Is the water too warm?

[glittergirl]

We're having a bit of a heatwave here in the UK at the moment! My tank water has gone up to 30 degrees. Is this too warm for tetras, danios and ottos? If so, what is the best way to cool the water down? :confused:

[optix]

wow thats pretty warm. thats about 85 degrees F right?? Its not deadly but the oxygen levels will be reduced pretty significantly. I'd do a water change using cooler water but do it over the course of a couple hours if you have the time to spare so its not a quick drop. You don't want a bad case of ich on your hands either.

[wetmanNY]

Ich is caused by a parasitic ciliate, not by a mild temperature drop. What you should drop is the water level, to get some extra splash-- for oxygen. Open the top of the tank if you can.

[optix]

So a temp. drop seriously doesn't cause Ich??? Man I've been under that impression for years now and could never understand how that could happen. I knew it sounded a little bizarre for a parasite to miraculously form from just a temp drop. Anybody else ever heard someone tell you that temp drop causes this?? Sorry for the misguidance there.

[blade929]

the temp hike shouldnt be a problem if its only over a short period of time, lets face it with the english weather it likley to be,
be wary when dropping the temp with a water change as you may be tempted to drop it too low, open the aquariam lid, make sure it is not in direct sun light and all should be ok.

with regards the parasite i believe that it cant thrive above 30 degrees, so a drop in temp and an attack of ich would be coincidental, no doubt someone will correct me good luck anyway.

[OrionGirl]

The life cycle of ick is slower at lower temps, but the temp in no way is causitive. Too often, events that coincide are 'decided' to be correlated. Not the case.

Glittergirl--make sure the tank is not in direct light, and limit the length of time the lights are on. I swap my lights around during the summer, so they are not on during the hottest portions of the day. If you don't have plants, forgo the lights for any time that you are not there to view the fish.

[glittergirl]

I don't know if I like the idea of opening the aquarium lid. I have danios in my tank - don't they have a reputation for jumping out of the tank? :eek: Also, I have a cat who might find the tank suddenly very interesting :eek: :eek:
I did try turning the tank light off thinking it was heating the tank - it didn't really make much difference, but the fish thought it was bedtime and went into night-time mode!

[thom336]

Its hot again today after a rest of one day of rain...it was boiling all last week, but I was away so i couldnt do anything for my fish. They are all ok though - run a fan over the tank glitter, thats what i do.

[blade929]

dont worry too much the fish will tolerate the slight rise in temp

i have just done a water change, prior to the change the water was at 80 degrees, it has run at this for most of the week with no adverse effects.

my tank usually runs between 76 and 78, i think you may be worrying unduly about the rise in temp. this time of year always sees small increases in water temp.

[wetmanNY]

Get some plastic screening and knock together a wooden summertime frame. Lay two dowels crossways and rest the lights on that (not to melt plastic eh.)

Fanning depends on evaporation. The fan on the dry glass does almost nothing. But wring out a towel and drape it over the aquarium when the lights are off. Run the fan on that, and you'll get some fine cooling effect. (desperate personal experience here inNY-- where the heat will eventually come...)

optix, you'll see folks spending major energy "acclimating" the new fish by ladling tablespoons of water into the travel bag, to equalize temperatures-- then dump in the newcomers, with the tiny Ich parasites already on their gills-- with no quarantine!

It's very like the myth of "catching a chill" by going out with your hair wet etc etc...

Ich is a parasitic ciliate. Colds are caused by rhinoviruses. A good splash of cold water encourages Corydoras to spawn...

[scott]

My two cents. Have you unpluged your heater. It's been eighty here since mid March pretty much. I unplug my heaters the first week of April. The tank cools off at night enough that they never get above 78 or eighty during the day.
Of course I have AC, don't you? I guess not if your tank is reaching that temp.

[Faramir]

Scott - very, very few domestic properties in the UK have air conditioning. It's seldom needed given our maximum summer temperatures are below 100F, and most years don't exceed 90F.

[scott]

Wow! I had to live one summer w/o AC and I hated every second of it. I guess it's nice that it's so cool there. I bet its nice on the power bills too.

[glittergirl]

The weather has cooled down a bit now, so much for our heatwave! The temp in the tank is now down to 29 degrees on average. None of the fish seem to be bothered, so perhaps I was worrying too much.
I did try to cool the water by putting a plastic bottle with the lid tight in the tank, filled with cold water that had been in the freezer for a while. The fish were very curious, but it didn't really make much difference to the overall tank temp.
Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll give some of them a try next time. :)

[Mantis_22]

its the same way in Brasil and actually anywhere else in the world. The only air-conditioning company I know of overseas is LG and there products and AC's are a burning in the pocket. So its just America that we have gotten used to insulated houses and AC.