# Air conditioner broken....tanks overhearting



## Shahlvah (Dec 28, 2011)

My air conditioner is out, and though the tech came and evaluate and order the parts, is going to take like 3 to 5 business days for the parts to arrive. 
In the meanwhile we are literally cooking alive in the Texas heat, the house is over 90 degrees inside and my tanks are overheating, 90 + degrees.....I started with floating ice bags, with very little result, I am doing water changes, 50-60% but the max that the temperature goes down is to 86.9.....any ideas?my discus seem to be fine, but my mbunas are pretty distress...I went to Wal-Mart and bought some pretty big fans that I have right in front of the tanks and the dog crates....no use to have the windows open, the temperature out side was 94 today.....I am freaking out, today my striated loach died (one of them), I am just wondering who will be next?
Help please!!!


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## Fishy_Cichlid (Aug 4, 2011)

Well, you did the right thing by putting in frozen water bottles. A fan is actually quite effective but its performance depends on its position. Keep the aquarium lid open and see if its possible to place the fan(s) in such a way that it blows into the water. I live in a hot country and all my aquariums have large ventilating fans built into the hood. You will be lucky if the humidity levels are low. With a fan blowing into the water surface & low humidity, there will be rapid evaporation leading to considerable reduction in temperature. The only disadvantage is that you must keep an eye on the water level and need to refill more often. I would also advice adding a extra aerator. Hope this helps.
Regards - Jay


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## quentin8 (Sep 30, 2011)

If your lucky enough to have all your tanks in one room, i would see if you could find a cheap window unit on craigslist and just condition the fish room.. 3 or 5 more days is going to be a major headache. I hope it all works out for you.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I'm a HVAC tech, and deal with commercial a/c, building automation, etc. If your a/c system isn't very old, the parts should never take 3-5 days. I'd bet they're putting you off, to deal with other calls/customers. What exactly is the problem? Also, as Quentin suggested, buy a window unit. They're somewhat inexpensive, and will get your room nice and frosty. Or, look into renting a 'spot cooler'. You should be able to find a provider online and have it delivered... as long as you don't live in the middle of nowhere.


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## ranchialex (Dec 4, 2011)

Fishy_Cichlid's advice is sound. He taught me most of what I know 

I bought a clamp-on aquarium cooling fan (4 small computer fans running side by side, blowing down 3-4" from the surface) and I'm astounded how cool it keeps my tank. It's still Summer here in India and 100+ (39ish) every day, yet my tank is well under 85 (30c) thanks to the cooling fans and a powerhead I have pointed up that really breaks the surface dramatically.


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## Shahlvah (Dec 28, 2011)

I thank you all for your replies...I am still weathering this heat....
Last night I did a 50% water change on both tanks, the water temp went down to 85 degrees, since the house is so hot...
I don't want to get to technical in the AC deal, but I have just pay over $2,000.00 for a part replacement, everything started with a leak that damaged my ceiling in the first floor...imagine that, I have aquariums all over the house and the water damage I get from the AC unit....figure that out, so I call the builder, they send me the company that installed the unit, they said I need a new "honeycomb" the thing cost me over $2,000.00 and they had to completely dismantle the whole unit to install the part, well, one week later the whole thing sounds like a train.....so I call back, the guy come kind of fix it and before leaving said, the whole thing is un-level and that that sounds is your wheel and the motor about to go off....if I was you I will buy a service contract...
What????
So I run that through my sweet husband in Afghanistan as soon as he made contact and I got the contract....5 days later the thing literally explode....the wheel broke, the pieces jammed the motor and God knows what else....
so a window unit as good idea as it is, at this time is not possible because I am practically broke.
I am quting the aquarium fans, maybe I have enough for some of those....I think that might work and I might be able to afford it.
The thing here is that I don't want to break the cycle in any of my aquariums, so I am also checking the parameters, too much too many water changes will not force me to re-cycle my tanks?
I am also floating bottles with frozen water....at least the fish can go near and get some relief.


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## Fishy_Cichlid (Aug 4, 2011)

I hope you are able to sort out things. The summers have been very hot this year in my country, way close to 110 with high moisture content.

My limited experience with this hobby has taught me two things to beat the heat. First, Circulation - here I mean water and Air. Second - forced air cooling. A ventilating fan sometimes called a Exhaust Fan works great. One just needs to make it face the opposite direction, so that instead of sucking the air out of the tank, it blows air into it. Another aspect, when installing the fan is to make sure that there are sufficient and big outlets (if one has a hood). So the fan blows air into the tank water. There is Heat Transfer, and the warmer air goes out of the many big openings. The problem in big tanks is the water quantity. Since the specific heat isnt low, it requires considerable time to lower the temperature in the absence of a cooling fan and large volume of water. The effect of branded aquarium cooling fans (specially those bigger PC fans) is limited. One needs a bigger fan for a bigger tank when temperatures soar.

