Hot tank in the summer time!

I have a new tank in my living room. I had 6 red serpae in it. They have now
passed on due to the changes in temperature I've found. If I leave the AC on
constantly the temp will go down to 74-76 degrees. The problem is that the
natural temp for the room is about 84-86. What can I do, short of a chiller
of some type, to regulate the Temp to something in the tropical fish range
and not get hit with another case of Ich.

Psinapse wrote:
I have a new tank in my living room. I had 6 red serpae in it. They have now
passed on due to the changes in temperature I've found. If I leave the AC on
constantly the temp will go down to 74-76 degrees. The problem is that the
natural temp for the room is about 84-86. What can I do, short of a chiller
of some type, to regulate the Temp to something in the tropical fish range
and not get hit with another case of Ich.


This was so, so me a few months ago when the temps started rising here.
I got a lot of good suggestions from this ng. The ones I adopted were
leaving the tank lids open and doing more frequent water changes. Adding
air bricks - oxygen is depleted when the temp of the water rises - if it
is a heavily planted tank this is more of an issue at night time (most
of my deaths occured first thing in the morning). Trying to shade the
rooms as much as possible and ventilate them adequately. I got some
suggestions of very clever ideas of adding computer fans into the hoods
- it didn't get quite bad enough but I am certainly considering it for
next sumer. Another thing is to keep the lights on for a minimum period
of time....the height of our summer the lights came on for feeding in
the morning and briefly in the evening for watching the fish - wreaked
havoc with the plants but kept the temps low enough for the fish.

Hope some of this helps
Gill

"Gill Passman" wrote in message
.. .
Psinapse wrote:
I have a new tank in my living room. I had 6 red serpae in it. They have
now
passed on due to the changes in temperature I've found. If I leave the
AC on
constantly the temp will go down to 74-76 degrees. The problem is that
the
natural temp for the room is about 84-86. What can I do, short of a
chiller
of some type, to regulate the Temp to something in the tropical fish
range
and not get hit with another case of Ich.


This was so, so me a few months ago when the temps started rising here.
I got a lot of good suggestions from this ng. The ones I adopted were
leaving the tank lids open and doing more frequent water changes. Adding
air bricks - oxygen is depleted when the temp of the water rises - if it
is a heavily planted tank this is more of an issue at night time (most
of my deaths occured first thing in the morning). Trying to shade the
rooms as much as possible and ventilate them adequately. I got some
suggestions of very clever ideas of adding computer fans into the hoods
- it didn't get quite bad enough but I am certainly considering it for
next sumer. Another thing is to keep the lights on for a minimum period
of time....the height of our summer the lights came on for feeding in
the morning and briefly in the evening for watching the fish - wreaked
havoc with the plants but kept the temps low enough for the fish.

Hope some of this helps
Gill

Thanks

I'm thinking about just waiting until summer cools off a little more
then trying again. At least if its cold I can warm up the tank.

Gill Passman wrote:
Psinapse wrote:

I have a new tank in my living room. I had 6 red serpae in it. They
have now
passed on due to the changes in temperature I've found. If I leave the
AC on
constantly the temp will go down to 74-76 degrees. The problem is that
the
natural temp for the room is about 84-86. What can I do, short of a
chiller
of some type, to regulate the Temp to something in the tropical fish
range
and not get hit with another case of Ich.


This was so, so me a few months ago when the temps started rising here.
I got a lot of good suggestions from this ng. The ones I adopted were
leaving the tank lids open and doing more frequent water changes. Adding
air bricks - oxygen is depleted when the temp of the water rises - if it
is a heavily planted tank this is more of an issue at night time (most
of my deaths occured first thing in the morning). Trying to shade the
rooms as much as possible and ventilate them adequately. I got some
suggestions of very clever ideas of adding computer fans into the hoods
- it didn't get quite bad enough but I am certainly considering it for
next sumer. Another thing is to keep the lights on for a minimum period
of time....the height of our summer the lights came on for feeding in
the morning and briefly in the evening for watching the fish - wreaked
havoc with the plants but kept the temps low enough for the fish.

