Sweating fish...

[alivenwell82]

Any suggestions on how to gradually, safely, lower the temperature on my tank. It's pretty hot in my apartment, and the water is at about 88 F. The heater isn't on. I know enough not to just dump cold water in there. But I'm not sure what to do. I appreciate any help.

 

[QTOFFER]

I live in NYC, and it's only gotten warm the past few days - certainly not enough to raise the temp of a 10 gal to 88oF. Is your tank in direct sunlight?

What kind of thermometer are you using? I find that the stick on ones usually register a few degrees above the actual water temp. The most accurate thermometers, IME, are the glass ones that float inside the tank - they're about $3 at Petland Discounts or Petco.

You say the heater isn't on, but are you sure? Penn-Plax heaters are not known for their reliability. You might want to unplug it for a few days and see if the temp goes down.

The fish will not be harmed by 88oF water - in fact, those conditions are the best way to eradicate the parasitic disease, ich. What tropical fish don't tolerate well are very low temps (below 72oF) and fluctuating temps.

 

[firestar]

If your fish ever pick up a disease, it will spread more rapidly in a warmer tank (microorganisms reproduce faster in warmer environments) than in a cooler tank. I don't know of any long term ways to reliably cool a tank itself, except to cool down the whole room its in. A fan (blowing away from the tank) or air conditioning?

I come in peace

 

[talloulou]

I always thought some diseases like ich were less likely at higher temperatures?

 

[greenmaji]

is there any way of getting ac or a fan? a fan directly blowing on the surface of the water is used by some reef keepers but it really kicks up the evaporation... meaning youll be toping off the tank alot more and needing to up you pwc % to get rid of the extra mineral content..
Most fish dont need 86+ degrees and this can stress them out.. stress just makes them more susceptible to illness.. ick cant live in the high temperatures but thats not the only illness to worry about..

 

[noteworthy]

From what I understand higher tempatures tend to make diseases like Ick run their life cycle much faster. The fish can deal with a hotter tank and less time with Ick than chemicals that totally stress the fish out.


So hotter tempatures are for making diseases run their life cycle faster.

 

[coyote1066]

Ice?

I'm new, but I remember reading somewhere that floating a small amount of ice on the surface will lower the temp without harming the fish...as long as you're not putting icebergs in there.

 

[greenmaji]

The higher temps Kill ich, it increases the metabolism of the fish.. and speeds up the progression of most other illnesses.. in other words if the fish dont need high temperatures then its not good to keep high temperatures..

 

[greenmaji]

Im guessing its a upstairs apartment is why its getting hot in there. Making sure its not the heater is a good precaution. Im not in NYC so I have no idea of how hot it is there..LOL. If I didnt have AC I would have this problem as well.. It gets warm in Kentucky..

 

[TankGirl]

Just to be clear, parasites can be eradicated with high temperatures, but bacterial illnesses will thrive in warm temps, and that is the difference.

If you put a baggie with ice cubs in there, it will melt and cool the water, then the water will just go back up again in temp and you will have fluctuating temperatures, which is not going to help much. If this is a chronic problem in the summertime then a fan blowing across the surface of the tank is your best option.

Last summer someone was talking about installing PC cooling fans into their hoods to blow across the water, but I can't remember the details! :? As mentioned, greater evaporation is the price you pay for running the fan, but makes the most sense to me.

 

[dnaelting]

To lower temp in tank:
1) cool the room the tank is in
2) put risers on the lights to move the heat away from the tank
3) allow for evaporation to cool the tank.

Just MHO