How do I cool a tank?

[William]

I know how to heat a tank, but not how to cool it.

The reason I post this is because theres been a temputure spike and the air around my tank, as well as the water in my tank is around 84F+ degrees right now and I'm afraid about my fish not being able to take the heat.



and sorry to the site admin if I post to many threads

 

[justDIY]

84 is fine for occasional expsoure for most any tropical fish.

for cooling, the cheapest and easiest way is to put a fan blowing on your water. this works real well if you have A/C, but still works even if you don't

you can also look into things like chillers, but they cost a lot to buy and even more to run.

you can use ice or icepacks as well, although that method is not terribly effective due to the physics of water.

 

[William]

I have an airconditioner, if it wasn't for A/C the temp would be higher.. and I have a fan blowing on the tank :-\

 

[justDIY]

hrmm ... is the fan blowing on the water, so you see ripples, or just on the tank in general?

the air has to be moving the water in order to cool it... try a bigger fan!

I know the method works, I've used it to get a 4 degree drop in my tank on really hot days

 

[William]

I can't blow it directly on the water, no..

Because of tank position, as well as jumping fish [ I.E. Bala Shark ] and the escape artest [ I.E. Hammer, the fiddler crab. Whose so good he even ESCAPED HIS OWN SHELL! j/k ]

 

[justDIY]

LOL about the crab and good work for making it grow

invest in a sheet of egg-crate to cover your tank ... the holes are about 1 square inch (1/2 by 1/2)

this will keep critters in and still let you move some air.

I've heard sitting your canister filter in a bucket of ice also works - if you have a canister you could try that.

 

[William]

I use a Top Fin 40Gal HOB filter

I believe it has a pump capacity of anywhere between 180 and 200GPH, and it runs at about...73%-78% flow.

 

[tkos]

Your tank isn't anywhere near a window is it. Direct light can really heat things up.

 

[madasafish]

I've had this problem a lot recently. And (depending on your fish) 84 is often really too hot... Check out their preferred temps on www.liveaquaria.com, or www.fishbase.org.

Your other option is to buy one of the reptile lids--the wire mesh. With that on your tank, you can still blow the fan and cool the water. Best bet if you're having trouble positioning it: get out a step ladder and tie the fan to the top of it. I've done this, and it works well--I was able to cool the tank to 78 degrees from 82-84.

Beware... this will increase the rate of evaporation on your tank by 10 or 100 fold. You'll have to do frequent top ups, but your fish will really appreciate it!

Best of luck!

 

[tkos]

One thing to mention as well is that ammonia will be more toxic at high heat levels and oxygen levels will be lower. So if you are unable to get the heat down make sure to test for ammonia and do frequent water changes.

 

[vega]

I had that problem too last time as my room ambient temp is aporx 82F.

Now everything is ok after i install a 3 inch DC fan inside my aquarium hood. you can used the normal DC fan which been use inside PC. Just buy a AC/DC adaptor (those look like handphone or GBA adaptor) with high amp rating (mine is 12V with 1000mA). Of course u need to do some simple wiring. Btw all std DC fan require 12V.

Do not used those AC fan as they are quit heavy and is difficult to attach to your tank's hood (I tried those). They also generated alots of heat inside the hood as the transfomer is attach to the fan.

btw. i atttach the DC fan to my tank's hood using only glue gun's glue. Since the fan is quit small (size varied from 2 to 6 inches), you can add more the 1 fan inside the tank's hood. I have 1 tank using 2 3 inches tank and it manage to cool down the tank by 8-10 F.

The only down side is my 3 feet tank vapourise about approx 3 inches of water a week.

Optimise temp for tropical fish is 76-82F. most important is you do not flux the temp too much within short time.

Stay cool.

 

[William]

I had a big reply typed out to respond to all posts.

However IE ate it, so..

Okay, All suggestions are taken udner consideration

 

[Madame_X]

We mounted two of the 3" PC cooling fans on both tanks. One blows in and one blows out (exhaust). We hooked them up to one of those universal A/C adaptors that has a switch on it so you can change the wattage going to the fans. This allows you to change the speed of the fan as they spin faster or slower depending on the wattage.

My Eclipse was getting as high as 86 degrees. With this method, it stays between 78-80.

You do lose a lot of water to evaporation but at least the fish aren't stressed.

 

[William]

I never thought about that.

I have about...eight 80mm computer fans sitting around.

 

[millym]

we had a v hot summer here in london & our tank was getting too hot - we froze big plastic cool drink bottles full of water & stuck one in every now & again. lowered the temp by a degree or 2 & the fish (esp danios) seemed to love it - all swimming madly around the cool bottles

 

[nlytnme]

I am interested in trying to install a fan to blow on the tank water can someone give me tips on how to do it and what i need? I have a 20g with 4 goldfish(common, fantail, ryukin and black moor). I am new at this. I don't want air conditioner in my home but i don't want to give up my fish