Any other ways to cool the water?

I run a fan over my tank, though only because that is the only place I can place the fan to circulate air through my room. My tank runs at 72-72 F and the fan doesn't seem to do anything to the temp. I don't know what would happen if it was much hotter but sorry to say I notice no difference if it runs or not.

i was just gonna post this question!

its so damn hot right now in the bay area....100 degrees everywhere

my apartment faces the sun all day...with huge windows....and NO AC!!!!!!..i did put a frozen water bottle in the filter of the fish tank for my 55...but i couldn't in the 10....i'm bet that tank is low 80's right now....problem is there is goldfish in it!!!

is it ok just to stick ice cubes in the water?

what about doing a partial water change...and using really cold water....would that be too much shock?

The partial water changes idea would work, but not for a very long time. In order to avoid shocking the fish, you wouldn't be able to change very much at a time if you're replacing it with cold water (maybe 10-15%?). It would quickly heat back up, water heats up a lot faster than it cools down. In order for this to be an effective method of cooling, you would have to do the water changes as frequently as possible.

When you make ice cubes for the aquarium, be sure to treat the water first.
Keeping the canopy open with a fan running will definitely keep the water cooler.

Isnt it the opposite? I thought water cooled quicker...lemme look this one up.

um...well, after much research that ended up in frustration at the search engine, ive concluded that I can't conclude anything.

anyways. the rater at which water cools and heats is exponential and the inverse (square root). I think I can work this out in my head.

if you are looking at a graph, given that the heat applied to the water has a greater temp than the water itself, you would notice that the water increases in temperature dramatically, but as it gets closer to the temperature of the heating mechanism, the rate at which it heats up considerably slows down. technically, water never reaches the temperature of the heat applied to it. (lets say the temp difference was 50 degrees F)

the same is true for cooling water, but opposite. if you take that water that is heated up, and place it in a room with air that is considerably colder than it (50 degrees F cooler), the water will cool down drastically. However, as it gets closer to the room temperature, the rate at which is cools will slow down drastically. thus, technically, water never really reaches the temperature of the colder room.

1. applying this to the phrase "water heats faster than it cools"

Im not sure if this is true. The reason you might say this for the situation on hand is because the room temp is greater than the ice cube temp. even if you did get the water temp 15 degrees lower than the room temp, the water would still heat right back up to the room temp. While you cool it tho, it seems like it takes longer because there is always more heat applied to the water than there is the abscence of heat. its like trying to cool down a pot of boiling water. it just doesnt cool down as fast as it heats.

Im not sure if the same can be said for a cold tank. if the room temp is always at 60, can you heat it up quicker than it cools back down? yes.

lets back that up. lets say you were using ice cubes that were actually "boiling cubes". so assuming you use the same amount of heating cubes as you did ice cubes, would the tank heat up faster? probably not.

it all boils down to the methods employed. if you have a chiller, im sure the water would cool faster than it heated. its just so much easier to make something that will heat the water. so naturally we think, water heats faster. well...not really.

but someone correct me if im wrong.

cause I dont really know what im talking about.

to be on topic...get air conditioning...more convinient, cheaper than a chiller, and you get multiple benifits (your fish live, you live, we all live). so...I dont really have anything else that is very productive.

good luck cooling your tanks.

water heats and cools at the same rate...

Efficiency wise, its alot easier to add heat than to remove it.

thanks for starting this thread NJ!!

my tank was btwn 82 and 86 when I walked in tonight! I just put some ice cubes (with a drop of dechlorinator...useless I'm sure) in a ziplock bag, and tossed it in the tank. 30 mins ago I added maybe 5-10% new, cool water.

any and all tips would help. Like Drake said, we're burning up here in the Bay (its be mostly cool lately, until this week... unlike everywhere else it seems)

thanks!

As long as humidity levels are moderate, fans are your best bet. One large fan blowing across the surface of the water will knock the temp down quite a bit. Other than the labor intensive chores of adding ice, or doing water changes, the only other solutions are some form of electric chiller for the tank, or an AC for the room.

OMG DRAKE TITAN yea its so freakin hot and its pissing me off, im kinda glad my pacus jsut broke my heater cause i dont need it right now. but the best way and cheapest way to cool, your tank that ive found is to freeze balloons filled with water and put them in the tank.

jsut take it slow because too much of a drop in temp over short period in time stresses the fish and can be deadly.