help! im tooo hott

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andwuu

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
May 25, 2004
Messages
3
Location
Edmond, Oklahoma
I recently got a new tank, its 5 gallons and it has a light and pump, but no heater. I have a thermometer in the bottom corner and its been kinda high, but when I came home from work today I saw it at 92 F. Theres no heater, its just sitting on the top of a big bookshelf. The temperature in my room is only 75F.
I need some help quick, before its too late for my lil tiger barbs.
 
what kind of thermometer are you using. Is it one of the stick on ones. If so you could try taking the temp with a regular mercury thermometer. Most of the time the stick on ones are not accurate. Just an idea!
 
You should probably be alright, as long as the water is well oxigenated and clean (that is, no NH3, NO2-, controled NO3-). When my fish (also tiger barbs) got ich, I "cooked" them at 93F for 3 days and then 86 for another 7 without any fish loss. The ich is gone and the fish are normal again.

In the future, you may want to make sure that you didn't leave your fish tank near a window or direct sunlight, as that raise the temp relativelly fast on a small tank. The method advised should work best, it is sure the easiest since it will bring the temp somewhat uniformelly and require the least work, but there is another thing you could do, depending on how fast you want to bring the temp down or if you don't want to buy a fan.

1. Move your fish from the tank (i.e. put them in a bucket with the water from the aquarium)

2. Add some cooler water to the tank (not too much) until you reach the temp you want (for tiger barbs 78-83)

3. Aclimitize fish back (that is... SLOWLY and in small quantities at a time - add the new water from the tank to the bucket where your fish are. For instance, if you have about 12 cups of "hot water" with the fish, 1/8 cup every 1/2 hour until the temp in the bucket is the same as the tank).

4. Fish back in the tank...

If you have the fish at work, I would just go with the fan idea :) its less work and effort, just thought I post it anyway
 
[center:6d9b33a6aa] :smilecolros: Welcome to AA, andwuu! :n00b: [/center:6d9b33a6aa]

What kind of tank is this? There is one tank out there that seems to over heat easily. How long do you leave the light on in the tank? What is the tank temp in the morning after not having the light on all night?
 
I'm not sure what kind it is, it's a 5 gallon. But in the morning the temp is around 85-88. I just put another one in today and the top thermometer says its about 84 right now, while the original one is still about 90. I'm thinking it might be the thermometer, it was the cheap one that sticks on the side with a suction cup from walmart.
I've left the lid off and put a fairly big fan near by for a while and its gone down about 1-2 degrees, on the bottom one at least.
I'm going to see if I can get a digital strip thermometer tomorrow and if it still shows its pretty high I'll try gradually cooling the water off like bioworld suggested. They all seem to be doing fine right now though, their all swimming around a lot and playing. I just hope I don't end up with fried little fishies.
And thanks for the welcome. This is by far the best aquarium forum around.
 
Probabily if you move the light few inches higher from the water will help a lots.
 
ARGH! my long explanation is gone! WTH!

okay I said: what type of lightbulb and wattage? Swap to a low wattage CFL to reduce heat given off. Yes, move light higher if you can as the other poster recommended.

Second: how far from the ceiling is the tank? is the tank in a corner? is there air flow near/around the tank? It may be in a somewhat insulated spot and retaining heat from the light. Heat rises...a thermometer at 4 feet in your room will give a different reading than one at 7 feet. Perhaps you could relocate the tank (lower and so that there is airflow around it).
 
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