Cooling for fresh water tanks

[Paul_S]

Hello,

I would like to know if any one has any ideas on how to over come heating issues in a American tank. About 4 years ago I lost the last my American cichlids (Parrots) to a heat wave. I live in Central Queensland and temperatures some times hit 38-40 ºC. All my tanks are located in a 6mx7m shed that has a insulated roof and windows. Tank sizes are 4, 5 and 6 footers. My last lot of Parrots died in the 6 footer - sad day.

I intend to restart all of my tanks again and would like to know if there is a cheap way of keeping my tanks cool. We only really get a few weeks of really hot temperatures a year as most summer days are 32-35 ºC. Air Conditioning and chillers would be too expensive for me so I need something cheaper if possible.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Paul.

[Rod54]

The main issue that kills fish in warm water is lack of oxygen

the cheapest way to keep them alive is to add plenty of aeration

Max the dissolved oxygen content in water….

The other issue is ammonia is more toxic in warm water….resist the temptation to overfeed hungry fish

[yanke]

hi

well when my tanks get hot I use the big coke bottles and make ice

then u put 1 in a tank at a time when the ice is gone put 1 more in

it will cool them off some and lots of air in the tank also

but with my main tank 6ft I have a chiller for that one

and my tank in the living room 6ft I have a/c out there

I keep about 20 bottles on hand in the summer time it helps

yanke

[myster619]

Surface agitation.

Get one of those clip on fans and position it at the surface of the water. Evaporative cooling is very effective.

[Paul_S]

Thanks guys. That will give some thing to think about. Its raining here at the moment so its not too bad