Temp is going up in my tank?

Question

Im sorry my last question was not very well phrased. I have a 55 gal tank with 1 millenium 3000 filter 1 canister filter and 1 undergravel filter with a reverse flow powerhead. My question is why is my temp going up in my tank. Its at 82-83 degrees, this is up from 78-79 in the morning. This happened over a 3 hour period. I just added the powerhead today when the temp started to go up. I am unsure if this is part of the cycling process , If it was the fish in the tank (as the petstore told me to do) or if it is the filter heating the water. How can I cool it down (I can NOT afford a chiller right now) and why would it have gone up so fast. Thats what I was trying to ask before, I hope i phrased this better. Guess no sleep in 3 days will do that to you. Thank you for you advise

This tank is only 1 week old and all the equipment is brand new!

Answer 1

First of all, DON'T PANIC! 83 degrees is not hot enough to harm any tropical fish.

Water temperature rising is not a part of the cycling process. Neither the growth of bacteria, nor a spike in any of the toxins that are produced as a byproduct of fish wastes will create heat. No fish that I know of can produce heat (or we would all buy that fish to heat our tanks instead of paying for electricity and buying heaters!)

The only things that can be creating heat in your tank are your electrical devices. Anything you plug in can create an electrical current in the water due to a malfunction, which could heat up your water, I suppose. I'd suggest that you shut off all the equipment, one device at a time and see if your water cools down and how fast. Do you have a light? Is it hot to the touch? Turn that off first. Then the heater, then the filter last. If it's the lights, try moving them farther away from the tank or getting a timer to set an on/off cycle or consider not using them in conjunction with the heater. If it's your filter, take it back and get another one!

Don't put ice in your tank. Too quick of a temperature change will shock your fish and do them more harm than good. If you feel you need to lower the water temp quickly, do a partial water change with only SLIGHTLY cooler water. Or set up a fan to blow across the surface of the water to cool it down a bit.

Answer 2

My guess is that this may be caused by your lighting, or a natural change in room temperature. If you use compact fluorescents, these put out a bit of heat, so whenever they come on, they warm up the water slightly. You can check this easily enough by not turing the lights on for the same amount of time, then check the temperature a few hours after. If the temperature of the tank stayed the same, it was a result of your lighting. If the tank still warms up, does the temperature in the room warm also?

You can do temporary cooling by having a fan blow across the top of the water - this increases evpaoration, which cools the water. You'll have to be careful of this though with a saltwater tank, since increased evaporation also increases the salinity. And this is only effective if you don't have fish in the tank - with fish, you'll want to use a glass cover to keep them from jumping.

As a more permanent solution, you might want to look into a room-sized air conditioner. These will help keep the temperature down for the tank, but give you a more comfortable environment to watch the fish/do maintenance. It's also considerably cheaper than a chiller!

Answer 3

Hmm. Are you sure its the equipment? Could be just the time of day you know. Things tend to rise in the afternoons. Anywho, if its not and a chiller is not an option, you can always take some water and make some ice cubes in your freezer. And drop several in to the water, to accomadate the numbers of gallons in the tank. You don't want it too cold though, and to stop that put in just enough. Drop one by one slowly and check the temperature, and stop when it reaches normal. And you should stop whatever is making the temp rise and get that fixed if there is something wrong.

Answer 4

well like i said before, if a heater is going out, the temp shoots up very high fast. I had a couple heaters go out on me and the temp went from 82 degrees to 108 in a matter of hours. i think it unfertilized the fish,but anyway that may be whats going on. try unplugging it for a few hours to see what happens, if it does not lower then its your room temp that is keeping the water at that temp, if it does lower then its the heater. sorry, i didn't answer your other question, it was some else's.

Answer 5

Sorry, yet no temp will help your undesirable fish you have filled in that little tank. Oscars improve to 13-sixteen inches and choose a minimum of fifty 5 gallons all on my own. purple tail sharks improve to 6 inches and via their nature choose a minimum of 30 gallons. Plecos(i'm assuming effortless pleco) improve to 2 ft and choose a minimum of a hundred twenty five gallons all on my own. so which you ought to save your fish healthful, you will choose a minimum of one hundred eighty gallons. Sorry i don't have extra suitable information. the persons on the puppy save ought to have requested you what length tank you had in the previous merchandising you those fish. i could take the fish decrease back ASAP and get some smaller fish like a betta and neons or something.

Answer 6

The heater may be defective, or if you put it in and set it and the temp was okay then, it may have just been still raising the temp. Turn it down slightly. Complete adjustments should/should have been made before adding fish.
What is your room temp?

Answer 7

The heater or filter are heating up, so unplug them when not in use, or put the stuff(cleamer Ammonia remover(if necessary) & stuff) put the m in ice cube trays & stick them in the tank.




-DFK

Answer 8

it could be the filter over heating add a few Ice cubes to the tank......see if that helps.