Tank evaporation - replacement options?

Denise90

Within the last few weeks, a couple of our tanks seem to have risen in temperature.. maybe about 3 or 4 degrees (these are tanks that have to be kept well below 25 degrees, literally a matter of life or death for our amphibians) I'm beginning to look at cooling options without forking out 400 euro for a chiller, pc fans seem to be the way to go but as far as I understand, they cause a lot more evaporation. My question here is, what is the best replacement liquid to top up with? Distilled, deionized, dechlorinated etc.

Also I've seen deionized in Halfords lately, think it's about a fiver for 5L, but I can't think of where I've seen distilled... chemist maybe?

fred funk }{

How have the tanks temperature risen so much?. It's very rare in Ireland that anyone needs to cool a tank. Seahorse aquariums sell RO water, perfect for top ups.

Sleepy

How high is your home heating?!

The temperature in Ireland hasn't gone above 25 yet this year.

Denise90

Thanks for that, I should have thought of Seahorse, they have everything :rolleyes:

I'm confused as to how the tanks are so warm aswell, the heating has been off for a week and a half now, and it was never set that high in the first place. During the day the tanks rise to 22 or 23, depending on how much sun we let into the room, it stays at 21/22 during the night. One of our axolotls has gotten a fungal infection, he's being treated for it in the fridge at the moment but there's no point putting him back into warm water or it will just come back. Maybe I'm wrong but if the tanks are at that temperature now, surely they'll rise come the height of summer (if we get one )

I'd like to get them down to about 17/18 ideally and swapping out bottles of ice isn't practical for me right now

fred funk }{

There shouldn't be temperature fluctuations like that. It could be that it's getting direct sunlight during the day at some point. That would certainly raise the temperature as it would be like a mini greenhouse.

Sleepy

I'd say if you did a large-ish (say 30%) water change putting in cold tap-water you'd bring the water temperature right down. Is the tank in direct sunlight? I have a cold-water tank that never raises above about 16 degrees (no heater) and two sub-tropical ones with heaters set to 18 degrees in other rooms and none of them ever come near those temps.

Denise90

We try to keep the sun off the tanks mostly, I have the lid lifted for the day now as it's a bit of a scorcher here today so I'll see if that helps, those lids seem to lock in heat.

I do a water change every time the water gets on the high side of 22 but I don't want to be doing it too often. 16 degrees?? We got them in February and the tanks still sat between 18 and 19.. Everyone else complains when their house is cold, I'm hoping for it!
Thanks for the suggestions, think I'll have to go with the fans though if we keep getting days like this. And a digital thermometer because I don't trust those stick on ones that we have!

Sleepy

Oh, that could be your problem: if you're using those silly little black stickers on the side of the tank to judge the temp it could be giving false readings. They're useless.

Any decent petshop will have these in stock: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Glass-Aquarium-Thermometer-Fish-Tank-New-/110883895072?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item19d131f720#ht_1624wt_1139

No need for a fancy digital thermometer, one of these on the inside of the glass will be far more reliable.

Denise90

Ah, i forgot about those ones! Thanks for that, will head in tomorrow and pick up a couple and get an actual reading before I go cutting up plastic and wiring fans!

Bebo stunnah

Sleepy wrote: »

How high is your home heating?!

The temperature in Ireland hasn't gone above 25 yet this year.

It's been above that twice here in the last 2 days, both my temperature gauges say that the tank it up at 25.5 degrees, opening the windows seems to have a slight effect on mine, but I read somewhere what floating ice in a bag helps to bring down the temp, but I'd imagine it would have only a slight impact on the temperature and completely dependent on the size of the tank.

Denise90

Our little creatures don't like temperature change at all and we're not at home enough to be constantly swapping out ice to keep it steady, shame really because it's the perfect option!

Bebo stunnah

Here's a whacky idea, just came to me there... but I'm sure somebody somewhere has done it!

If your tank is anywhere near a sink, you could run water through a system (some form of metal grid at the top of your tank) with the exit flow returning to your sink... it would effectively work as a refrigerator! That's assuming you could find parts or the time to set up something like that!

kylith

I don't think that'd be good; the accumulation of chlorine from the tap water would kill your bacteria and probably your fish.

Denise90

Unfortunately the tank is at the opposite side of the kitchen with no room to place it near the sink. I've seen people use old mini fridges and water cooler towers as chillers, which is an option I may look into when I have a bit of time, the pc fans are only a quick fix for now

Bebo stunnah

kylith wrote: »

I don't think that'd be good; the accumulation of chlorine from the tap water would kill your bacteria and probably your fish.

What I mentioned I didn't mean putting the tap water into the tank directly, but I can see why you could have been mistaken. I meant that you run the water through a grid (seperate to the tank water) as an indirect cooler.

But ya, any kind of breeze across the the top of the tank should help... but it wont help the evaporation