Do I need a chiller (or an A/C)?

[cplawrence]

It's starting to get pretty hot here in Michigan and my 29 gallon has been getting up to about 82-84 degrees the last couple of days. Right now, I have cories, dwarf gouramis, black skirt tetras, and a common pleco. Based on the profiles on www.liveaquaria.com, most of the fish have an upper limit of 82 (they have the cories at 79). My question is, is intervention needed at this point, or is this just part of nature and the fish will be OK? Searching here I found some suggestions of taking off the lid and blowing a fan on the surface of the water--do I have to worry about jumpers at all? There were some suggestions of using cool water or ice in the tank, but most people were saying that it would cause too much of a change too quickly. The filter is a penguin 330--should I be running an airstone at this point to keep oxygen levels sufficient. I haven't noticed the fish behaving any differently so far (spending time at the top, that is).
Thanks in advance.

 

[Guest]

Just curious, ive seen a lot of people from up north saying how hot its been getting, i am from Florida and ive never had a problem keeping my tank at about 78 degrees, in fact i have to use a heater to keep it warm! Do you not use Air Conditioning up there as much as we do or what? Sorry, im just curious because i don't see how your tanks can get so hot unless your room temperature is above 80.. and i keep my house thermostat at about 75.

 

[krap101]

wel... 82-84 isnt that bad. mine got up to 86+ earlier because i need to replace some of my crappy heaters and 86 is as high as my thermometers go. it certainly felt hotter

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I wouldn't be too concerned. When treating ich, the temp in the tank should be about 88 degrees. There isn't a need to go out and buy an expensive chiller. I would just add another airstone or two and leave it at that. If the temp gets above 88 degrees, then you may want to get a fan or turn on the A/C. It got to 93 degrees here (What happened to the spring? It went from like 15 one day to 90 the next) and I haven't seen a change in water temp, then again, I run the AC at 72.

 

[Guest]

lol.. i love it when i hear yall talking about the temperature getting above 90 only two months out of the year... i love the hot weather and being a native floridian, it is above 90 most of the year!

As someone said, the ich treatement is suggested at 86 degrees and i treated my tank at 88 for two weeks and they all did just fine with the heat... Anyway I think you will be ok at 82-84 degrees, in fact the increased heat may help reduce your risk of infection in your tank.