Hope some of this helps
Gill

First, ich usually dies at temps of 85F, and it's usually easier to kill
in warmer water even if you have the misfortune to have a temperature
tolerant strain. Second, most tropical fish we keep are just fine at
temps of 84-86F for a few months so don't worry too much. Amazon basin
fish in particular handle warmer temps well. Mollies do too. I don't
have A/C either and I've got bettas, guppies, cardinal tetras, a pygmy
chained loach, harlequin rasboras, SAE, Otocinclus, and a discus all at
daytime temps of up to 85F. Outdoors where temps have been rising to
90F during the day and falling to 75F at night, I have Endler's
livebearers, mollies, a dojo loach, white clouds, goldfish, and koi.
The outdoor fish are thriving and I have seen no signs of any diseases.
(knock wood)

Plants ARE a bit more difficult to grow at 85F, but the tough standbys
like java fern, anubias, hygrophila, and swords do fine.

If you're concerned about temperature swings, set your heaters to a few
degrees below daytime temps (82F maybe). Like Gill, I use an airstone
and prop the tank lids open to allow water to evaporate and hold tank
temps to 85F or so during the day. Finally, feed well and change lots
of water to compensate for the fast metabolism of fish at warmer temps.

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

Bottom posted.


"Psinapse" wrote in message
...
I have a new tank in my living room. I had 6 red serpae in it. They have
now
passed on due to the changes in temperature I've found. If I leave the AC
on
constantly the temp will go down to 74-76 degrees. The problem is that the
natural temp for the room is about 84-86. What can I do, short of a
chiller
of some type, to regulate the Temp to something in the tropical fish range
and not get hit with another case of Ich.



Guppies (fancy or otherwise), bettas, and I think white cloud mountain
minnows can take those temperatures pretty easily. Those 3 types of fish are
at the very least some of what you can find that will work. Good luck and
later!

Daniel Morrow wrote:
Bottom posted.


"Psinapse" wrote in message
...

I have a new tank in my living room. I had 6 red serpae in it. They have

now

passed on due to the changes in temperature I've found. If I leave the AC

on

constantly the temp will go down to 74-76 degrees. The problem is that the
natural temp for the room is about 84-86. What can I do, short of a

chiller

of some type, to regulate the Temp to something in the tropical fish range
and not get hit with another case of Ich.




Guppies (fancy or otherwise), bettas, and I think white cloud mountain
minnows can take those temperatures pretty easily. Those 3 types of fish are
at the very least some of what you can find that will work. Good luck and
later!


It was the Mollies and Rosy Barbs I found couldn't cope with the
heat...but we did have the additional problem of a stuck heater...but
even after that was rectified we still lost fish....

My Community Tank in the Conservatory with the remedial steps I
described coped very well at the time in question was:-

Gouramis
Neon Tetras
Queen Arabesque Plec
Clown Loaches
Guppies
Flying Foxes
Otos
Platys

My betta (and his platy companion) in his small 5 gall is still
suffering high temps but coping OK - he's not building bubble nests but
still says "hello" to me every time I go near the tank.

Gill

Thanks for all the feedback.


"Gill Passman" wrote in message
.. .
Daniel Morrow wrote:
Bottom posted.


"Psinapse" wrote in message
...

I have a new tank in my living room. I had 6 red serpae in it. They have

now

passed on due to the changes in temperature I've found. If I leave the
AC

on

constantly the temp will go down to 74-76 degrees. The problem is that
the
natural temp for the room is about 84-86. What can I do, short of a

chiller

of some type, to regulate the Temp to something in the tropical fish
range
and not get hit with another case of Ich.




Guppies (fancy or otherwise), bettas, and I think white cloud mountain
minnows can take those temperatures pretty easily. Those 3 types of fish
are
at the very least some of what you can find that will work. Good luck
and
later!


