I'm using the ice cube method, but I think that the ice causes the temperature to go down way too fast. I heard it's really bad for the fish. I just got home and my temp tank is almost 90 degrees holy california heat wave. Chillers are out of the question, they are like 500 bucks for one! Any other method that works, or should I stick to ice?
2007-09-03 11:57:36 · 10 answers · asked by revernance 3 in Pets ➔ Fish
California is having problems with electricity. Everyone is trying to save electricity, so our whole neighborhood don't believe in AC units. My mom would rather me buy a 500 dollar chiller than turn on the AC. lolll but that's not very practical. I guess i'm going to try to turn on the fan over the tank.
2007-09-03 12:08:31 · update #1
A room sized air conditioner costs less than a chiller and uses less electric than whole-house AC. If you can cool just the room that the tank is in, it not only gives them some relief, it makes it a nice environment for you to watch them, do tank maintenance, etc.
Rather than use ice, use a couple of soda bottles (cleaned well and with the labels removed). You can fill these about 4/5 of the way to the top and freeze them, cap, then add them to the tank one at a time and rotate them through the tank and freezer. They last longer, and no worries about your fish coming into contact with the ice directly.
An extra airstone may help, since warm water holds less dissolved oxygen than cooler water. At the very least, make sure the filter flow rate is up full, and the tank level all the way to the top of where the water comes out of the filter - you want a "ripple" effect rather than a "waterfall" - the more surface area that is disturbed, the more dissolved oxygen that will enter the water.
Also, don't have the aquarium lights on if they produce heat. If you need to have the lights on for live plants, you may want to raise them a bit - this will mean less light intensity, but also less heat transfer to the water.
2007-09-03 12:46:27 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Anything below 90 degrees won't kill your fish, but it will stress them out. What I like to do is freeze a couple water bottles and float them on the top of the tank until the temp. cools down. Letting a fan run over the surface of your tank also cools down the surface, and maybe the middle. Turning on the AC and/or cooling down the room in which your tank is in will affect the tank temperature. Don't replace some of the water with cold water, because this will stress them out even more. Don't do the ice cubes either. Ice cubes are small and it would take alot of cubes to cool down the tank. Also, there's a good chance that it's made from tap water and could introduce chlorine and whatnot into your tank. I'd suggest to stick with the three choices above to cool down your tank.
~ZTM
2007-09-03 12:05:08 · answer #2 · answered by ZooTycoonMaster 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
A couple of things you can do. Turn off the tank lights during the hottest part of the day. Put them on a timer so they run for a few hours early in the morning and in the evening when it's cooler. Set up a fan that blows fresh air across the surface of the water and out of the tank hood. This will help in 2 ways. Blowing out the warm air from the lights and encouraging evaopration from the water. The evaporation will cool the water a little. You may need to top up the tank water more often, but thats not a big problem. Ian
2016-05-20 06:53:17 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Keep the Hood lights off, get a clip on fan to blow over the surface of the water, and I use frozen water bottles to float in the tank. We had a hot summer in Kentucky too, months with temps in the mid to high 90's then a few days in the hundreds....
2007-09-03 13:18:54 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would not mess with ice cubes since fish tend to adapt to temperatures. Keep them ventilated using a fan and placing the tank in the shade.
2007-09-03 12:01:00 · answer #5 · answered by Dan D Man 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Tropical fish are use to this type of weather. By the way, in California, its like in the 90s, but the water temp doesn't increase much, due to the density of water
2007-09-03 12:00:45 · answer #6 · answered by SO_CAL 4 life 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Do you not have an AC unit in your house? I have a heater in my fish tank to keep the water at a certain degree.
2007-09-03 12:00:40 · answer #7 · answered by Madison 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have had my water go to 90. The fish get very colorful. I just turn up the air bubbles.
2007-09-03 12:04:32 · answer #8 · answered by Snaglefritz 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Move to some where were you need a heater lol. I live in Minnesota and some summer days i don't need a heater but in the winter, no doubt about it. Or move to Jamaica were you never need a heater or a cooler. that would be great.
2007-09-03 12:03:49 · answer #9 · answered by kdogg91 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i think you should stick to ice but they will die in coldness i don't really know D=
2007-09-03 12:01:09 · answer #10 · answered by Fantasmic 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