# How hot is too hot for haps and peacocks?



## weldeng (Jul 20, 2008)

My tanks are in a room that the AC cant keep below 82F in the summer. The heat from the lights and pumps increases my water temp up to as high as 84.5F. For haps and peacocks is 84.5F going to harm the fish?


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## why_spyder (Mar 2, 2006)

In the long-term, it probably will hurt them. Higher temperatures decrease the volume of oxygen the water can hold as well as speed up the fish's metabolism. Your fish will likely live a shorter life if exposed to higher temperatures for a long period of time.

How much light gets into the room from outside? You may want to consider keeping the lights off and letting the outside light illuminate your tank for the summer.

Another option for keeping the water cooler is to increase the waterchange frequency.


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

I keep my 75 hap/peacock tank at 81-82.5 with dual xp3, UV and weekly 50% water changes. They seem to be thriving and spawning just fine. I did get up to about 86 once with a water change that I didn't pay attention to water temp and they didn't look too good with it. Could have been the quick change in temp, can't say for sure...

In the long run, I think you'd do more harm keeping them up that high. If you're looking for ways to cool it down, try mesh/screen tops of some sort and get some air moving across the top of the tank - evaporation cools the water.

Question to consider though... what would happen to your fish if on one summer day your power were out or the AC quit?


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## weldeng (Jul 20, 2008)

morfeus077 said:


> I keep my 75 hap/peacock tank at 81-82.5 with dual xp3, UV and weekly 50% water changes. They seem to be thriving and spawning just fine. I did get up to about 86 once with a water change that I didn't pay attention to water temp and they didn't look too good with it. Could have been the quick change in temp, can't say for sure...
> 
> In the long run, I think you'd do more harm keeping them up that high. If you're looking for ways to cool it down, try mesh/screen tops of some sort and get some air moving across the top of the tank - evaporation cools the water.
> 
> Question to consider though... what would happen to your fish if on one summer day your power were out or the AC quit?


I have floated ziploc bags of ice to cool the water down, 1 qt size bag full of ice reduces temperature by 0.5F. My cold water from tap is 78F during the summer, could do frequent changes during power outage if needed.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Try raising the lights and blowing a fan across the surface of the water. Maybe remove the pumps and opt for another canister instead. I shoot for 78 degrees myself. Why increase their metabolism and shorten their lifespans? Also lower temps are supposed to lower aggression, LOL.

Is it an option to move the tank into a cooler room?


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## lmhollist (Aug 7, 2009)

weldeng said:


> My tanks are in a room that the AC cant keep below 82F in the summer. The heat from the lights and pumps increases my water temp up to as high as 84.5F. For haps and peacocks is 84.5F going to harm the fish?


I had a similar problem with my community tank. Basically had some fish that need cooler water, in the 74 degree range and they were dying off because the temp. was consistantly hitting 80 even with the heater off, the hood up and a fan blowing over the water (I also use a canister filter).

Anyway, rather than go the route of buying something expensive like a chiller I just took an old dorm fridge (the really small kind) and cut a hole in it (sealed up around the holes once I had the tubing placed where I needed it). Then I used one of those old critter containers (kind of like what you would buy for hermit crabs, or a reptile death box, you know, plastic with a colored plastic vented top) and filled it with 3/4 inch tubing and then filled the container with water. I hooked up a pump into one end of the tube to take in water and I just attached the other end into the tank for the outflow.

Anyway, the water in the critter cage acts as a coolant, cooling down the water flowing through the tubing. It took awhile for the fridge to really start cooling it down but now my tank is running at about 76 rather than 80 degrees. I also have a heater in there again that is set to start working if the temp falls below 73 and to quit heating once the temp. reaches 76 again.

I don't know, it's a little bit more elaborate suggestion than what other people have had, but it fixed my temp. issues better than just a fan running across the water did alone.

The fridge sits next to my aquarium on it's own little stand and still has enough room to keep a few drinks in it as well, so it was kind of a convenient option for me that didn't look completely out of place either.


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