Water Temperature Issues

[ohbabyme]

I have a 10 gallon half moon and a twenty gallon tank set up. I am having a small amount of trouble regulating temperature, even without heaters. The issue is the water is usually a steady 79-81° F. Is this too high for mollies? I just did a partial change on my ten gallon fry tank and I only used cold water, which admittedly, did not get very cold this time. If the temperature gets too high is it okay to float ice cubes in the tank to bring the temp down? I usually run into this when I change the water, even though I try to use water slightly colder than what is in the tank. Any suggestions would be immensely appreciated. Thank you!

 

[ccross]

I have a 10 gallon half moon and a twenty gallon tank set up. I am having a small amount of trouble regulating temperature, even without heaters. The issue is the water is usually a steady 79-81° F. Is this too high for mollies? I just did a partial change on my ten gallon fry tank and I only used cold water, which admittedly, did not get very cold this time. If the temperature gets too high is it okay to float ice cubes in the tank to bring the temp down? I usually run into this when I change the water, even though I try to use water slightly colder than what is in the tank. Any suggestions would be immensely appreciated. Thank you!

Get a good bubble stone. Agitated water will keep a bit cooler. Also try putting a fan blowing on the waters surface. Not sure about the ice cubes. I dont think it would be a wise idea. Could throw your water parameters off.

 

[ohbabyme]

Get a good bubble stone. Agitated water will keep a bit cooler. Also try putting a fan blowing on the waters surface. Not sure about the ice cubes. I dont think it would be a wise idea. Could throw your water parameters off.

I will have to invest then! We have a bubble tube in the 10 gal tank, but it's really loud and rarely plugged in. It also lacks a stone. I avoid filling the tanks to the top in order to get the added waterfall effect and both filters circulate the water very well. Since we've only had them up and running since December, I may have to rig a fan to each one for the summer. Basement apartments aren't great for circulation, and we don't have central air. Thanks!

 

[HooKooDooKu]

According to LiveAquaria, water conditions for Mollies allow for temperatures between 68-82F. So 79 to 81 sound just fine. Yes you are at the upper limit, but I would think it would be better to be at and stay at the upper limit rather than doing things that could cause temperature swings in the tank. In other words, while 68 to 82 is the range, it can harm the fish to go from 82 to 68 with a quick water change. What you really want is for the water being added to the tank to match as best as possible the temperature of the water already in the tank.

Of course an air stone or fans are not going to do much to cool the tank down if your room temperature is already about 80F... other than offset any heat being added by lights. If you are using incandescent lights, look into replacing with CFL to get less heat added from lights.

 

[Coursair]

I have my lights on timers so they are Off during midday.

 

[ohbabyme]

Both tanks have LED lights which don't produce much heat at all. We live in a basement apartment with baseboard boiler heaters which we can't control. Most of the time a window is cracked in the tank rooms, but that only helps a little. I should probably just count my blessings since the water temp is still safe for the fish and we don't need heaters.