Too hot in the summer?

[beachman22]

So, I have a question about keeping my fish healthy in the summer. I just recently moved to an apartment with no air-conditioning in nyc, and I am pretty sure that during the summer months it will get really hot inside. I thought about putting in air-conditioner but because of the size of the room, really high ceilings, and the construction of the windows I don't think that would be possible.

Anyways, what I wanted to ask is will my fish stay healthy in a room where on a really hot day the temp might reach 90- 100F ? The fish I have now are SA/CA cichlids, and they are in a 55 gal and a 40 gal long. I usually keep the temp at 81-83F.

The reason I am asking is because I have a good opportunity to upgrade to a larger tank my friend is trying to get rid of, but wanted to ask this first because I don't want to get the tank and then find out that my apartment is too hot.

Thanks, and any advice helps.

 

[ethnics]

i to am waiting for summer to see what happens with the temps of my tank in the garage. they survived winter just fine but ate me alive for electricity keeping the tank warm. during summer ill unplug the heaters and jus hope it never gets above 85 in the tank. if it does im gettin a water cooler.

 

[Bud8Fan]

If you don't have jumpers you can take the hood off and have a fan blow across the top of the water. The evaporation will help to cool the water.

I guess you could cover it with egg crate if you do have jumpers.

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

90- 100F

i wouldnt risk it...

thou aside from the fan blowing over the water you can also place bags of ice in your tank.

 

[fishingaddict]

man.. i couldnt even survive in that apartment.

 

[PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn]

i to am waiting for summer to see what happens with the temps of my tank in the garage. they survived winter just fine but ate me alive for electricity keeping the tank warm. during summer ill unplug the heaters and jus hope it never gets above 85 in the tank. if it does im gettin a water cooler.

unpluging the heaters wont do much.. if the water is being heated by the air temps then its gonna be heated whatever. however what happens then at night when the temps drop (i dont know how much etc) the temp in the tank will go down, I know that it wond go down quickly (i accidently fogot to plug a heater in and didnt notice until 3 days later, all the mbuna made it fine though) a heater "might" reduce temprature fluctuations. but unplugging it wont do anything.

i wouldnt risk it...

thou aside from the fan blowing over the water you can also place bags of ice in your tank.

If you can get the fan in then thats what i'd do. however i would addvise against using ice/ice packs as thats too cold, floating bottles filled with cool water would be better for the fish.

 

[cjohll]

how big is the room the fish would be in? You have to figure if it is cheaper to cool yor fish or your room.

 

[beachman22]

how big is the room the fish would be in? You have to figure if it is cheaper to cool yor fish or your room.

ya, cooling the room would be very hard. It is a big loft room with one whole wall being windows, and the ceiling is about 20'. The windows aren't really insulated either. It was hard enough keeping it warm in the winter, and keeping it cool in the summer would be crazy.

man.. i couldnt even survive in that apartment.

the bedrooms upstairs have ac so its not that bad. but the floors upstairs wouldn't support the weight of anything over 75 gal.

have a fan blow across the top of the water. The evaporation will help to cool the water.

will a fan really cool the water? Say the room becomes 95F. Will the fan make that much of a difference?

 

[Oddball]

Insulating drapes will help stabilize the room's temp. And, there are A/C units that don't require window mounting. They can be through-wall (3" diameter hole) or portable with only the exhaust hose needing a place to vent.

 

[Bud8Fan]

will a fan really cool the water?

It's the evaporating water that will cool the water, the fan justs help increase evaporation.