Controlling tank temps in the summer

Hi All,

After my recent experience with stuck heaters and broken LCD thermometers
I've just stuck internal thermometers on all of my tanks...and the temp
readings are getting worrying....way too high and we haven't even really
started the British summer (as much as we ever get)

This is all across the house not just where I would expect it to get hot....

A lot of you live in much hotter climates than I do....I'm just wondering
how you all cope and what effect it has on your fish....having just gone
through a bad experience with high water temps I want to avoid it...

Gill

.....I'm just wondering
how you all cope and what effect it has on your fish.


central air

(sorry just had to throw that in ;-}

Larry

"Gill Passman" gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk wrote in message
.. .

"Larry" wrote in message
...
....I'm just wondering
how you all cope and what effect it has on your fish.


central air

(sorry just had to throw that in ;-}

Larry



Sorry don't understand....



I think he means air conditioning. My house isn't air conditioned and I am
quite lucky in my choice of fish as the fancy guppies should be able to
handle summer like they did last year and same with the white clouds. The
silver dollars did fine last year so this year should be o.k.. My bedroom
gets as hot as an oven during summer time and I try to keep it much cooler
for the fancy guppies in my bedroom by me opening up both windows in my
bedroom, fish seemed to do fine. I do get concerned once in a while for no
good reason other than for the health of my pets but they do fine. Good
luck, later!

"Larry" wrote in message
...
....I'm just wondering
how you all cope and what effect it has on your fish.


central air

(sorry just had to throw that in ;-}

Larry



Sorry don't understand....

Gill Passman wrote:

Hi All,

After my recent experience with stuck heaters and broken LCD thermometers
I've just stuck internal thermometers on all of my tanks...and the temp
readings are getting worrying....way too high and we haven't even really
started the British summer (as much as we ever get)

What are these temperatures? I'd like to compare. Maybe your thermometer
is inaccurate?

This is all across the house not just where I would expect it to get hot....

I presume in all these tanks that the heaters are rarely on, if ever? It
doesn't sound right.

A lot of you live in much hotter climates than I do....I'm just wondering
how you all cope and what effect it has on your fish....having just gone
through a bad experience with high water temps I want to avoid it...

I have my 330L aquarium in the hottest part of the house. Judging from
the maximum temperature recorded it reached 27.2 yesterday. Was that as
hot as your tanks? I also have 240 watts of fluorescent lighting
producing excess heat. I wonder how I'll cope if it does get hotter,
like we had 2 years ago. What has helped is leaving the wooden hood open
to allow the heat build-up escape. I also have a couple of computer fans
sucking out the hot air. But my aquarium does sound like a PC!

BTW, when I'm comparing tank temperatures, I take the same digital
thermometer with probe to each tank.

Nikki

Gill Passman wrote:
Hi All,

After my recent experience with stuck heaters and broken LCD thermometers
I've just stuck internal thermometers on all of my tanks...and the temp
readings are getting worrying....way too high and we haven't even really
started the British summer (as much as we ever get)

This is all across the house not just where I would expect it to get hot....

A lot of you live in much hotter climates than I do....I'm just wondering
how you all cope and what effect it has on your fish....having just gone
through a bad experience with high water temps I want to avoid it...

Gill


I let water evaporate to cool the tanks a few degrees. I prop canopies
open, use egg-crate style fluorescent lighting diffuser for part of the
hoods, and remove the tops from hang-on-back filters. That usually
keeps things down to around 82F or so during the day, a few degrees
cooler than the house.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

On Thu, 9 Jun 2005 22:51:25 +0100, "Gill Passman"
gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk wrote:

Hi All,

After my recent experience with stuck heaters and broken LCD thermometers
I've just stuck internal thermometers on all of my tanks...and the temp
readings are getting worrying....way too high and we haven't even really
started the British summer (as much as we ever get)

This is all across the house not just where I would expect it to get hot....

A lot of you live in much hotter climates than I do....I'm just wondering
how you all cope and what effect it has on your fish....having just gone
through a bad experience with high water temps I want to avoid it...

Gill


There were a number of threads on this subject last summer. I am
lucky and installed central air conditioning before I took up the
hobby again. I just adjust the room temperature to a few degrees
below the tank temperatures. (lower for my comfort)

Evaporation is the key word. Several people rigged fans to blow
across the top of their tanks. Since the light hood, when on, only
adds heat, they took the hoods off thus increased the area of surface
water exposed to the moving air. Of course, you will need to add
water more often which will increase the ratio of solids to water
ration (see Old Tank Syndrome) which means a need to do more frequent
partial water changes.

