I live in a small house and the its always very warm in here but with the recent hot weather I cant seem to keep the tamp of my tank down. Its 160l and seems set at around 30! Ive tried floating icecubes to drop the temp and even tried a water change but cant seem to get results that last?

Does anyone else have this problem?

a fan blowing across the surface of the water works, or else freezing a 2.25 litre bottle of water and then fl,oating that in the tank.

I wish we had a problem with it being hot down here :-?

Are you serious timtam, yesterday was 28c in the shade here and 30 in my fish room and 34 on the town clock, and my mates car said 33 outside temp, dam it was muggy I'd much prefer cooler weather after that although it was nice at the river!

If your going to use ice your wasting your time

A pedestal fan blowing on the surface of your water will cool the water below room temp

Its the only way to do it properly without Airconditioning or a Chiller

Ill get herefishiefishie to post up a pic for ya

Brad

Do I have to Brad :lol: We just had this chat over here online. i have been doing this for years. Have to here in sunny Queensland..

Frenchy

do you find a fan will cool it by very much?

Haven't lost a fish in 3 summers. And I have lake Tangy's too. They hate the water over 29 & as I said I am in Qld. Sub tropical here. We can get a few 30 plus days in a row in summer. I can't remember which scientific law/principle it uses, but there is one. :lol:

What happens is heat rises, the fan is blowing away the heat energy. I also have the filters set so surface agitation is high too.

Frenchy

The fans evaporate water, which cools down whats left, like sweating.

Now in this horrid muggy humid weather, that will not work. I find it so funny that places sell those evaporative coolers which have no show of working in the typical hot weather.

Now in this horrid muggy humid weather, that will not work.

Are you talking about the fan method.

If you are, then you are wrong. As I said before, I am in Queensland, sub tropical Aussie......it isn't a dry heat here either. :roll: Unless the 3 years of me doing this has been a total fluke.:lol:

You have to be careful with ice cubes too. When you freeze water, you change the composition of it. Therefore to many ice cubes will change the water parameters. If you want to use ice, freeze coke bottles filled with water or similar.

Frenchy

The fan method will work in a humid area

Next time you find yourself in a humid spot simply sit yourself in front of a fan and you will notice the air hitting your face is colder then the still air

In a hot fish tank the hotter water rises and some heat loss happens at the surface of the water

If your using a fan the airmovement will move this hot air make the air above the water alittle cooler

The heat from the water will try and rise again as the air above is colder and heat rises

Therefore eventually you will remove enough heat from the water to safely cool your tank

When i first use ice in my tank I had a 600 litre tank and i added 12x 3litre bottles of solid ice

All of them melted within 30mins and i noticed a drop from 30c to 29c

The pedastal fan dropped it from 30c to 25c within 2 hours and kept it there all summer

I know what id prefer to do and I know what works

Ice is a waste of time and money IMO

Brad

I still like the Frozen Bottle idea, as I know it works well, and is not costing you power

You must tell me your secret to geting free ice

I usually have to freeze water in my freezer, which raises it temperature which in turn causes it to use more energy, therefore still costing me money

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

Each unfrozen item you add to the freezer raises the temp, which means the compressor runs longer, which uses more power. Its not a huge amount, but you can't say it doesn't cost you more, because it does.

I'd expect the fan to cost about the same (probably all of 2 cents) as a solution for when the temp gets too high. Power usage is based on kW/hr not how much stuff is plugged in lol

Just depends which is more convinent for you. If I was home regularly, I'd go ice, if nobody was home during the day, I'd use a fan. If I actually could afford it, I'd get a chiller 8)

None of my fish mind 30C tho so I'v enever had to.

:lol:

I know which is easy & for the sake of a few cents, I mean really...{yawns} For a start, how much do you value your time? My time is worth more than a few cents, having to run back & forth from the fish tank. Then there is work, which I sort of need to do. On my days off, turn the fan on & enjoy the day. Nice & hot, 8) off to the beach for some eye candy :lol: With the fan going on the tank, circulates the air in the room too

The thought of having a frozen bottle circulating in the tank, banging into the glass isn't the greatest of ideas either...:roll:

Frenchy

Thanks heaps for all your help. I have a fully inclosed tank so the fan idea isn't too practical but sounds good anyway. (I have jumpers so can't have an open top tank) Will go with the coke bottle idea for this summer and maybe try somthing else for next summer!

Didn't you notice the mesh on top of my tank in the photo. I have cichlids of which alto's are expensive, sensetive & good jumpers

If your tank is full inclosed & its hot, be prepared to have 10 bottles in frezzer & alot of walking.

Frenchy

i use 2 large pc fans on my tank, firing from one end to the other, it is open top and has 2x 150w metal halides over it, the fans are controlled by a timer set to come on 30min before the lights and 1 hour after the lights go off. i also have a pedistal fan over my sump that is connected to a temp comtroller using the chiller output.

i also use the frozen coke bottle idea, i aim to keep my tank below 27*C so if i notice it just getting over than i will drop a 2.25ltr frozen bottle in and this will drop it back under 27, i have a total volume of around 600ltrs and the frozen bottle will drop it around .5*C and thats with the lights on.

i have a saltwater set up, but the same should apply to freshwater. IMO fans are the way to go, unless you can afford to buy and run a chiller or aircon the room.