With rise in temperatures, the percentage of oxygen in the water reduces i.e. a lower saturation point. So fish may suffer from lack of oxygen. High aeration with aerator wands etc needs to be immediately installed.

Hope things work out fine and your AC is rectified soon. Losing fish can be hurting. All the best.


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## Shahlvah (Dec 28, 2011)

\Both tanks are open, fans are blowing almost on top of them....I have only lost one fish so far, an striated loach, queen at eating plague snails.... I will have to get another one....I was sad, she was so handsome and such a good worker. Today it has been raining here so it is not as hot as yesterday, still both tanks are at 88.2 degrees....discus are enjoying the warm water.....mbunas not so much. Lucipinis....going nuts!!!!!


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## iwade4fish (Jan 5, 2009)

freeze/refrigerate rocks, ask neighbors to do the same. They will figure out you are a fish geek sooner or later :wink:  
I fear the same here in Florida, keep us posted, please.


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## Fishy_Cichlid (Aug 4, 2011)

This summers, the temperatures hovered between 30deg C (86 F) to a max of 46deg C (114.8 F), mean temp close to 37-38 deg C (around 99 F). The temperatures in my tanks with the cooling were at max 28 deg C (82.4 F) and the other big one at 30 deg C (86 F). This winters, I will be installing two large exhaust fans in my fish room so that theres no stale air build-up in the room when I go to work.

The equipments also give out some heat - lights, pumps, powerheads etc. Best to keep the lighting off and the tank dark. Water changes should not affect your Bio-filtration unless the tank has just been cycled.


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## papasmurf (May 21, 2003)

I had the same thing happen last year (central texas) some time around july or august. It was 90 in the house and I had to move out for a few days while they ordered the parts for the A/C (blower motor was out after one year and took 3-4 days to arrive). The tank got up to about 88-90 degrees for a few days. I had egg crate over the top to keep the fish from jumping while I had the canopy open and box fans blowing across the top as best I could. I moved all the outlet's for the canister filters and my koralia to the top of the water column to create as much of a disturbance as possible since the oxygen level would be reduced with the higher temps. The tank was heavily stocked and luckily I did not lose a single one. I came really close to buying a small window unit and sealing off the room but in the end decided against it. Assuming it does not get any warmer (and it is not as warm yet as it was last year) I think you will be okay.


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## Shahlvah (Dec 28, 2011)

Frozen ice water bottles floating in the tanks, temp at 92.4 degrees...and at 7:40pm finally relief, the AC tech came and fix the AC unit. he left near 11:30pm. But the AC unit is working finally, temperature is dropping quickly and the temp in the tanks is now showing at 88.4....and dropping....what a relief.
After 6 agonizing scorching days only one death....my striated loach. May he rest in peace.


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## Fishy_Cichlid (Aug 4, 2011)

That sure was some relief. Hope things are better now with the fish. I would continue with the increased aeration till moderate water temperatures are reached.


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## Shahlvah (Dec 28, 2011)

As I continue with the fans in the room and the air conditioner is finally working fine, the Mbuna tank has lower to 84.0 degrees (from 92.7 2 days ago)...making progress little by little and I am letting the tank cool slowly as not to stress the fish more than they have already been stress with the rise of the temperature. My 240 is steady at 83.2 degrees, Discus and tetras are happy and eating well. :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: 
I thank you all for all your help....I was literally freaking out!!!


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## Shahlvah (Dec 28, 2011)

I forgot to tell you...my amano shrimp comit suicide when the temperature was so high...they jumped out of the tank, the 3 of them....RIP


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## FanOfSkynyrd (Nov 25, 2012)

I am not an HVAC expert, but usually when an A/C system blows out hot air it means that its frozen up (i.e. ice on the coils).

If this is the case, turn it off for a little while so the ice melts...then call an HVAC repairman ASAP. It could be something as simple as cleaning out the a/c or something more in depth like ur a/c is working overtime trying to cool an area that is larger than its rated for.

Call in the experts on this one I say.


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## dledinger (Mar 20, 2013)

FanOfSkynyrd said:


> I am not an HVAC expert, but usually when an A/C system blows out hot air it means that its frozen up (i.e. ice on the coils).


And....generally, frozen means low refrigerant, and low refrigerant means a leak.


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