Question:The thermometer is currently showing a tempature of 84 degrees F, but I want to lower it to around 76 degrees. I have a water heater, but can that also be used to lower tempature? If not, how can I lower the water tempature?
Answers:
There are many ways to cool down a hot tank.
1. Freeze a water bottle (with water in it) and let it float at the top of your tank until the desired temperature is reached.
2. Place ice cubes in your tank (you'd need alot to lower it down 8 degrees).
3. Change 25% of the water with cold water
I personally like the first one because you can monitor the temperature changes accurately.
~ZTM
Change out about 1/3 of the water with cool water. Turn on the AC in the house if you have it. Try adding ice to the tank.
The water heater won't do you any good during the hot days of summer.
there are a few things that can be causing this. 1. is your house temp high, the water will adjust slightly towards your room temp. 2. at 84 degrees is the light on the heater turning on. if so then you need to adjust the nob on the heater counter clockwise a couple of notches every hour or 2 until you get the tank down to where you want it. 3. is the tank recieving direct sunlight. sunlight will raise your tanks temp on hot sunny days. hope this helps you out.
I answered a similar question earlier, so pardon my pasting part of this same answer;
I have used two methods in particular for my customers (in my maintenance business) that have worked well depending on the temperature and size of the aquarium. Often I have combined both methods;
*Floating frozen 2 liter pop bottles, this can especially work well for tanks less than 60 gallons, although be care on really small aquariums to not shock cool them with too many bottles. In a 40 gallon one bottle is usually sufficient.
*Draping a wet towel over the aquarium and then adding a fan to cool with evaporation. This is a more steady approach to lowering temperature and I recommend this over a fan aimed at the water surface as excess evaporation can cause excess mineral build up in the aquarium.
This may not be necessary with many fish, although some fish such as some catfish and goldfish are much more prone to diseases such as columnaris at temperatures over 80 F.
you could also invest in a chiller...they are a few hundred dollars tho...
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