Janelle Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 Hi everyone, I have a coldwater tank with 72 litres of water. It has 6 white cloud mountain minnows and a single, small goldfish about 4 cm long. About a week and a half ago I bought an underwater thermometer for my tank. I attached the probe to the back of the tank, on the side furthest from the filter, about halfway deep into the water. I've been a little shocked that at most times it will read 22-25C. I didn't think the water got that hot. There were a couple of days recently with cold weather and hail (Christchurch) where the tank temperature went down to 18C. The tank is in the corner and is bordered on two sides by curtained windows. Our lounge is a massive heat trap, no thanks to a north-facing conservatory that comes off it at one side. Great for us humans, but I don't know if it's so great for my goldfish. I'm wondering how to keep my tank at temperature. My goldfish is energetic and seems healthy but will the warmer temperatures lower his immunity? I hear that WCMM are fine in the higher temperatures so I'm not too worried about them. I know I could get a heater to heat the water up, but what's the best way to keep it cool during the warmer days when I'm at work? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 Try taking the lip off, if you've got one, and if you're really keen put a fan blowing over the surface of the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted March 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 That would be impractical for me, unfortunately. My cat likes to jump on the tanks from ground level and I doubt he would stop to check if the glass would a) hold his weight or b) be there at all! A fan is also impractical for me - the equipment for two tropicals and a coldwater tank take up all the available power points near that side of the room. Perhaps when my cat learns to stop jumping on the tank... I have double-sided tape at work as I write this. Thanks for the suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 27, 2007 Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 Nothing wrong with those temperatures. My pond fish live in hotter than that over summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted March 27, 2007 Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 A fan is also impractical for me - the equipment for two tropicals and a coldwater tank take up all the available power points near that side of the room. what, you mean you don't have three multiboards, an extension cord and two double adapters running off the same powerpoint??? (my house is slightly scary, electrically....) Stella Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted March 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 Stella - Not quite, lol. We only have enough multiboards for one per powerpoint in the house. As well as the four fish tanks we also want to power three computers, three TVs, two stereos... and then.... well, that just leaves the powerpoints in the hallway where there is no room to put anything, and the ones in the conservatory. Trust me... the conservatory is NOT SAFE when it comes to constant temperature. Just ask my dead carnivorous plants. =) Because the fish look lively and healthy I'm not really *too* worried about the higher temperatures as I know it will get colder in winter and they are all adaptable types, but the fact my tank temp ranges from 18 to 25.5 within a day worries me slightly. Might just be because I'm new at actually tracking the temp in a fishtank. I've only had the thermometer less than two weeks. I didn't even know a tank at room temperature got that hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 27, 2007 Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 Look at a deep pond. The fish bask in the sun during the day but if something startles them they dive down to the depths. The difference in temperature between the top and the bottom of a deep pond can be a large amount and they go from one to the other instantly with no adverse effects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 No problem with doubling up multiboards as long as you keep it tidy and watch the TOTAL combined load. Dont plug more than 2300watts into one wall socket. But fish tank equipment, computers, stereos etc are all low power devices... probably a 300watt heater is the biggest load. I think there is 15 devices on one of my lounge outlets, but total load is ~1,000 watts max - no problemo. Of course a big electric heater is 2300w by itself, so dont go doubling those up :-? Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 I'd be more concerned about the temp your tank will get to in the summer. Maybe your cat will be trained by then ! (My poor fish have been sitting at about 14 degrees this week!! Yes.. that's indoors!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 Your temperature it fine. Right now my swordtails and lepoard danios are also sitting ducks at 14 degrees, getting a heater tomorrow. My white clouds are probably liking it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted June 18, 2007 Report Share Posted June 18, 2007 Mine are at 13 degrees, though I could have sworn it was 3 degrees after spending a while up to my bicep in it trying to scrape algae (eftpos cards are brilliant algae scrapers!!!). Those tropical owners don't know how good they have got it! I have been looking over my power bills since January. Latest bill was $60, peak of summer it was $80..... the difference is in not cooling my fishtank!!! (I had a fan and a chiller, um and I think that month I managed to leave the freezer partly open for over 24 hours....) (oh and no I don't have gas, that is my whole power bill..... I'm very scottish and cheap....) The native fish lab at massey is apparently in an air-conditioned room of 12 degrees year round. I wouldn't worry about fish getting too cold unless it got to 5 degrees or less for a long period. Oh, Caryl, you mentioned pond fish basking at the surface then diving into cold water. Very good point, only I wonder if it should really only be applied to still-water fish? My natives are from swift streams and rivers where there would be little opportunity for such changes. Hmmm..... but don't they say sudden temperature changes can cause swim-bladder issues for goldfish? Too many thoughts at once.... Stella Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljtan55 Posted June 18, 2007 Report Share Posted June 18, 2007 My goldfish tank went up to 31 degrees in summer (flat is really really wam), the goldfish were fine but ate a lot more and seemed really hyper all the time. They grew really quick too.. maybe the heat increases their metabolism? I ended up floating frozen coke bottles to get the temp down, but it didn't make much of a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelsta Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 I doubt this is very good for your fish, but someone I knew used to freeze her tank water in ice cube trays and pop a couple in on especially hot summer days. I think it was pointless, personally, because goldfish are fine in warmer water a long as you do proper regular water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 A lot of people do that, or similar kelsta. Some of us have to resort to such methods in summer to keep the temperature down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sub.z Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 My tank is keep at 22 degrees my a heater, they all seem happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vippy Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 I doubt this is very good for your fish, but someone I knew used to freeze her tank water in ice cube trays and pop a couple in on especially hot summer days. That or those re-freezable ice-packs so that what goes in the tank melts and all comes back out (looks a bit dinky though). T'would cause less evaporation than a fan blowing over the top too I'd guess..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 You need a surprising amount of ice to keep a tank cool. For my two foot tank (60x30x30ish) I was using three to four 3-litre bottles of ice and struggling to keep up. This was the middle of summer and trying to keep it down under 20 degrees for native fish. I was always paranoid about dropping the wet bottles and the freezer never worked fast enough. Then I went away for the weekend and lost all my koaro!!! 29 degrees at 11pm, despite getting the temp as low as I could and pulling the curtains before I left. Then I got a chiller. Now I use a fan. Yes it evaporates lots of water into my house, but it is more effective, less noisy and I think cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelsta Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Oh so ice cubes is an ok thing to do - wow I'm learning so much already from you guys Fishkeeping has always been a bit hit and miss for me up until ow because you just have to guess a lot and rely on info from the pet stores, but you guys are all so knowledgable - it's fantastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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