Cooler Water

anduknodis

NCAA 06 Top 100: Iamcrunk
Nov 16, 2005
42
0
0
37
Texas DFW Area
Is there anything that you can buy to make you water cooler than it already is, so like a backwards heater. I have some goldfish and i know they like water Temperatures around 65 degrees so i was wondering if there was anything i could get to help lower my water temp.
 
You can use fans, but they'll increase evaporation.

Also, I don't find chillers that good for the price you pay. They cool down the water, but they will heat up the surroundings as well...which somewhat defeats the purpose!
 
What type of lighting do you use? It seems that the standard lights that come with tanks give off much more heat per wattage of light than some of the flourescent ones available. Also, the tank's not near a window or heater vent, is it? My mom kept her little 5 gallon above her dryer and couldn't figure out why it'd suddenly get warmer on wash days ... . :)

Best wishes on figuring it out.

-Faith
 
quakermomma said:
What type of lighting do you use? It seems that the standard lights that come with tanks give off much more heat per wattage of light than some of the flourescent ones available. Also, the tank's not near a window or heater vent, is it? My mom kept her little 5 gallon above her dryer and couldn't figure out why it'd suddenly get warmer on wash days ... . :)
Good point. With my light on in my betta tank my heater never goes on and it's set fo 80 degrees. The only time the heater goes on is after I turn the light off.

But, if the tank is small enough that the lighting is warming the water, then the tank is too small for the goldfish. If I leave the light on or off in my son's 20 gallon the water is at room temperature.

IMHO a standard hood won't heat up the water in a 20 or 30 gallon tank and that's the size one goldfish should be in.

Roan
 
What goldfish need is highly oxygenated water. Cooler water holds more oxygen. If you can keep the temp stable at room temp and make sure there is increased surface agitation things should work well.

Also if you have a basement then consider keeping them down there. That is where I kept my white cloud minnows and was able to maintain a stable temp of 68F.
 
Yeah, you should be fine for goldfish. I had an idea though for making my own cooler, 'cause I don't want to spend 400 bucks on one. Get a dorm room fridge for 50 bucks, and run lots of loops of hose through the fridge. Now you got a cooler and a place to keep your beer. :laugh:
 
On top of the cost of buying a cooler/chiller (which generally are only able to cool by a few degrees) there is the cost of running them. And that can be alot.
 
My tank stays at around 80ºF all day long because the pump in the sump generates a lot of heat. I'm worried for the hot days coming in january/febraury. I will install a fan above the sump.
 
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