Keeping your aquarium cool during summer

[maverick786us]

How do you keep your aquarium cool during intense summer to ensure that the cold water fishes remain healthy? Do the regular heaters from Fluval and Eheim also keep your water colder than the surrounding temperature if you set the temperature between 22 to 27 degree?

 

[hypnogogia]

No, aquarium heaters are not able to keep an aquarium cool. Options are - a chiller (expensive) - basically a fridge that the water flows through, or a fan that blows air at the surface of the tank to keep temperatures down. What fish do you have, what temperature does tank go to in summer?

 

[nijat11]

I just gave up on this, my aquarium goes around 29-30 during summer, yes I get a bit algae because of that, but in general it was ok.

 

[MoFish]

I suppose in an emergency you could drop in some Ice (maybe in a sealed bag if you want to avoid possible contamination). Other than that and the solutions @hypnogogia mentioned, the tank can't get above room temperature (assuming the aquarium heaters are off) so if you have air conditioning in your room set at cooler temp than outside (E.G. 22-25C) it should be fine.

 

[Andy Pierce]

Affordable DIY setup: seems legit.

 

[maverick786us]

No, aquarium heaters are not able to keep an aquarium cool. Options are - a chiller (expensive) - basically a fridge that the water flows through, or a fan that blows air at the surface of the tank to keep temperatures down. What fish do you have, what temperature does tank go to in summer?

1. Red cap angelfish
2. Cherry barb.
3. Glowlight tetra
4. Pygmy Cory, Cory Panda, Green Cry
5. Bristle nose pleco
6. SAE
7. Hillstream Loach.
8. Cherry Shrimp
9. Amano Shrimp

In summer the mercury can hit 102 degrees Faranhite. I am not worried about water becoming too hot. My only concern is cold water fishes like Hillstream loach, if the water gets bit warm, it might cause them stress, thus affecting their immune system.

 

[maverick786us]

I suppose in an emergency you could drop in some Ice (maybe in a sealed bag if you want to avoid possible contamination). Other than that and the solutions @hypnogogia mentioned, the tank can't get above room temperature (assuming the aquarium heaters are off) so if you have air conditioning in your room set at cooler temp than outside (E.G. 22-25C) it should be fine.

I can try that, but those shrimps who are sensitive to sudden change in water parameters, I don't know how they will react

 

[DanDKJ]

You can fill bottles with tank water and freeze them. Then float them in the aquarium, switching them out when they defrost.

 

[MoFish]

I imagine since the ice will be floating and that shrimps are typically bottom dwellers it probably wont have a big negative effect.

As the ice melts into cold water, the cold water will naturally fall to the bottom of the tank since cold water is more dense than warm water. However, since it will be melting fairly slowly, the cold water which is melting will probably heat up to/close to the tank temperature before it even reaches the bottom. If you're worried about other parameters, just do as @DanDKJ said and freeze your tank water.

Another thing which may aid in keeping your tank cooler is to partially/fully open the lid of your tank if you have a lid. You will get some passive cooling via convection, even without a fan. Would work better with a fan since that creates more air movement.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

My only concern is cold water fishes like Hillstream loach, if the water gets bit warm, it might cause them stress, thus affecting their immune system.

You need to really maximise dissolved oxygen levels, via plenty of flow, the problem is that <"warm water can hold less dissolved oxygen"> than cooler water. Have a look at <"Aeration and dissolved oxygen article - updated link">.

To use the chart you draw a straight line from your water temperature (on the top bar) through "100% saturation" and it tells you what that is in "mg / l
(ppm) oxygen (O2)". As you can see at 30 oC (86 oF) you only have ~ 7.5 mg / l O2 and that may not be enough.

cheers Darrel