Tank too hot? 30C!

My tank is in a room anexxed to the house, made purposely without an air conditioning outlet.

Tank has two guppies, one danio, one albino catfish, one neon tetra, one snail and two shrimp.

I keep hearing about tank heaters but very little about ways to cool it (permanently! ow ).

Is it too hot? Any ideas how to cool it? Unfortunately I cannot remove the lid.

 

That is warmer than is safe for the fish.

Perhaps a small fan set near the tank? Little 5 buck fan you'd get at any discount store is what I'm talking about.

What size tank are we talking about?

 

Ah - I figured! The temp is considerably higher than the temp ranges in this website's for all the fish.

Already have a fan pointed at it - don't think it makes a difference beyond a fraction of a degree since It's just hitting the tank walls instead of the water.

It's a 3 gallon tank.

I can't remove the whole cover (lighting and filter\pump all built in) buuuuut I just popped the filter lid open so that should help a bit... for now.

I'd have no problems frankensteining a water cooling system using spare computer water cooling parts. I could also drop by Autozone and get one of those themometers that control a cooling unit (meant for fans attached to radiators but will work with a water pump as well). The cheapest water chiller I saw was $250, ridiculous! I can make my own (better suited for my tiny tank) with less than $50 worth of NEW parts!

If I end up going this route I'll post pics...

 

try taking 5 big ziplock bags, treating the water (in case it leaks), and then freezing these bags. put one bag in, and once it melts and the water inside is warm again, put a ne wone in and put the old one back in the freezer. hope this helps!

 

Your tank is severely overstocked also.

one danio
two guppies
one catfish
one snail
two shrimp
one neon tetra

Danio and tetras are schooling fish and should be in groups of 5 or more and would need atleast a 10g, I would recommend more than that for the danio.

The two guppies could handle a 3 gallon with the two shrimp, I believe, if you did the waterchanges regularly.


I know you are not asking about anything but temperature, but just doing my duty to inform you that more than likely your fish will die of ammonia poisoning if the heat doesn't get them. The warmer water usually carries less oxygen than cooler water. Compound that with an overstocked tank and high ammonia levels from heavier waste producers such as catfish and you have a recipe for what we call a tank crash. That is where everything in the tank dies.

 

You think it's way overstocked NOW? I had these (sans snail) in a 1.5g tank for 5 months

No losses.

To top it off, that tank didin't have a bio-filter. Controling the ammonia levels became a chore so I decided to upgrade to the 3 gallon with the three stage filter. I can't get a bigger tank since I has to fit in a corner on my desk.

I'm a firm believer that small fish can handle over-crowding much better than larger fish.

I thought guppies were also schooling fish? Mine are inseparable (both male - one yellow and a larger orange one). The danio and tetra hang around a lot while the catfish just... well he's a loner.

Hopefully this new tank will cycle soon so I don't have to do frequent water changes. At the very least the ammonia levels in this one do not rise daily.

My only current concern is the temperature - older smaller tank would stay at 25C in the same location due to it's vented cover and LED lights.

I had considered the ziplock bag trick but it's also a hassle and not a permanent solution. Thank you both for your warnings and suggestions

 

I agree with the chief. I know you were not asking about overstocking, but that really is quite crowded.

And I also think that the smaller the tank, the more affected the water will be by the room temperature. Aaaaand, if you get a much bigger tank, say, 20G, and school up on the small fish, you have a spare smaller tank for a ... betta! And THAT, my friend, is how MTS starts. Bigger tanks also come with a stand, so it doesn't have to fit in a desk. IMO, if you only want a desk tank, best stick to a betta.

Frankensteining an airco unit. Wow! I hope you go down that route as that's pretty impressive. Way beyond anything I could ever do (am not entirely sure I can work out how to change the filter in my bigger tank, LOL).

Your tank is severely overstocked also.

one danio
two guppies
one catfish
one snail
two shrimp
one neon tetra

Danio and tetras are schooling fish and should be in groups of 5 or more and would need atleast a 10g, I would recommend more than that for the danio.

The two guppies could handle a 3 gallon with the two shrimp, I believe, if you did the waterchanges regularly.


I know you are not asking about anything but temperature, but just doing my duty to inform you that more than likely your fish will die of ammonia poisoning if the heat doesn't get them. The warmer water usually carries less oxygen than cooler water. Compound that with an overstocked tank and high ammonia levels from heavier waste producers such as catfish and you have a recipe for what we call a tank crash. That is where everything in the tank dies.

 

I'd have no problems frankensteining a water cooling system using spare computer water cooling parts. I could also drop by Autozone and get one of those themometers that control a cooling unit (meant for fans attached to radiators but will work with a water pump as well). The cheapest water chiller I saw was $250, ridiculous! I can make my own (better suited for my tiny tank) with less than $50 worth of NEW parts!

If I end up going this route I'll post pics...

On second thought...

That wouldn't help.

It would only drop the water temperature slightly, since it would simply cool the water using hot room air. I would have to somehow get the radiator\fan near a air vent or in a duct but this room doesn't have either.

 

Syncro'
You could use this as a short term fix
1 Get a towel and attach it to the back of your tank so it is in full contact with the glass.
2 Cut the towel at the bottom of the tank
3 Get a tray that the bottom of the towel can sit in and fill with water
4 Direct a fan onto the towel

The fan will cool the towel ( due to evaparation ) and becouse the towel is in contact with the tank it will cool the tank.
My father used this 30 years ago to keep our tank cool during hot summer days