The Puffer Forum

Hi all.
I'm fighting the problem of keeping a steady room temp in the summer heat. I was curious to see if anyone has any suggestions or run into the same the problem. I live in an apartment and we are just starting to get into the hot days of the summer here. My apartment has an in wall air conditioner but it doesn't have a thermostat. Only a dial with warmer and cooler. Not very helpful. I didn't have aquariums last summer and didn't use my air con and the temp in the apartment would easily get to 85 or 90 on a hot day.

If anyone has any suggestions they would be much appreciated. I'm still fairly new to this hobby and I'm not really very familiar with how much the changing room temp will actually affect the temp in my tanks or bother my fish? Say I just leave the AC going and just keep the apartment cool with the temp bouncing around somewhere below 72. Will the heaters in the tanks simply keep the temps at 78 as the room temp bounces around? How hard is it going to be on my tanks if the temp in the room is going up and down 5 degrees a day or possibly 10 degrees?

The more thoughts or opinions I can get on this would be really helpful. I'm trying to understand the severity of the problem and determine what I need to do to manage it

Thanks everyone

The heater should keep the temp from dropping below 78, assuming that you don't set it for a different temperature. If it doesn't, you have a problem with the heater. As for the hotter days, I've learned that my fish can withstand daily swings of about 7 degrees with no problem, which is the biggest they've been through. My room gets very hot, and most days it's up to 85.

Somewhere on this page is a bit about how to cool the water if it gets too hot. (Kudos to Yunachin, who gave me this link in the first place.)

If you're seeing a high temperature on a daily basis, but one that's not high enough to warrant lowering it, get an airstone if you don't already have one. Hot water holds less oxygen.

Somewhere on... this page... http://www.theclownfishforum.com/forum/ ... f=35&t=243... Yep, I totally meant to save the link for the next post...

You mentioned setting the heater at 78 and then it will hold the tank at that temp as long as the room temperature stays at least a few degrees below that temp. The heaters in both of my tanks have never actually been set at the temp I wanted the tank at. I had to leave them in the tank for a while and adjust them to find the correct spot for my tank temperature. So during the winter I had the room temp in the apartment set at 65 (I know it's kinda cold but I gotta keep the bills low so I have more money to spend on my fish right) and as summer has come around I've had turn down the heaters in the tank to keep the temps correct as the room temp has gone up to around 75. Are these just crappy heaters that I have? Can I get one that will actually hold to the temp that it's set to on the dial? Right now my puffer tank has the heater set at 72 but the tank temp is just below 80?

Well, the problem you're having is that the temperature in the room is higher than the temperature you've set the heater at. Your heater is blameless in the matter. It can't lower temperatures, only raise them. Unless this heater is for a coldwater tank, the current temp is perfectly fine. If, however, you need to lower it, you can't rely on the heater. You'll have to use a chiller, which is extremely expensive, or the methods I linked you to.

Last summer we had temperatures which caused my the temp in both of my tanks in one room to reach ~30c at one point: even with all the doors and windows open, and fans blowing, the temp would not reduce. My solution was:

1. A part water-change with cooler (but not cold) water to help ease it;
2. Increased aeration by adding airstones to maximise the amount of oxygen available;
3. Turning tank lights off (they heat up);
4. Filling empty soda bottles with water, freezing them, and then floating them in the tank.

The combination worked and temperatures went back to reasonable levels (~25c).

Also, post moved to General Discussion.

I understand that the heater will never be able to cool down the tank and if the room temp in the apartment is above the tank temps then the tank will warm up.

It sounds like you're saying that if I go home and set my heater at 78 degrees the heater will only kick in below that temp. Currently my apartment sits at about a 75 to 77 degrees C and my tanks sit at about 80 to 81 degrees even though the heater is set at 72 degrees? So how does that happen on a day that the room temp never gets about 77 degrees if the heater will only kick in below 78 degrees? The tank is not in direct sunlight and I keep the shades closed all all day anyway to keep the temps down.

Can I ask a quick question on here, it is mentioned to turn the tank lights off will this affect the fish if the lights are off for a heatwave if you need to keep the tank cooler? thanks

No, I wouldn't think so. Unless you have a planted tank the effects will be negligible particularly if it's a very sunny day! Perhaps if you have a river tank setup the fish may be affected but even then I doubt it. If you need high lighting levels for plants, then that's a consideration but then I've always felt people to be a bit unethical when they place greater importance on the plants in their tank than the actual inhabitants...

I had this problem. My temp was up to 86! I turned off the tank lights and floated freezable plastic things that go in your drink- they are stick-shaped- in ziplock baggies in the tank. By the morning, the temp was back to 80. I also keep the curtains closed, especially on the East side because the sun really does blare in and heat up the tanks (not to mention the room).

Those things that come in water bottles - great idea! I bet that they have a chemical that keeps them from melting as fast as water, too. I have one lying around - I'll have to try it.

Hey, brooksst, how's the temp doing?

I put them in ziplocks so they weren't SO cold and just in case one thought it might leak.

in the uk no problem with tanks overheating it rarely gets over 27 degrees her3 ein summer. currently my house in day is about 25 at night 22 so i havnt had the heating on atall for a while now all just unplugged..... nice 2L bottle of frozen water should keep it down in the day i guess