Cooling down tank water without expensive chiller

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rokit_armor

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 19, 2011
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kansas
I usually keep my tank at a nice 78.9 degrees. I recently added a 2nd pump to my setup, which apparently has brought the temp up to 80.8 I have lost a cory cat, I am assuming as a result of this. I unplugged my heaters one at a time to see if they were adding too/causing the issue, but the temp is still at 80.0.
Don't get me wrong, I know it's only 1 degree, and I like not having to run my heaters, but it's still concerning.
BTW they are submersed pumps with no way of becoming external.
 
I am skeptical that 1 or 2 degrees would kill a cory as most fish live in environments that fluctuate all day and all season. However, assuming it did and you want to lower the temps there are options:

1) lower the room temperature (lower ambient temperature will lower the tank temp unless the heaters are the cause of the high temps)
2) vent some of the water since heated water that evaporates will remove heat from the tank
3) move the tank if it's sitting under a heat exchange or in sunlight
4) put a fan in the room and blow it at the tank
5) swap out a more efficient pump that uses less watts. A submerged pump adds to the heat in the tank directly related to the amount of watts it consumes.
 
Drstrangelove said:
I am skeptical that 1 or 2 degrees would kill a cory as most fish live in environments that fluctuate all day and all season.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how true that is, many equatorial climates are very stable between day/night temps (I recall reading an article on the Xingu which stated >1C fluctuation over 24 hours) and only have minor fluctuations between seasons. I think 80f is getting up there in terms of temp for most cories, what is the air temperature in the room? Are you able to ventilate the area better or is it hotter than that outside? What kind of pump is it, and how big are they? To me if the pump is eliminating the need for a heater I'd be questioning just how efficient it is...
 
I am running a mag12 and a mag18.
My wife keeps the house at 76 degrees- no getting that lowered.
The tank is opposite the air exchange- it's actually in front of the return pulling evaporated water away.
I could try putting a small fan in the cabinet with my sump, when I open the doors you can feel the humid air leaving.
 
rokit_armor said:
I am running a mag12 and a mag18.
My wife keeps the house at 76 degrees- no getting that lowered.
The tank is opposite the air exchange- it's actually in front of the return pulling evaporated water away.
I could try putting a small fan in the cabinet with my sump, when I open the doors you can feel the humid air leaving.
Click to expand...

Great idea. If you can vent the moist air around the sump, you'll pull out a lot of heat. The sump naturally acts as a chiller, but having it enclosed restricts the chilling effect.
 
If you can only have the pumps runnin and theyll keep the temp around 80, i would just use those and keep the heaters for emergencies


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I agree that a couple degrees would probably not kill the cory. I would be thinking oxygenation of the water would have gone down with the higher temp and could have caused it. I keep corys in my sump to keep it clean and thats where my heaters are and they are fine. Do your fish look to be breathing normally or heavily?

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