# Newbie question - water cooling?



## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

I have two small tanks (6 and 12 gal) in a small apartment.
In the summer, the temperatures in my place can get quite high - sometimes above 30 degrees Celsius.
I'm worries my fishies are going to boil, and algaes are going to have a field day.

Any tips on keeping the water cool?

Thanks!


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

chiller or drop in ice cubes of frozen tank water


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## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

I have heard of people freezing water in plastic water bottles only a little filled so they float and nothing is changing the water params as they melt. It's just a continuous thing always melt and need freezing.


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## Rockman (May 19, 2013)

Yep... above thirty can be a problem (depending on the fish). Find a cool spot to put them and turn the lights off during the hot periods of the day. Directing a fan across the surface of the water increases evaporation and can be a pretty good cooling method.

Sometimes insulation can be useful on a small tank as well. The more you can average out the temperature, the better off you are (assuming your apartment isn't 30 degrees at night too).


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Vancitycam said:


> I have heard of people freezing water in plastic water bottles only a little filled so they float and nothing is changing the water params as they melt. It's just a continuous thing always melt and need freezing.


I think this and fans are the most common and effective methods baring an actual chiller of course...


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Turn the light off, remove the lid if you can, use a fan, float ice bottle...etc will all work...but if your fish do not seem stressed I say keep an eye on them and dont worry too much about it for now.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the tips, scott tang, Vancitycam, Rockman and Momobobo! These are all good solutions. 
One more question: what's a chiller? And where can I find one?
Thanks again!


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks, Fish rookie! I like your approach of letting the fish tell me if they're too hot.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Chiller is very expensive. Don't worry about that. I have seen some DIY chiller on yoututbe thought if you are really interested.


UnderseaGal said:


> Thanks for the tips, scott tang, Vancitycam, Rockman and Momobobo! These are all good solutions.
> One more question: what's a chiller? And where can I find one?
> Thanks again!


I like the fact that you try to do your homework in order to give your fish the best care possible. 
A lot of the fish we buy are generations away from their wild counterparts so although when we google the care of a certain fish it may tell us they like this or that parameters; in real the ones raised in fish farms are quite hardy and adaptable in most cases. I am not talking about temp but all parameters in general as long as it is within a reasonable range. So, what your fish like is not always craved in stone. If your transition is slow and gradual your fish can in most cases get used to your parameters. To keep them in a constant parameters that is easy for you to manage is more important than chasing a certain set of numbers. Your fish will tell you if they do not like their environment as long as you pay close attention to them.


UnderseaGal said:


> Thanks, Fish rookie! I like your approach of letting the fish tell me if they're too hot.


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## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Your plants might prefer the floating frozen water bottle rather than turning off the lights. Our west-facing Okanagan house gets stinking hot when it's 35+ outside and I have an army of water bottles on standby in the freezer. Tank water was at 31 once when we came home from being away. Panic! Nobody died but I fussed with the fish tank while my husband unpacked! We now have a heat pump so it doesn't get so hot in our house. I'm sure you'll block the sun as much as you can from coming in your windows.


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## Rockman (May 19, 2013)

UnderseaGal said:


> One more question: what's a chiller? And where can I find one?
> Thanks again!


It's a fridge for fish tanks. They're mainly for reef setups. It's kind of overkill for freshwater tanks where temperature variations are less of a problem (especially given the price). The smallest and cheapest commercial one I've seen is the iceprobe.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that low oxygen is one of the big problems with high temps. Increasing the water areation can help a lot.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the additional input, Fish rookie, greenfin and Rockman.
Looks like a chiller would be overkill.
Frozen water bottles and water aeration it is.
Fingers crossed we won't get too many weeks of really hot temperatures...


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## pandamom (Jul 16, 2013)

Hi there. For such small tanks, I wouldn't advise just dropping ice cubes into the tank - that would totally shock and stress your fish. Aeration, aeration and more aeration, that will definitely help. Good luck.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the tip, pandamom!


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