Warm GF Tank

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Migs

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 5, 2011
Messages
12
Location
Boston, MA
I need help. I'm currently cycling my 40 gallon tank and will be putting in my 2 Fancy's. One thing I've noticed is the last few days my tank temperature is in the low 80's. Is this ok? If not how do I get it down?? FYI I don't have a heater. Thanks!!
 
Welcome Aboard!

+1 for fishless cycling (y).

A bit warm for Fancies, low to mid 70's is better. Most think "all" goldfish belong in 60 degree water, but that's a myth and even though they can survive in water at that temp, 72-74 is optimal for a long and comfortable life (15-20 years+).

Is your tank near a window or in a hot room? If so can it be moved? What kind of lighting do you have and is the tank fully covered (glass/plastic)? Those can cause heat to build up. Removing the cover and raising the fixture up will help dissipate heat. There are chillers you can get, but they're spendy and one option is to get a clip on or standup fan and let it blow across the tank to help push heat away. Any one of these can contribute to evaporation (which helps dissipate heat too), but regular top offs solve that issue.

Good luck!
 
Goldfish can do fine into the 80's, as long as there is adequate oxygenation. My tank routinely gets that hot in summer (as do ponds around here), and the goldies are just fine.

For the best aeration, some kind of a water-fall or wet-dry filter is best. <Large surface area for gas exchange with all the droplets, and the evaporation also cools the water a bit.> A water fall is not too practical for small tanks. Instead, you can arrange to have your filter splash the water around. <Drop the water level, or raise the filter outlet.> You can also add an airstone or 2, but splashing, although messy, is prob. more efficient.

If you are getting direct sun that is warming the tank, a curtain will do wonders. If the lights are contributing to the heat, then venting & fans are in order. You can also blow a fan across the top of the tank to cool it down by a few degrees. <With either splashing or fans, you will have increased evaporation, so will need to top up the tank frequently.>

You can get an aquarium chiller to control the temp, but that is not really necessary. It is expensive, and for the price, you can just get a room A/C and cool the whole room down.
 
Thank you so much for the replies! I just upgraded to a 40 gallon Seacclear II. Very nice tank! Your points are well taken. The tank is currently in a room with 3 windows, currently one w/curtains. We will be putting some on the other two and in the next couple of days I will setting an AC unit in a room near by that will cool the whole area.
Again thank you so much! One other question, I would like to ad some more goldies, should I get 1 or 2 more? And can I ad any other breed to compliment?
 
3 fancies would be a safe max for a regular 40. If you have a 40 breeder, or if you are willing to do frequent monitoring & pwc, & over-filter the tank, 4 fancies would be doable.

A 40 gal is really only good for fancy (ie double tailed, round bodied) goldfish. Single tailed varieties (even small ones like shubunkins) requires at least a 6 foot tank for swimming room.

Mixing goldies with other fish is tricky. Some purist insists on species only tanks. For the non-purist, people have had success with the following:
1. White cloud minnows (note that you need a good size school, or they will become goldfish snacks ... even then, some casualty is possible.)
2. Dwarf pleco - ie rubber lip or bristlenose. These are also heavy bioload producer, so you need to reduce your goldies stocking by 1 for each.
3. Hillstream loaches ... if you have a strong current & very good aeration in the tank.
4. Snails of all sorts - nerites are good for algae control.
 
Migs said:
Thank you so much for the replies! I just upgraded to a 40 gallon Seacclear II. Very nice tank! Your points are well taken. The tank is currently in a room with 3 windows, currently one w/curtains. We will be putting some on the other two and in the next couple of days I will setting an AC unit in a room near by that will cool the whole area.
Again thank you so much! One other question, I would like to ad some more goldies, should I get 1 or 2 more? And can I ad any other breed to compliment?

Nice tank setup, built ins and all. I have danios with my Moors and Panda Fantail and they get along fine, with just a bit of chasing at first :).
 
Thank you again! I'll be posting pics soon. Have a great weekend.
 
Back
Top Bottom