful! I'm jealous I wish I could move there!

 

Is it hard to move with the tank, how are you going to do that?

 

Yeah it can get chilly out there, especially in the mountains. I've got a lot of family in the denver area. I love it out there it's so beautiful! I'm jealous I wish I could move there!

lol.. growing up in florida, I don't find denver to be beautiful, but i'm used to 12 months of everything being green, not 4. hopefully we'll get out of the city more than we used to, but gas is 3x as expensive now so I don't know.

 

I think denver is nice, I went fishing there once and did not catch even a fin

 

I've lived in the country my whole life so I love the outdoors! If you get a chance go see the Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs if you haven't already. AMAZING!

 

I've lived in the country my whole life so I love the outdoors! If you get a chance go see the Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs if you haven't already. AMAZING!

we passed by it a couple years ago when we went to The Cave Of The Winds.. i'm more urban, even though I grew up in a small town.

 

I wanna move back to cali!!! Its so beautiful there. FL gets boring....esp in the summer, it rains everyday!!!

 

I wanna move back to cali!!! Its so beautiful there. FL gets boring....esp in the summer, it rains everyday!!!

I love it here in FL.. I wish it rained everyday here.. I love the summer afternoon rain.. been pretty sunny & dry for the most part this summer.

 

I wanna move back to cali!!! Its so beautiful there. FL gets boring....esp in the summer, it rains everyday!!!

I love it here in FL.. I wish it rained everyday here.. I love the summer afternoon rain.. been pretty sunny & dry for the most part this summer.

I miss the 4 season back in cali. They only have 2 here. Winter and summer. If its not hot, its cold....then you have the hurricanes and the sticky humitidy!!!

 

if you want 4 seasons, move to Denver.. you can get all 4 in the same day.. lol

 

if you want 4 seasons, move to Denver.. you can get all 4 in the same day.. lol

Naw, I'm good. If I wanna live in the mountains, I would me to Lake Taho in cali....its so beautiful there.

 

if you want 4 seasons, move to Denver.. you can get all 4 in the same day.. lol

Naw, I'm good. If I wanna live in the mountains, I would me to Lake Taho in cali....its so beautiful there.

well Denver's resting right by the base of the foothills.. Some of the mountain towns like Estes Park, Vail, etc. are nice but i'm more urban than that I guess.

 

if you want 4 seasons, move to Denver.. you can get all 4 in the same day.. lol

Naw, I'm good. If I wanna live in the mountains, I would me to Lake Taho in cali....its so beautiful there.

well Denver's resting right by the base of the foothills.. Some of the mountain towns like Estes Park, Vail, etc. are nice but i'm more urban than that I guess.

how are u moving all ur tanks out there!?

 

they'll go out in the moving van.

 

My fish are used to temps of between 70 and 75, but the last few days have been HOT, i've turned off the heater but the water temp is still 82, my fish keep coming up for air, how hot is too hot??

 

You're fine I once almost got to 90 and the fish really hated it. I have gone 86 and sometimes they do fine. Try to keep it max 84

 

OK, thanks, i've been putting cold water and even ice cubes in and just can't get it any lower than 80. One of the cichlids is already dead and my silver dollar isn't coping, he is really gasping.

 

Try to keep it as close to normal as possible because it may stress the fish. My guppy does stress a lot. Freeze water bottles so you could be ready to add them and it won't add more water to your tank or change it chemically.

 

The high temperature in itself isn't the worst problem; the problem is the higher the temperature, the less air that's in the water, which is why your fish are gasping at the top. They're essentially suffocating. Add air stones asap.

Rather than add ice cubes (which contain chlorine and are just adding to the problem), the frozen water bottle is a good idea. I believe you can also buy fans to cool the water, but I don't know anything about them.

I imagine you are freaking out (I would be!), so hopefully these idea help. I'm so sorry you lost a fish from this.