Temperature above average, what do I do?

I live here in California, and it gets really hot around where I live, like today its above 100 degree, my fish tank temperature got really high, are there anything I can do about it? the LFS guy told me to float a few ice cube, I put about 20 it doesn't really help, I have a 20G long tank, should I leave my hood open during the day or close it? i'm sort of frustrated and so is my fish, they been having aggressive behavior lately...help guys.

 

High temperature is reason for added aggression, of course. Your best bet is to leave the hood open and set a fan to run over the surface of the water.

 

This is what I do....

if your fish aren't likely to jump out, take off the hood. if they are, you could cover it with a window screen or something.

You can also place a fan directed so it will blow across the top.. evaporation will happen and it will actually cool the water down, but you will need to add more water later because of the evaporation...

I also take a gallon size ziplock bag and fill it with ice... this way, the un-treated tap water won't actually get into the treated water. When I see in the bag that they are melted, I take it out and do it again and again until it's cooler. You don't want to do a water change and have the fish go into shock so I feel that this is a safe way to cool them down.


Now, I live in Boston and it only gets that hot during August, this is an effective method for me. If you live in CA and it's hot a lot of the time.... maybe put the tank in an air conditioned room?? or perhaps buying a aquarium water cooler?


Good luck!! let me know how it goes..

 

I recently had to deal with this as well. All of the suggestions above work great. One thing I did instead of the ice cubes (I don't have an icemaker) - I took sandwich sized ziplock baggies and filled them with water. Then I put them in the freezer (I made 6 of them). Once they were froze, I would put two in the tank at a time, leaving the others in the freezer. Once the once in the tank reached the temp of the water in the tank, I would take them out and put them back in the freezer, replacing them with frozen onces. This worked very well for me.
Also, if you do leave the hood on, make sure to keep the lights off. Some lights heat the water a little bit... and at this point you don't want any excess heat.

Good luck and try to stay cool!

 

the high-power desktop fans help a bit too.. especially the ones with directional nozzles.

 

lol is there really a such thing as "aquarium wsater cooler?" some sort of system that allows you to keep fish that likes cold water temperature, haha that'd be really cool.

I think i'm gonna go ahead and try that bag method with ice, I used to use a small water bottle filled with water and wait til its frozen... my poor fish lol...

 

They are called chillers.

Be prepared to part with a good sized chunk of cash if you want one.

 

They are called chillers.

Be prepared to part with a good sized chunk of cash if you want one.

yea, too much $$$ for us.

 

Here is a picture.


Beeboy

 

i'm tank temperature are better now, thank heaven last night the weather was cooler, my temeperature is finally in the green zone. but I never got the answer to my question, during the day when its hot should I leave my hood open so my water gets cooler or should I keep it close so it doesn't get too hot.

 

open if u want it cooler

 

open if u want it cooler

And put a fan so it blows across the surface.

Beeboy

 

if it's an option, get a screen cover for the tank and take the hood off during the day too.. anything to shave some degrees.

 

thank heaven the temperature has cooled down a lot the past of few days

 

Here is the link to the heater that I have,you select the temp. and it will stay like that no matter how hot or cold it is in your house.It works great for me.And if you print the page out and take it to petsmart you get it for that price ],cause it's usually more in the store.

I hope this helps.

Susanne

 

Ziplock bags with ice will work very well, don't just throw ice cubes in; the waters will mix and the ice cubes will melt too fast too make difference.