Controlling temp in extreme heat

[mommygourami]

It's 100 degrees here right now and supposed to be several degrees hotter tomorrow.  A few weeks ago I had a couple corys die when we had temps reach 115 here.  I can't help but think there is a connection.

I don't have central air and I have some concerns about my water temp fluctuating too much.  

What is the best method for keeping the temp stable during extreme heat?  Should I add cool fresh water occasionally, turn the lights off? 

What do you think?

[HH Morant]

I'm not sure fish need a stable temperature, since temperatures in the wild fluctuate every day. Sunny days the water gets warmer, Cloudy days, cooler. Rainy days, even cooler. The water is a different temperature 3 feet down than it is at 5 feet or 10 feet, and the fish swim between these depths.

But, of course, the water can be too warm for too long. So I think keeping the temperature out of the danger zone is important, but some fluctuation below that is OK.

What is too warm for too long? Now that would be valuable, concrete knowledge. I don't know.

[HH Morant]

In February during the Big Freeze down here in Texas, my power was off a lot more than it was on. I figured out that if I got up every 3 hours and removed 5 gallons of water and replaced it with 5 gallons of hot water (my hot water heater was natural gas) I could keep the 120-gallon aquarium within a 2 or 3 degree range (76 to 79). I did try to disperse the hot water when I was pouring it in, but the fish did not seem to mind. But that was a lot of work, and I did not have to do it for very long. My neighbor had power so we ran an extension cord from his house to save my fish. I have good neighbors.

You could freeze some 2-liter plastic bottles of water, put them in the tank, and see what that does to the water temperature. Maybe several bottles would could keep the temperature in an acceptable range for hours. You would just have to monitor the temperature to learn what the effect of different numbers of bottles would be and how long they would last.. That way you would not have to remove water and replace it, just take bottles out and put other bottles in.

 

[mommygourami]

Oh that's a good idea, I could perhaps float some ice cubes or cold water in bags rather than putting directly in the tank. Thanks! 

On 8/11/2021 at 7:27 PM, HH Morant said:

In February during the Big Freeze down here in Texas, my power was off a lot more than it was on. I figured out that if I got up every 3 hours and removed 5 gallons of water and replaced it with 5 gallons of hot water (my hot water heater was natural gas) I could keep the 120-gallon aquarium within a 2 or 3 degree range (76 to 79). I did try to disperse the hot water when I was pouring it in, but the fish did not seem to mind. But that was a lot of work, and I did not have to do it for very long. My neighbor had power so we ran an extension cord from his house to save my fish. I have good neighbors.

You could freeze some 2-liter plastic bottles of water, put them in the tank, and see what that does to the water temperature. Maybe several bottles would could keep the temperature in an acceptable range for hours. You would just have to monitor the temperature to learn what the effect of different numbers of bottles would be and how long they would last.. That way you would not have to remove water and replace it, just take bottles out and put other bottles in.

 

 

[Novabound]

Im currently going through a similar thing. I have a 75 gallon that only has shrimp, but we dont have central air and the tank is in the finished basement that has no way of cooling the space.

What's worse is we have our gaming set ups down there so between 2 cats, a dog, 2 people, 4 monitors, 2 computers, and rgb lights everywhere, and aquarium equipment, it's not uncommon for the room to hit 90+ degrees. I noticed a shrimp death and saw the water temp was a whopping 87 degrees.

Things i did to help were cool it off:

-Add a floor fan to circulate air better

-Remove the aquarium lids. This encouraged more evaporation but cools off the tank more. I have to top it off more often and it makes our dehumidifier fill up faster, but it's brand new and does a great job.

-And the biggest contributor that was a hard decision to make; i swapped the hours of light time to be opposite of when i use the basement. I work from home from 730 to 4pm and usually game from 6 to 10pm~12am. So i have the lights turn on at 1030pm and slowly reach 100% brightness at 4am, then slowly dim to off by 11am just before the peak of the day. Plus my plants aren't missing out any photosynthesis.

 

It sucks that i can only enjoy it on my lunch/breaks and for a few minutes before bed, but it's helped keep the water in the 74-78 range. And i havent had any more shrimp deaths. Once winter rolls around i can set it back to normal hours where i can enjoy it more often.

[FishyJames]

A small clip fan blowing across the surface will help.

[Andy's Fish Den]

Air circulation in the room around the tank, remove any lids to allow evaporation, with a fan blowing across the surface. Eliminate any pumps that are in the water, they produce heat and transfer to the water. 

[mommygourami]

On 8/11/2021 at 8:16 PM, Novabound said:

Im currently going through a similar thing. I have a 75 gallon that only has shrimp, but we dont have central air and the tank is in the finished basement that has no way of cooling the space.

What's worse is we have our gaming set ups down there so between 2 cats, a dog, 2 people, 4 monitors, 2 computers, and rgb lights everywhere, and aquarium equipment, it's not uncommon for the room to hit 90+ degrees. I noticed a shrimp death and saw the water temp was a whopping 87 degrees.

Things i did to help were cool it off:

-Add a floor fan to circulate air better

-Remove the aquarium lids. This encouraged more evaporation but cools off the tank more. I have to top it off more often and it makes our dehumidifier fill up faster, but it's brand new and does a great job.

-And the biggest contributor that was a hard decision to make; i swapped the hours of light time to be opposite of when i use the basement. I work from home from 730 to 4pm and usually game from 6 to 10pm~12am. So i have the lights turn on at 1030pm and slowly reach 100% brightness at 4am, then slowly dim to off by 11am just before the peak of the day. Plus my plants aren't missing out any photosynthesis.

 

It sucks that i can only enjoy it on my lunch/breaks and for a few minutes before bed, but it's helped keep the water in the 74-78 range. And i havent had any more shrimp deaths. Once winter rolls around i can set it back to normal hours where i can enjoy it more often.

The light thing is a good idea except the tank I'm most worried about is in my bedroom and don't necessarily want it full bright all night long.

I do have a clip fan near it but I don't really have anything to clip it on above it to blow on the water (it's on a fairly tall dresser) and I certainly don't want to have the clip fan fall INTO the tank!

I have been flipping the lid open thanks for the suggestion to remove the lid completely.  I will try that today.

[mommygourami]

On 8/12/2021 at 3:47 AM, Andy's Fish Den said:

Air circulation in the room around the tank, remove any lids to allow evaporation, with a fan blowing across the surface. Eliminate any pumps that are in the water, they produce heat and transfer to the water. 

I just have a bunch of airstone strips and a sponge filter, so the pump is external.  I have 2 HOB filters as well.  Hmm, maybe I will point my clip fan at the back of the aquarium since that's where the equipment is and is probably producing heat.  I have no where to clip the fan above the water without fearing it could fall in.  Thanks for your comment.