Keeping aquariums cool in hot heat as been a total nightmare ?

[Warrior-Lady]

Well i would love members thoughts on this ?

Well i've had both tanks running side by side more or less and with his heat wave which boosted both tanks to nearly 82F, heaters was turned off, the Shaker i do water changes on daily until the cycle as finished but can only do my Roma when it's due.

I've added floating ice bottles on top which have melted in 5mins flat and then got my hubby to fetch a fan which did the trick, we put it between the tanks facing slightly up whizzing around to both tank but facing the wall and at last we found to day checking, it's keeping them at 78.5 plus i have both lids open.

 

[fishorama]

It sounds to me like you're doing the best you can. Most fish can handle temp spikes for a while. Can you try larger frozen water bottles or more of them? The fan is a good idea too. Your fish should be OK with 78-79, I wouldn't "sweat it"...remind us of your fish, some are less heat tolerant but for a short time...they should be fine.

If you have a HOB filter you might lower the water level a bit so there's some splash to increase the oxygen. Higher temp=less oxygen. Are the fish hanging out near the surface? If not, I think they'll be ok. You can also up the frequency of water changes with a splashy refill, a little bit can help.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

If your fish are no jumpers. I would want the fan to blow across the water surface. Bear in mind that heat rises, so that is where the highest heat will be. Even better is a second fan blowing across the front glass. This surface will be the one able to radiate the most heat.

I do summer tanks on a screenned tarrace on the end of our house. It is basically open air on three sides. Summer temps. often are in the 90sF (32 - 37C). My water can get into the 90-93F range during the day (32-33C), but the tanks are not in direct sunlight. I may do a water change with cooler water, but most of my fish out there are plecos which come from waters that get into the 90s. In fact, working to get them to spawn may require raising the temp. to this level.

When I have other species out there I will bring out a big box fan and move a lot of air. that usually gains me a few degrees of cooling.

Decades ago I shared a hour with 2 other people. We had a community 20 gal. tan. We had no air conditioning and in the summer it got hot and the tank would get way to warm. Whay we did was to have two 1/2 quart plastic containers which had lids- like what you get when you buy take-out soup. We washed them well and then we filled them with tank water. We replaced 1/2 that water in the tank.

The containers went into the freezer (topless). Once frozen, we would run one under tap water to loosen the big ice inside. This ice went directly into the tank. We then refilled the empty container with tank water and put it back in the freezer. We would always have to use the second one before the first had fully refrozen. This worked great for us. We never even considered filling filled containers and then dropping them into the tank. It meant we never worried about the fact that freezing makes water expand as it freezes.

 

[Warrior-Lady]

Thank you both for your replies very much appreciated and the advice.
Yesterday they finally dropped to 76F but when the readings was high lost two young pandas which i've recently brought but the other two are more mature and doing fine.

F fishorama in my Roma i have 20 cory's, 1 common pleco and my top fish are harlequins and in my new Shaker 6 guppies, 1 Plecostomus Catfish and 2 small pleco's and i think that tanks cycled but i shall wait another week to make double sure as ammonia and nitrite 0 and nitrate 20.

T TwoTankAmin i can't rise the fan above the tanks tried it as it's on a long stand and going round it didn't look safe but keeping it blowing around lower the temp and this info below you mentioned is good advice ?

Decades ago I shared a hour with 2 other people. We had a community 20 gal. tan. We had no air conditioning and in the summer it got hot and the tank would get way to warm. Whay we did was to have two 1/2 quart plastic containers which had lids- like what you get when you buy take-out soup. We washed them well and then we filled them with tank water. We replaced 1/2 that water in the tank.

The containers went into the freezer (topless). Once frozen, we would run one under tap water to loosen the big ice inside. This ice went directly into the tank. We then refilled the empty container with tank water and put it back in the freezer. We would always have to use the second one before the first had fully refrozen. This worked great for us. We never even considered filling filled containers and then dropping them into the tank. It meant we never worried about the fact that freezing makes water expand as it freezes.