Reaching new heights

P

psilo

AC Members
Jun 15, 2006
195
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Bolton,UK
www.psiloswildlifephotography.co.uk
Here in the Uk the heatwave continues. Today the temps in my tanks including my 50 gallon reached 88 degrees f. I have tried every thing from frozen bottles under the filter outflow to icecubes, switching off lights and closing curtains to using fans and still the temperature climbs. I got my temps down tonight 4 degrees by doing 50% water changes but it didnt stay low for long. My fish seem fine but i do fear for their longterm health :(
 
If all else fails you can go and get a chiller unit or try to make one. The store bought one are about $150US. To make one is pretty simple and costs alot less. If you have a powerhead, some airline tubing and a 5-10 gallon container you can make one. Below is how I have done it.

Get at least a 25 foot airline tube.
Connect one end to the powerhead unit at the venture inlet
Put the other end of the tubing on the other side of the tank
Now take the rest of the tubing and put it coiled up in the 5-10 gallon container.
Now add a few inches of water to the container
Add alot of ice to the container
Now turn on the powerhead

Now what this will do is pull water through the airline tubing into the container holding the cold water and ice. It will flow through the tubing cooling the water off. It then pulls the water back into the tank, cooling the water off slowly. I would say to also add a fan or 2 to help along with the cooling. Within a couple hours the tank should start to cool down as the cool water is brought back into the tank. Make sure to keep checking on the ice in the container and add more as needed to keep the water in the container cold. A better way is to get larger tubing and hook it right to the powerheads intake as this will suck in more water. Hope this helps, good luck.
 
I'm in London and have the same problems - however, since all my dealer tanks (3 different dealers) are around 90 degrees, with my tank around 86, I'm not worrying until it exeeds 90. The higher temps are beneficial for combating bugs and beasties (like whitespot etc, they can't live in temps beyond 86).

Also pay close attention to your water quality though, as beyond 90 the beneficial bacteria start dying off (they peak at 86 and their efficiency declines there after). Just make sure you have decent current in your tank, and surface agitation as at higher temps there is less dissolved oxgen.

If you've tried the fan, closed curtain route and not winning, try an evaporative chiller - it cools the whole room (for you too) and costs around £90-100 (loads cheaper than air conditioning units)
 
Thankyou pugwash. I have been doing waterchanges every few days which takes it down a few degrees and i think keeps it under control and have my filter splash bar on at full power to keep the water moving. My fish still look happy enough. They are lively and feeding well and my water quality is good. As our weather is somewhat unseasonal I will hold on the cooler for now but if it becomes a norm in our summers i will no doubt invest. The trouble is i have 5 tanks in different rooms so going that route would be somewhat costly.
 
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