Yep, summer is fast approaching and people up here will again start to worry about how their fish will cope. We'll use fans on the tanks, water changes, frozen water bottles, investing in water chillers.
My wife and I just installed a window aircon - $430 Kelvinator 2.7k, for the lounge room. Now the humans will be happy as well as the fish! It's win/win for all!!
If you have the means, your dollars are better spent on an aircon instead of a water chiller IMO, and rid yourself of all that hassle. :wink:
well thankfully i only have 3 tanks upstairs now, but they get pretty warm at the best of times with lights/lids/hood on, so i usually take a lid or 2 off them and open the hood, seems to keep them happy.
my tanks downstairs are not doing too bad, pretty good airflow down there, plus the concrete seems to keep it cool so i'm doing alright. :wink:
I have a few lids made from eggcrate that I swap for the glass ones I used through winter, helps evaporation but keeps the jumpy fish in the tank. AC is the go though, so long as you're prepared to pay for it to be on round the clock.
I have one hot room, garage.. Only has 2 tanks.
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Frenchy :D
yeah i use mesh lids in summer it keeps the tanks cool but not coll enough so i put frozen coke bottles in the water but i think i will be gettin AC 8)
It's a good time for people with discus as their heaters aren't working as hard :wink:
On hot days the high velocity fan does wonders, last year I never had any worries at all, temp stayed under 30 degrees.
I have the filters high up in the tank to really agitate the water surface. Just have to watch the evapouration.
Frenchy :D
Many fish will cope with the higher temperature but it's the lack of oxygen at the higher temperature that causes the problems.
So make sure you increase the airation in your tanks over the summer period in addition to trying to keep the water cooler.
Or you can go down the reverse cycle air conditioner - good for summer and winter - imo that's the way to go if you've got a number of tanks.
Cheers
Matt
Most important thing is aeration.
Its the lack of oxygen that kills the fish.
Gutter guard is good too, and a fan blowing directly onto the surface with good water flow in your tank. Although all this looks a bit haphazard setup when vistors come over. Aircon fixed that hassle however. :roll: