# lowering water temps during summer



## knotty dreadlocks (Oct 31, 2008)

i have a 60 gallon malawi tank with 17 cichlids in there. im running it with 2 xp3s and 1 ac110. summertime is coming up and my room gets pretty hot during this time. i would like to keep my water temp around 78. does anyone know a good and cheap way or any links to help me out in keeping water temps low before they start to heat up. thanks for your help


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Blowing a fan across the surface of the water is supposed to help a degree or two. If you need more than that, the least expensive is to air condition the room.


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## angrybeerguy (Aug 5, 2003)

Frozen water bottles work good


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

angrybeerguy said:


> Frozen water bottles work good


In 10 and 20g tanks, sure. In anything bigger, no way. I have a 75 gallon tank that you could dump 30 gallons of ice into and it would bring it down maybe a degree or two... for like an hour.

Using fans will lower the temp 2-3 degrees. If your room gets hot, keep the windows open to keep heat exchange going. Use a fan on the tank, no lights, no hood. You could also turn one of those filters off. In the summer I often remove my heater altogether so as to not risk it.


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

This may give you the opportunity to do smaller more frequent water changes.
Since a couple of my tanks are in a hot room I do water changes every other day at about 25%.
The cold water going into the tank drops the temp about 5*F and within the next day or two it gets back up and I change some water again.

I do like the fan idea, if you keep those going the water shouldn't get over the acceptable range.
Night time would also be an ideal time to keep those fans going and drop the temp. a few degrees.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

One thing to think about is that the African rift lakes do not change temperature at night because they are so large. Nor do the tanks our fish are raised in since most of us have heaters. So the bounce of 5 degrees might not be ideal for keeping their resistance to disease and parasite at the maximum.


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

DJRansome said:


> One thing to think about is that the African rift lakes do not change temperature at night because they are so large. Nor do the tanks our fish are raised in since most of us have heaters. So the bounce of 5 degrees might not be ideal for keeping their resistance to disease and parasite at the maximum.


I agree.... Using fans to cool helps to keep the temp more consistent.


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

I agree about the consistency of a lake's temperature.
But then again, most fish experience multiple large scale temperature fluctuations at various times in their lives and many go unscaved.

Consider when you transport or move fish.
Also a heater malfunction or power loss.
It happens and usually no harm done, especially due to temperature.

I will be honest, I regularly drop the temperatures in my tanks from water changes.
Anytime they get to 80*F or higher I do a cool water change and it will drop about 5*F.
Disease has never been induced by a temperature drop, not even at the magnitude of 5*F.
I would be more worried about a large scale swing in the other direction.

Not trying to devalue what you are saying, only wanted to point out that it may do more good, in this case, than bad.
It is a practice I have used for years and will continue to do so until it causes harm to the fish.


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## knotty dreadlocks (Oct 31, 2008)

yeah for some reason my room in the house is always the one to get the hottest. the tank is in the corner. how much clearance should be around the tank for adequate air circulation i belive theres 2 in on one side and 6 on the back side. id rather not get a chiller so its time to invest in a good fan


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## raggs715 (Mar 6, 2009)

you could even get two smaller fans and place one on each side then one large one, the goal is to encourage evaporation, in my room gets super hot too, i usually just remove the hood or open the hood and it def drops the temp when i dont have my AC on...witht he fans you will have nice evaportaion then eveyr other day or so top it off with cool water...


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

It's not the sides of the tank you are trying to blow the air on but across the top of the surface of the water.


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## tankhead (Aug 8, 2008)

I think you are fighting an up hill battle if the room is not air conditioned.


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## edouthirt (Jan 22, 2008)

> I think you are fighting an up hill battle if the room is not air conditioned.


I agree, a fan is only going to do so much.

Without a heater or fan (or any other temp controlling device) I have found that my tank temp stays consistently about 4 degrees warmer than room temp in my house. I'm assuming this is due to lights, and heat given off by the motors in my filters and powerheads. Regardless, in the summer, when room temp creeps up to 78 (I keep my ac set there), I run a fan in my canopy which knocks 2 degrees off... so without the fan I would be at 82 degrees... with it it stays steady at 80 degrees.

My heater is plugged in year-round, but I'm sure it only comes on in the winter when the room temp get's down to about 68 or 70 degrees. Through the entire year the tank temp only varies from about 78 degrees in the winter to 80 degrees in the summer.

Definitely try the fan idea. It is the easiest solution and cheapest solution (apart from more frequent water changes as *smellsfishy1* suggested wich I wouldn't advise as I agree with others that a consistent temp is important). I was amazed how well it worked, but again, don't expect more than a 2 or 3 degree differnece out of a fan. If you need more than that, you will probably need to do something else.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

If you are running canister filtration, 
http://www.crazypc.com/products/cooling/reservoirs.htm#radiator
Add a fan to blow thru the heat exchanger??? :-?


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

Just another thought, if you could get the evaporator coils from an old fridge..clamp your return tubing to it??? An old air conditioner has kinda the same thing..pretty much anything that would allow your water to pass thru as a radiator/heat exchanger..goes without saying, the materials need to be safe, yes.


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

KaiserSousay said:


> If you are running canister filtration,
> http://www.crazypc.com/products/cooling/reservoirs.htm#radiator
> Add a fan to blow thru the heat exchanger??? :-?


Not many of those are designed to handle the volume that we'd be throwing through it.


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## tankhead (Aug 8, 2008)

IF the room is too hot, a fan will not help at all. A fan is cooling to people because the evaporation takes the heat off with the moisture. With a fish tank, the water will equal the room air; therefore, resulting in no loss of heat. If the water is heated from a heater or lights, then you may seem some equilibration with the room. Bottom line - Hot room = hot tank.


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

tankhead said:


> IF the room is too hot, a fan will not help at all. A fan is cooling to people because the evaporation takes the heat off with the moisture. With a fish tank, the water will equal the room air; therefore, resulting in no loss of heat. If the water is heated from a heater or lights, then you may seem some equilibration with the room. Bottom line - Hot room = hot tank.


If this were completely true then I'd like you to explain how the tank in my garage stays under 75 degrees during the summer when the ambient temp in my garage stays in the mid 80's.

The only cooling is by 2 fans overhead.


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## tankhead (Aug 8, 2008)

There are many reasons. Are you using the same device to measure both water and air? If the tank is large enough, the temp will not fluctuate as much as the air since it will cool slightly at night and warm some during the day.


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## knotty dreadlocks (Oct 31, 2008)

under_control said:


> tankhead said:
> 
> 
> > IF the room is too hot, a fan will not help at all. A fan is cooling to people because the evaporation takes the heat off with the moisture. With a fish tank, the water will equal the room air; therefore, resulting in no loss of heat. If the water is heated from a heater or lights, then you may seem some equilibration with the room. Bottom line - Hot room = hot tank.
> ...


thanks all for the help. the fan idea helped alot.


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