Mbunas in 86 degree temp?

[bossanova]

I can't seem to get my temp down below 86 degrees, i don't have AC in the dining room where my aquarium sits!

Anybody else experiencing high temps in summer? Is this a problem? Certainly not planning on buying a chiller...

 

[jonclark96]

That's pretty warm. I don't know how long many fish would tolerate temps that high. You could always float bags of ice in the tanks, but that isn't a long term solution.

Good luck with them.

 

[Tony]

Too hot for mbuna.

Similar to Jon's suggestion, get 2-3 2L bottles and fill them 3/4 with water (squueze some air out to allow for expansion). Rotate them out of the freezer as necessary.

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

Do you have a heater on the tank? The water wouldn't get that warm unless its that hot in your house too. I would at least ad an airstone, the oxygen levels will stay relatively low at that temp.

 

[bossanova]

I removed both heaters from the tank, will try the bottle solution for now. Thanks--

 

[dogofwar]

They'll be OK in those temps temporarily...

My garage fishroom in Sacramento withstood 100+ degree temps for over 10 straight days...and only lost some large fish in a really tall tank and some Tangs.

Add an extra airstone if they seem to be breathing hard.

Matt

 

[bossanova]

It's odd, room temp is 78 degrees, i only have the lightstrip and both filters (XP3s) running, and water temp is up to 86. It's a 55g tank. Could the canisters be heating the water up that much? I turned the light off and opened the glass canopy, have both spraybars above the water surface spraying down. Fish seem to be doing fine so far.

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

What kind of light? Some can produce large amounts of heat, one of the reasons why some are designed to sit a few inches above the tank canopy. If the room is 78, something else is heating the tank up. I've never heard of canister filters producing that much heat.

 

[bossanova]

it's a coralife double t5, normal output (not HO). Only use one bulb at the moment. Maybe this is just the universe telling me to get some Discus, hehe?!?

 

[jonclark96]

What kind of light? Some can produce large amounts of heat, one of the reasons why some are designed to sit a few inches above the tank canopy. If the room is 78, something else is heating the tank up. I've never heard of canister filters producing that much heat.

+1. Something is going on. A light heating up a tank by 8 degrees seems odd.


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[Ineedmoney4]

My tank of peacocks n mbunas run 84 adds some aggression. I think my sump pump is heating it up cuz my house is like 78 also.

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[bossanova]

so far so good. i walked into Tropical Lagoon the other day and it must have been 90 degrees in there, the guy said he had the same issue. I guess I have no good choice but to get a clip fan and let it ride--

 

[Tony]

Removing the glass cover and blowing a fan over the top of the water will work wonders for cooling a tank. Did this in my reefer days when I was running 280 +/- watts over a 26 bowfront.

Just watch out for jumping fish.

Also, only turn your lights on when you are home. No reason to have them running during the day when you are not home. Your fish will not care.

 

[FishInMaryland]

Have you calibrated your thermometer to make sure it's accurate? Water in my 55g stays the same as the room temp in the summer. It's different in the winter b/c of the heater.

 

[ezrk]

I would check your thermometer, I nearly cooked some of my fish because of a thermometer that was reading very low. I am switching over to the liquid crystal stick-ons, Kens has a really nice one that I like a lot. I think the probe leads on the digital ones are getting corrupted in the hard Mbuna water, you definitely can feel the plastic becoming brittle.

Our big 110gs are running in the Summer with essentially no heating. Our house is around 76F during the day and 72F when we are home. The heat from the 3x54w T5HO (on when we are home) and the 80w Eheim return pump is enough to keep them at around 80F.

It is notably that we have canopies so a lot of the heat from the lighting is being retained in the aquarium most likely.

 

[countryboy]

The frozen water in bottles works. Also do an extra water change during the week with purposely colder water.

 

[rsretep]

I would check your thermometer, I nearly cooked some of my fish because of a thermometer that was reading very low. I am switching over to the liquid crystal stick-ons, Kens has a really nice one that I like a lot. I think the probe leads on the digital ones are getting corrupted in the hard Mbuna water, you definitely can feel the plastic becoming brittle.

Our big 110gs are running in the Summer with essentially no heating. Our house is around 76F during the day and 72F when we are home. The heat from the 3x54w T5HO (on when we are home) and the 80w Eheim return pump is enough to keep them at around 80F.

It is notably that we have canopies so a lot of the heat from the lighting is being retained in the aquarium most likely.

+1 Could be the thermometer

 

[Scorp1us]

My heater recently faulted due to water getting in it even though it's sealed (the suction cup slid down, so the dial was below the surface). I took the heater out for a few days, temps eventually dropped to 73, dialed the heater back some, put it back in and everything is good. I had been running 82 even thought he dial was at 80. In the brief day or two it was going crazy, it reached 90-95.

Most fish can tolerate over temp water for weeks. The constant temperature we give them is really an anomaly.