EMERGENCY - Extreme water temps

[SHARPiE]

Hi all - HELP!

Have had my 42G FOWLR Tank now for around 4 months -
Temps have been steady at 25 Degrees C (77F).

A massive heat wave has been worrying me for the past few days, my tanks temp has sky rocketed over the past 3 hours from 27 Degrees C (81F) to 34 Degrees C (93F). When I got home from the beach, the coral beauty was upside down on the bottom of the tank, stiff as a board. A cool change is expected soon.

Tank heater hasn't been on all day (It's got power, but its set at 77F - and the light hasn't been on). I have had a fan sitting on the surface of the water trying to dissipate the heat, over the course of the heat wave.

I am thinking of putting a bottle of frozen water in the tank. Will this reduce the temp too quickly?

My clownfish(s), chromis(s), firegobies and coral shrimp are all still OK. But I don't want to lose them if I can avoid it, and the last thing I want to do is drop the temp too quickly and kill the survivors.

Any ideas on how to reduce the temps safely other than the fan?

I have emergency water aside, but this is no better - it's at 32 degrees C (89F)

As the worst of the heat is over, I will be saving up for a chiller to stop this happening in future.

(Has anyone heard of a HOB, or internal chiller? Or are they all external units? - as my tank is a hooded display with no sump - just wet/dry trickle and a protein skimmer)

Excuse any errors - I was typing this in a rush.

Thanks in advance

 

[melosu58]

The frozen water bottle will be good if the fan is not doing the job. Do you have a sump you can put the bottle in?

 

[SHARPiE]

Thanks Mike,

Put the frozen water bottle in overnight and left the fan on - its down to about 31C (87F) - but the cool change has hit, so it should be on the decline now.

They all appear to have survived the night.

 

[mgamer20o0]

do have a sw tank but i keep frozen bottles for this very reason. glad everything seemed to make it. keeping the lid up fans blowing over the water small wcs with cooler water can all help.

 

[divedeep1689]

Have you ever thought about investing in a aquarium chiller.

 

[SHARPiE]

Have you ever thought about investing in a aquarium chiller.

Sure have - hence my earlier questions

"As the worst of the heat is over, I will be saving up for a chiller to stop this happening in future.

(Has anyone heard of a HOB, or internal chiller? Or are they all external units? - as my tank is a hooded display with no sump - just wet/dry trickle and a protein skimmer)"

 

[divedeep1689]

ah i missed that some how..

 

[SHARPiE]

Heheh, it was a scrambled post - I was rushing cause I lost a tankmate, and didn't want to lose more.

Surprised the Coral Banded Shrimp weren't the first to go.


On another note, does anyone know of and temp hardy fish?

 

[divedeep1689]

damsels are the hardiest fish i know of but you will want it out of tank at a later day as they get very aggresive. I had a couple damsels survive freezing temps extreme high temps ph way way way high and way way low, they are the gold fish of saltwater.

 

[SHARPiE]

Just got home from work... More bad news.

Tank is now down to 29C (84F) but the fire gobies are missing, and the pregnant coral banded shrimp has died.

ARGH


The damsels and the clowns seem fine.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Sorry to hear that Sharpie. My corals have been hammered by the heatwave here. I only lost one fish though so not too bad there. Total of $90 coral and $30 fish lost so far quite likely to lose another $125. The only thing that has made it through completely unscathed is my corallimorphs. Tough little buggers.

The water bottle idea; I always do that, or if no frozen bottles are handy then fill a zip-lock bag with big ice cubes (like from a fridge dispenser) and put that in. If you do that I recommend putting a little bit of water conditioner into your tank, just in case the bag leaks. It can't hurt your fish.

As for chillers, I asked at the LFS I do work experience at and they said the cheapest is $650. Ouch hey? Thats an external.

 

[dannyb]

Ebay is good, I almost got a chiller for $120. I was like, Nah, Prob will not need it. Now i wish i had it.

 

[Mitchell0605]

It's like that isn't it? Nah sheel be right then bang, all dead.

 

[SHARPiE]

RIP To all fish and corals lost in the heatwave!

I started testing water params thinking there was something wrong, it made it worse when they were all in check.
Not the only Aussie fighting a hot battle. I don't feel so bad now
Ahh well it's all a learning curve. (expensive mind you )

Will keep plenty of frozen bottles of water and ice cubes on hand incase we get another wave!

Australia stuggles through heat waves, while the US and Canada bear sub zero temps... CAN'T THE WEATHER BE EVEN ALL YEAR ROUND, no need for extremes!

I have a hooded tank and I had to drill and cut to install my protein skimmer without it looking nasty. I don't really want to pull it apart and try to find a spot for the inlet and outlet for the chiller.

I might end up buying an AC for the room

 

[Mitchell0605]

Good idea.

 

[eatsomepopcorn]

4 degrees over 3 hours is nothing to be alarmed about. If it is a freshwater tank, you could freeze up some ice cubes treated with chlorine remover, but yes a small frozen water bottle or ziplock bag of ice will help.

 

[thincat]

There is a "drop-in chiller" that you can look into. It's...sorry to say a little more expensive than an inline chiller, but for a smaller tank it may not be so bad. Check e-bay and Reef central for good buys. Just be sure to check out the reputation of the person you are buying from. I had a bad experience with a seller on reef central, but PayPal worked it out in my favor. It just can be very frustrating.

 

[eatsomepopcorn]

I would suggest that you ride it out. Fish are resiliant and I would not invest in a chiller for the type of set up you have at this time.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Hows the temps in Adelaide ATM Sharpie? It's cooled down in the Gong, my tank was actually at 26C with no assistance today.

 

[SHARPiE]

31 today, 37 tomorrow

26!! WOOOO!!!

The temp in my tank has dropped enough over the past week or so - the tank has been sitting around 25-26 for the past couple of days. Have ice bottles on hand for tomorrow, hope nothing happens while I'm at work!

Corals going OK??