If you do try the above, those that did said they needed to put a
screen over the top to avoid losing fish jumping out the open top.

Central air conditioning is expensive, but how about a window mounted
unit? The fan approach is cheaper, but what a hassle! g

dick

"Daniel Morrow" wrote in message
...

"Gill Passman" gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk wrote in message
.. .

"Larry" wrote in message
...
....I'm just wondering
how you all cope and what effect it has on your fish.


central air

(sorry just had to throw that in ;-}

Larry



Sorry don't understand....



I think he means air conditioning. My house isn't air conditioned and I am
quite lucky in my choice of fish as the fancy guppies should be able to
handle summer like they did last year and same with the white clouds. The
silver dollars did fine last year so this year should be o.k.. My bedroom
gets as hot as an oven during summer time and I try to keep it much cooler
for the fancy guppies in my bedroom by me opening up both windows in my
bedroom, fish seemed to do fine. I do get concerned once in a while for no
good reason other than for the health of my pets but they do fine. Good
luck, later!


hmmm....air con would be nice but probably not an option. Like you with have
windows open and try to maintain a good airflow in the summer but it still
gets hot. Fish seem OK - maybe it is sudden shifts in temp that cause
problems
Gill

"Nikki Casali" wrote in message
...
Gill Passman wrote:

Hi All,

After my recent experience with stuck heaters and broken LCD
thermometers
I've just stuck internal thermometers on all of my tanks...and the temp
readings are getting worrying....way too high and we haven't even really
started the British summer (as much as we ever get)

What are these temperatures? I'd like to compare. Maybe your thermometer
is inaccurate?

This is all across the house not just where I would expect it to get
hot....

I presume in all these tanks that the heaters are rarely on, if ever? It
doesn't sound right.

A lot of you live in much hotter climates than I do....I'm just
wondering
how you all cope and what effect it has on your fish....having just gone
through a bad experience with high water temps I want to avoid it...

I have my 330L aquarium in the hottest part of the house. Judging from
the maximum temperature recorded it reached 27.2 yesterday. Was that as
hot as your tanks? I also have 240 watts of fluorescent lighting
producing excess heat. I wonder how I'll cope if it does get hotter,
like we had 2 years ago. What has helped is leaving the wooden hood open
to allow the heat build-up escape. I also have a couple of computer fans
sucking out the hot air. But my aquarium does sound like a PC!

BTW, when I'm comparing tank temperatures, I take the same digital
thermometer with probe to each tank.

Nikki

They were pretty much all up at 32C with two exceptions. The tank in the
conservatory which I would expect to get the hottest was around 28C but we
do make a concious effort to keep that room cool (fans, skylights, blinds,
windows on latches, doors open etc). The Kitchen tank was 35C - eek....but
we have worked out the mystery of that one - hubby installed new lights
under the cabinets....now have to figure out a new location for the tank -
the lights have been off all day and the temp is now down to 32C so
hopefully will fall a bit more. I've opened the lid of the tank and jarred
it open with a straw (quickest thing I could find) so hopefully this will
also help - I'd never thought of doing this - obvious when you think about
it - duh :-)

None of the heaters are coming on which is just as well after my recent
experience with the stuck thermostat.

Most of the tanks are now down to around 28C but it has been a bit cooler
today....

Like you I'm not sure what will happen if it gets really hot again....we're
just not geared up to it in the UK - extremes of weather always take us by
suprise - lol

Gill

"Elaine T" wrote in message
. com...
Gill Passman wrote:
Hi All,

After my recent experience with stuck heaters and broken LCD
thermometers
I've just stuck internal thermometers on all of my tanks...and the temp
readings are getting worrying....way too high and we haven't even really
started the British summer (as much as we ever get)

This is all across the house not just where I would expect it to get
hot....

A lot of you live in much hotter climates than I do....I'm just
wondering
how you all cope and what effect it has on your fish....having just gone
through a bad experience with high water temps I want to avoid it...

Gill


I let water evaporate to cool the tanks a few degrees. I prop canopies
open, use egg-crate style fluorescent lighting diffuser for part of the
hoods, and remove the tops from hang-on-back filters. That usually
keeps things down to around 82F or so during the day, a few degrees
cooler than the house.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

82F is around the temp that my tanks are today (cooler weather). I will
definitely go for the leaving the lids open a bit....

Thanks
Gill