I just bought a 55 gallon salt water fish tank, I'm now letting it cycle but the temperature of the tank water seems a little high it's at 81 degrees. I'm just wondering when you need to get a chiller, or will my water temperature decrease after time.
2007-03-06 14:38:41 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
81 is fine for your salt tankbut you do not want it to climb any higher.
I am going to assume you live in a warm climate like South Florida if you are running a heater, turn it down If you are running your airconditioning this too should help with the temperature. Chances are if your tank has been cycling and the average daily temp in your tank is 81, that is what it is going to be. Unless you are finding a big flux daily in the tank, you really don't need a chiller. If your temps are fluxing too much get the chiller and keep the water temps around 78.
Feel free to email me if you have any other quesitons.
2007-03-07 05:12:59 · answer #1 · answered by danielle Z 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Are you planning fish-only or reef? Fish can withstand you temperature as long as it doesn't fluctuate rapidly. Inverts and corals can take this temp for a short term, but if the tank regularly goes avove 84, the chiller would be a good investment (although expensive).
The water temperature won't change by itself unless the room temperature changes. Do you have an air conditioner? If you can get a room-sized AC unit, this would be cheaper than a chiller. One time (emergency situation) I was topping off water evaporation with ice cubes to cool the tank, but you have to add very slowly and spread out the additions throughout the day - it worked, though, and I didn't lose any fish or inverts!
2007-03-06 14:58:28 · answer #2 · answered by copperhead 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Your water temperature will not decrease over time unless the air temperature around it decreases, taking into account your heater settings as well.
Being a saltwater tank you will need a chiller for when the temperature hits around 25 degrees (not sure of the conversion into farenheit). You can also consider running the air conditioner in the room the tank is in, they roughly use the same amount of power.
Temperature can be detrimental to your tankmates if it falls out of the recommended bracket.
2007-03-06 14:47:54 · answer #3 · answered by <^^Em^^> 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