COOL a big tank??!! URGENT!

[twentyleagues]

So room temp is 75ish. Your tank temp is 5+ degrees higher. So either a pump is adding heat to your water or the heater is I'd unplug the heater for a day and see what happens. Pump shouldn't add that much heat to the water. What is the filtration? What are you using to check the temp? Same item for both tanks or different ones? Might be your thermometer?
If temp is truly being effected by your filtration that much something isn't right with it. Frozen water bottles work well to help bring down the temp but find root cause first.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Ice.

 

[NilusFishFamily]

I realized one other differences between the 2 tanks is that the smaller tank has more water circulation. There’s both a HOB & sponge filter as well as an air stone, while the 120g has only the single filter. This causes significant breaks across the top of the water, increasing evaporation rate and decreasing the temp of the water. Or so Google tells me.

The search on ‘does circulation make a difference’ led to a mention of ‘chillers’ and
A nice summary of options here http://spec-tanks.com/using-a-fan-to-cool-your-aquarium-does-it-work/

ors more than his health not wanting to do the bucket. There’s my mobility issues and my own (lack of) patience. I still don’t understand why water exchanges directly between the tanksWouldn’t work??? Guess I’ll shops for some Rubbermaid...

Thanks everyone- mfk members have been a huge help in getting this new tank up and running and in helping these guys survive in the tiny tank long enough to make it there. It was over a year finding a tank we could afford that was big enough.

 

[deeda]

Make sure your heaters are actually unplugged for the time being.

 

[Snakeheadred]

Well I'm Putin sneak head in 100 gallen in out doors brick shed gitin temps right can be pain

 

[twentyleagues]

I realized one other differences between the 2 tanks is that the smaller tank has more water circulation. There’s both a HOB & sponge filter as well as an air stone, while the 120g has only the single filter. This causes significant breaks across the top of the water, increasing evaporation rate and decreasing the temp of the water. Or so Google tells me.

The search on ‘does circulation make a difference’ led to a mention of ‘chillers’ and
A nice summary of options here http://spec-tanks.com/using-a-fan-to-cool-your-aquarium-does-it-work/

ors more than his health not wanting to do the bucket. There’s my mobility issues and my own (lack of) patience. I still don’t understand why water exchanges directly between the tanksWouldn’t work??? Guess I’ll shops for some Rubbermaid...

Thanks everyone- mfk members have been a huge help in getting this new tank up and running and in helping these guys survive in the tiny tank long enough to make it there. It was over a year finding a tank we could afford that was big enough.

This shouldn't well really can't be rushed. Ice will work, more surface movement will work, my issue here is the root cause. If room temp is 75 tank shouldn't be 80! There is an issue other then cooling it down you need to figure it out or risk your fish dying. Just saying. Please double check thermometer accuracy, unplug heater see if it was the cause. It's not possible for the temp of the water to increase much past room temp without out side influence.

 

[Tj203]

I realized one other differences between the 2 tanks is that the smaller tank has more water circulation. There’s both a HOB & sponge filter as well as an air stone, while the 120g has only the single filter. This causes significant breaks across the top of the water, increasing evaporation rate and decreasing the temp of the water. Or so Google tells me.

The search on ‘does circulation make a difference’ led to a mention of ‘chillers’ and
A nice summary of options here http://spec-tanks.com/using-a-fan-to-cool-your-aquarium-does-it-work/

ors more than his health not wanting to do the bucket. There’s my mobility issues and my own (lack of) patience. I still don’t understand why water exchanges directly between the tanksWouldn’t work??? Guess I’ll shops for some Rubbermaid...

Thanks everyone- mfk members have been a huge help in getting this new tank up and running and in helping these guys survive in the tiny tank long enough to make it there. It was over a year finding a tank we could afford that was big enough.
[/QUOTE

This shouldn't well really can't be rushed. Ice will work, more surface movement will work, my issue here is the root cause. If room temp is 75 tank shouldn't be 80! There is an issue other then cooling it down you need to figure it out or risk your fish dying. Just saying. Please double check thermometer accuracy, unplug heater see if it was the cause. It's not possible for the temp of the water to increase much past room temp without out side influence.

He said one is acrylic and 1 is glass. I would bet the acrylic one is the 1 stay in hotter it is a much better insulator than glass I noticed that with my new tank. Depending on lights and what pump A bearing in your pump could be going bad which causes friction and will heat up the water. With a fan blowing across the top of the tank and you should without a doubt be able to drop it 2 to 3

 

[twentyleagues]

He said one is acrylic and 1 is glass. I would bet the acrylic one is the 1 stay in hotter it is a much better insulator than glass I noticed that with my new tank. Depending on lights and what pump A bearing in your pump could be going bad which causes friction and will heat up the water. With a fan blowing across the top of the tank and you should without a doubt be able to drop it 2 to 3

Yup acrylic is a better insulator then glass. But there is still something else going on. Like you said maybe a bearing int he pump but we don't know what the filtration is.....
My guess is the heater is on. Whether it's saying so or not is my concern. And if the filter is broken then wouldn't that be nice to figure out before moving the fish over?

 

[NilusFishFamily]

Acrylic and the lack of circulation I think are the main factors. The new tank has double seals, 2openings cut into the tank itself each have loss and then a large back top goes over the whole thing. Pulling off the inner lids should help too.
It’s a bare bottom tank so there’s nothing rotting. 2 thermometers so there’s a double check in place.

Our specs are:
120gallon, 18x60x24
Fluval fx6 400g/925 GPh (new)
Sponge filter
FluvalSmart lights(new)
2 each 300 watt Fluval electronic heaters (OFF)

Here is the fix: (pic)
Fans are attached with wreath wire to the inside top of the black lid
Removed the ‘inner seals’ from both of the inner openings so the fans blow directly onto the water. The only cover now is the main lid that goes over the whole thing.
We will see how effective this is in a few hours:



hopefully this helps others.

 

[jjohnwm]

If you feel you must cool the water...and I, like many here, don't feel it's essential...then increased aeration, a fan blowing across the water surface, and keeping the tank uncovered will all increase the rate of evaporation and thus cool the water slightly.

If you have a submersible pump in your system, as T Tj203 noted, you must consider that it is water cooled and is therefore heating your water slightly. Usually not a concern, but at least be aware of it. Also, how are you measuring your temps? Digital thermometers are usually pretty accurate, but if either or both of your thermometers are the stone-age glass-tube-with-red-fluid type, they can easily be off by several degrees. The tanks might actually be the same temp. (edited to add: just read your last post, so unlikely that the thermometers are the issue here, but something to be aware of nevertheless...after all, in the picture I can see at least one Fred Flintstone thermometer and they just can't be trusted...)

Finally...relax! Drain most of the water from the small tank, and place that water into the larger. Move the fish immediately, directly from one tank to the other, no buckets required. They are staying in the same water at the same temp, so no shock or stress beyond that of being netted; in fact, best to simply pick up the pleco rather than netting as they tend to get stuck in nets due to their spines.

Now that they are in their new home, start adding water of the same temperature to fill that tank. Let's say that you are able to get 30 gallons of water from the old tank to the new. Topping up that tank now with freshly treated, temp-matched water will probably take another 70 or 80 gallons, which means that you have essentially performed a roughly 60-70% water change for your fish. They will love it!

If this tank does indeed rise back up a couple degrees after you do all this, it will take hours. 80 degrees might not be ideal for either goldfish or plecos, but shouldn't stress them unduly on a temporary basis until the hot weather subsides. Right now you seem to be suffering more from stress than they will throughout the whole procedure. Good luck, relax, and enjoy your new tank .