It was the Mollies and Rosy Barbs I found couldn't cope with the
heat...but we did have the additional problem of a stuck heater...but
even after that was rectified we still lost fish....

My Community Tank in the Conservatory with the remedial steps I
described coped very well at the time in question was:-

Gouramis
Neon Tetras
Queen Arabesque Plec
Clown Loaches
Guppies
Flying Foxes
Otos
Platys

My betta (and his platy companion) in his small 5 gall is still
suffering high temps but coping OK - he's not building bubble nests but
still says "hello" to me every time I go near the tank.

Gill

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 12:25:27 -0400, "Psinapse"
wrote:

I have a new tank in my living room. I had 6 red serpae in it. They have now
passed on due to the changes in temperature I've found. If I leave the AC on
constantly the temp will go down to 74-76 degrees. The problem is that the
natural temp for the room is about 84-86. What can I do, short of a chiller
of some type, to regulate the Temp to something in the tropical fish range
and not get hit with another case of Ich.



AllI have read I agree with, I have a similiar situation, only the
tank is in my Son's room, on the third floor of the town house, and we
really can't get the room temp low enough to lower the tank temp.

Bad placement on our part, that corner of the house gets full sun, all
day long.

I bought a Spiderman "mini-fridge" on Amazon ($20). Holds just a
little over a six pack. I had an old hang on the back power filter,
self contained, little pump, flat filter pack...

I took the fridge apart, discovered that it is a peltier coolr with a
large heat sink and fan, same thing used to over clock computers. I
then attached it to the back of the filter, this was a major pain, I
had to put holes in the front, and the back so I could screw it back
together.

Long story short, after letting the silicon gel dry, I am waiting for
it to cure. Test runs in a 5 gallon bucket dropped the temperatore
about 15degrees F. in about 2 hours.

If you have the time, and inclination, this might be a fun project for
you.




--Tony

AllI have read I agree with, I have a similiar situation, only the
tank is in my Son's room, on the third floor of the town house, and we
really can't get the room temp low enough to lower the tank temp.

Bad placement on our part, that corner of the house gets full sun, all
day long.

I bought a Spiderman "mini-fridge" on Amazon ($20). Holds just a
little over a six pack. I had an old hang on the back power filter,
self contained, little pump, flat filter pack...

I took the fridge apart, discovered that it is a peltier coolr with a
large heat sink and fan, same thing used to over clock computers. I
then attached it to the back of the filter, this was a major pain, I
had to put holes in the front, and the back so I could screw it back
together.

Long story short, after letting the silicon gel dry, I am waiting for
it to cure. Test runs in a 5 gallon bucket dropped the temperatore
about 15degrees F. in about 2 hours.

If you have the time, and inclination, this might be a fun project for
you.

I have a similar project on my list of things to do, involving a small
freezer off ebay, drill two holes through the top, coil tubing inside the
freezer, pack freezer full of stuff, ice cube bags possibly, attach a pump
to a thermic switch, and off you go, pump the water through the freezer to
cool it down.
Not very energy efficient but still more so than the chiller units you can
buy for aquariums, and a damn sight cheaper. So long as the wife can handle
a beer cooler in the living room

Cheers

A

"Ali Day" wrote in message
...

If you have the time, and inclination, this might be a fun project for
you.

I have a similar project on my list of things to do, involving a small
freezer off ebay, drill two holes through the top, coil tubing inside the
freezer, pack freezer full of stuff, ice cube bags possibly, attach a pump
to a thermic switch, and off you go, pump the water through the freezer to
cool it down.
Not very energy efficient but still more so than the chiller units you can
buy for aquariums, and a damn sight cheaper. So long as the wife can
handle a beer cooler in the living room

.... Drill a third hole to fit a tap in it, then? (I can hear the arguments
now, "honest honey, its for the health of the fish... they _need_ it."
:-)

DZ
AW