my fishtank is too warm even without the heater running. how can i bring the temp. down?

Question

i have a community fishtank with a few varieties of fish. the ideal temp. for all of them is around 80. with the very warm weather even without the heater running, the lights off, and the tank is out of the sun the temp. in the tank is almost reaching 90 degrees. since i use bottled spring water for the tank i thought about making a couple icecubes and putting them in the tank to cool it off. i want to know if it'll harm any of the fish or if there are any better ideas on how to cool off without changing alot of the water. i dont want to cause too much of a shock to them.

Answer 1

Many online vendors actually carry aquarium chillers. While these may not be the cheapest thing to buy, they are certainly a good investment in the long term if you're lookin for an elegant and efficient solution.
Dr. Foster & Smith for example I know carries such kits.

Answer 2

Ice should be a last resort. Try aiming a fan at the top of the water to increase evaporation - that will help cool the tank by a few degrees, also turn off any lights over the tank.

Along with heat, dissolved oxygen might be a problem for your fish - the warmer the water, the less oxygen it can hold. If the fan creates some ripples, or you have an airstone you can use to increase circulation, that can help the fish.

Rather than put ice cubes directly in the water, it's better to refrigerate or freeze plastic soda bottles with water in them, them float these in the tank. You can keep a few sets, and rotate them. Just be sure to remove the labels and rinse off the outsides well before you put them into the tank.

Answer 3

These higher temperatures is not intolerable to the fish. The problem with the warmer water is that it lacks oxygen. The trick to keeping them alive through a heat spell is to provide as much water circulation and surface agitation as possible. This is very easily done with the use of air pumps and air stones, extra filtration, or with the use of powerheads (or combinations of them).

Adding Ice or cold water doesn't work because you can't be expected to stand there all day tending to the tank. Blowing a fan can help a bit, but a lot of water will evaporate in heat and without a lid so be very careful using salts and additives if you use them because they remain behind in the water.

Also limit lighting on the tank or do away with it altogether for the time being (unless you have live plants) since this adds some heat as well.

Answer 4

It really depends on the fishtank size. I had a 10 gallon tank and when the temperature got too high I ran a fan on it. This usually cooled it down. With the ice cubes I am not sure if it will harm them. I do not think so because when the ice melts it creates oxygen for the fish. Most people use ice cubes when fishing with minnows but with a fish tank I am not sure.

Answer 5

i had the same problem with a 50-gallon tank. i had a clean, unopened can of diet coke that i moved from the fridge to the tank and back every few hours. the fish ignored it, and were fine. i would recommend against putting ice in the tank because contaminants could freeze in the ice and later get released in the aquarium water. use some sort of closed container instead, even something like a refreezable baby's teething ring. if your aquarium is too small to allow the fish to keep a comfortable distance from something floating around, you can put it in the filter reservoir, or a breeding net, or even tie a string around it and hang it barely in the water. hope this helps.

Answer 6

Prepare a pitcher of dechlorinated water and put it in the fridge. Add a little bit to a fairly unoccupied corner of the tank. This is a drastic measure, so be careful not to shock the fish with a very sudden change in temperature. Also, you may try a small fan on low. The airflow will pull away some of the heat.

Answer 7

I agree with copperhead, don't use Ice cupes in your tank
Try a fan or if you have aircondition in your home, bring the roomtemperature down
I have the same problem right now, but I do have heaters in my tanks, every other day I will have to turn down the temperature a bit to regulate the tank temperature


hope that helps

Good luck

EB

Answer 8

Try to clean the water and put some of the fish in another bowl and just leave the tank normall without any oxygen.Or seperate the fish that needs oxygen and the one that doesn't need oxygen in another bowl.Put cold water for a few minutes and check the water later and then put the clean water in.

Answer 9

Ice cubes are fine and if you have a large tank and your temp goes up for prolong period of time - you may want to check out a "chiller" to help keep the temp from fluctuating to much.

Answer 10

my tank getts really hott too. i put ice cubes in it and the fish play with the ice cubes while the tank is cooling down.