water temps

[fish_r]

wasnt sure where to put this ?
this is my first yr @ keeping discus. i usually run the tanks @ about 30c
the other day we had a warm day and my tanks got to about 33c and it wasnt really that hot outside and i'm worried i wont be able to keep the temp down when we really start to get the hot weather :cry: today it is 30c ish out side and the tanks have started to rise again currently @ 31c. "midday"
what do u guys do to control ur temps ? i know i can do a water change to do this, but is only a temp fix and when i'm at work in the hottest part of the day i'm worried i might cook my fish :cry:
i do have an aquarium chiller but was hoping not to have to use it as it is noisy and i wanted to sell it for extra cash.
what do u guys do to keep ur temps right through summer ?

[DIY]

I guess I'm lucky that with a large tank and a reasonably well insulated house my temps only get bad after a few really hot days.

I find that temps up to 36 or so for short periods doesn't seem to bother my discus, Things you can do are

Keep the lights off to avoid adding heat.
Add an airstone, higher temps reduce the oxygen levels for the fish.
Take off or open your hood to let heat escape.
Unplug your heater to make sure it's not "sticking" or anything.
with the hood off/open put a pedastal fan blowing over the surface of the water.
I haven't tried this but if it's going to be really hot while youre at work you could drop a large ice block in the tank to help stay cool. I'd be careful about it though.

I'm sure others have some more idea's

[ren]

ive been a bit worried about this issue to being my first summer having fish !

i was thinking of just lowering the tank temp to around 26 or so, so that when the hot days come it will only rise to about 30? or is this theory no good?

[DiscusEden]

I might be the wrong person to answer this, as reading through this forum, I used to do horrible things to my discus. But one of those things, which may have been completely wrong, but seemed to work (the LFS suggested it) was:

Get 4 empty 2L soft drink bottles (cleaned of labels). Fill 3/4 full & place in freezer - this is to allow for water expanding without splitting the bottles. When the day will be hot, place 1 -2 each day in the tank, leaving the others ready for tomorrow. You can continue to re-freeze these.

As I said, this might be a very bad thing, but seemed to work in a 3ft tank in front of a window with no other cooling. I only used it when the day was over 37c.

HTH
DiscusEden

[Merrilyn]

All excellent ideas.

Discus can quite happily survive short term high temps without any problems.

I wouldn't sell your chiller just yet. If the hot weather has just started in your part of the world, and your tank is already reaching temps of 33 degrees, you may have a problem.

Two positive things you can do, is check your heater and make sure that it is actually turning off. Replace it if necessary.

And check your thermometer. They are often inaccurate.

[fish_r]

thx for all the suggestions guys, my lighting "in my hood"
increases the temps a fair bit as i have 2 x 5ft T5 tubes and 2 x 4ft T8tubes in there and the T5's run pretty hot
i was actually considering getting rid of the 2 x T8's and adding 2 more 5ft T5's but not sure if it's wise to do it now as it will get even hotter :( i unplugged the heater today after my original post and the temp didnt go over about 32c and it got too about 31-32c outside...
i used to use dechlorinated ice bottles with my axolotls, just incase a bottle split so it wouldnt harm the water, but it is a bit of a pain and i dont have the freezer space to keep the bottles any more :(
looks like i will have to keep the chiller, just incase at least for a while to see how it all goes this summer...
i run an aqua minder water paramater alarm system and a glass thermometer so i'm pretty sure of the temps running.
going to fit 2-3 4 inch computer fans to the top of the hood to hopefully draw the hot air out and see how that goes ?
thanks again for taking the time to reply :)