I've seen a commercial breeder use bottles of ice to induce spawning in his corys....

They actually lay their eggs on the side of the bottle.

8) cool cats 8)?

Mystic

If the tank is 30c the Ice in the bottle will melt exactly in the same time doesnt matter where in the world you are

Maybe your summer isnt as long as here though the 30c is still the same

The fan method will work alot better then ice though it isnt easiest for everyone

If your talking tanks that are getting larger IE larger the 100litre then Ice is a waste of time if you want to cool the tank properly

Brad

Even in my little 300L tank frozen 2.25 l coke bottles are a waste of time. Take 3 hours to freeze, 20 minutes to completely melt and drop the temperature by about .1 degree.

So, by my calculations to drop the tank by 1 degree I'd have to have 10 coke bottles in the tank which would require a total of 90 with 80 in the freezer at any time freezing.

Firstly ice is free, rebutted nicely by others.

Now its, time frame on heat, wtf???

Now who is nit picky :lol:

Lets run the ice theory for lets say 2-3 days heat.....

So for just a couple of days of real heat, I have to go buy 4-6 x 2litre bottles of coke & drink the contents.{with bourban of course }Full up the empty bottles with water & freeze them. Then rotate these in the tanks, during whatever time is left. Now this will only work if I caught the weather report in time.

Yep I see where you come from. As I said before, if I have to go to work or have a life, sport, socialise... I am stuffed. Most people have one or the other. {I am also a tidy person so coke bottles are not laying around everywhere}

My way of thinking is alot harder though, so please bear with me....

Grab the family fan in the lounge room, {most people have a fan} place it next to the tank, take the lids off the tank & turn the fan on.

Wow, that was hard.

We aren't always 30 degrees here too. Been that once this week & maybe again on Saturday. So it's a case here of fans on one day, then not again to maybe Saturday. We might get a run of hot days. Once or twice a summer. Gold Coast isn't too bad.

But, get this......

Over here I know it will get hot, therefore I could store frozen coke bottles, blows your theory out of the water so to speak there too.

Mystic

If the tank is 30c the Ice in the bottle will melt exactly in the same time doesn’t matter where in the world you are

Wow Brad, I will have to start calling you Nostro....

& on this note

The fan method will work alot better then ice though it isn’t easiest for everyone

If your talking tanks that are getting larger IE larger the 100litre then Ice is a waste of time if you want to cool the tank properly

Perfect. Could of added multiple tanks too Brad.

Ira gave a good example too. The thing is Mystic, me & Brad, Ira have tried the ice theory. No good for us at all.

The fan is perfect for long term too, I store the fly screen mesh away in winter, it’s always there. You never know, if the global warming theory is true, you may need to find a long term solution too. {hope not}

Frenchy

Yep I see where you come from. As I said before, if I have to go to work or have a life, sport, socialise... I am stuffed. Most people have one or the other. {I am also a tidy person so coke bottles are not laying around everywhere}

Are you criticising us low-life scum who don't have day jobs and instead spend our days talking to fishies and browsing fishkeeping forums :-?

What about the sport or socialise. You would think everyone would at least have friends. :lol: Run errands.....Even low life scum have to make deals...

My answer about the use of fans over ice & time was directed towards the majority. As in most people still have lives to lead & sadly can't be with there fish all day.

Frenchy

The fan method will work in a humid area

Next time you find yourself in a humid spot simply sit yourself in front of a fan and you will notice the air hitting your face is colder then the still air

In a hot fish tank the hotter water rises and some heat loss happens at the surface of the water

If your using a fan the airmovement will move this hot air make the air above the water alittle cooler

The heat from the water will try and rise again as the air above is colder and heat rises

Therefore eventually you will remove enough heat from the water to safely cool your tank

When i first use ice in my tank I had a 600 litre tank and i added 12x 3litre bottles of solid ice

All of them melted within 30mins and i noticed a drop from 30c to 29c

The pedastal fan dropped it from 30c to 25c within 2 hours and kept it there all summer

I know what id prefer to do and I know what works

Ice is a waste of time and money IMO

Brad

Interesting theory.

My rudimentary understanding is that the fan increases evaporation by increasing the kinetic energy in the water molecules at the surface. ie their speed. The faster they are moving, the more energy they have to break the surface tension. As the faster-moving molecules escape, the remaining molecules have lower average kinetic energy, and the temperature of the liquid thus decreases. You can speed up molecules a number of ways but the obvious ones are increasing their temperature or increasing the air movement at the surface and this is what the fan does. Moving air ie wind feels colder than still air through the same process on your skin as the skin moisture molecules average speed is increased. (The air itself is NOT colder) Humidity also affects the rate of evaporation as the surrounding air nears its saturation point, it is unable to pickup anymore water molecules.

I sure that someone will correct me if I have any of this wrong

Well bascially we have said the same thing though your way is alot more technical

I should have said the Air feels colder at the start of my last post

Also your right as the Humidity gets higher this method works slower though it will still work in a humid area until 100% saturation is reached

As a Forecast Analyst I would assume you have been taught on the subject and would agree that the fan method will work alot better then frozen Ice

I am still wondering Mystic why your Ice melts slower then everyone elses?

Brad