20Jun/1110
How can I keep my tank colder?
I have a 10 gallon tank with one small fantail goldfish and no heater. Since it is a goldfish, I never really worried about temperature. The other day I bought a thermometer out of curiosity and found out my water is just above 80 degrees F.
I know that goldfish prefer the temp to be 68-72. Does anyone have any tips for keeping a tank cooler?
Setup: The tank is away from windows. I use flouresent lighting. I have a power filter and air pump with bubble wall, so there is plenty of circulation. This tank has been established for over 1 year. If you need anymore info, let me know.
June 20th, 2011 - 17:58
Skippy say move it where a AC vent is blowing down on it.
June 20th, 2011 - 18:24
get and airrator…it keeps air going in it which will help keep the water cooler
June 20th, 2011 - 18:49
About the only reliable way to cool a tank is to get a chiller. they are usually made for salt water tanks, but can be used on freshwater as well. That of course does depend on how much you are willing to spend as some are a bit pricey.
The only other option I could give you is keep a steady supply of dechlinated ice blocks on hand to float in the tank.
June 20th, 2011 - 19:40
Should be fine, yes they prefer a cooler temperature, but they can handle a wide range of temperatures, that 68-72 is just what they do best at. My pond temperature was hitting almost 90F when we had that heat wave a few weeks back. I did a lot of water changes to drop it down, but it only dropped a few degrees. My goldies are still fine and happy.
Another thing I did with my pond, get yourself a couple small bottles of water or pop(soda), drink/empty them, rinse good, fill it with water and freeze it. Just float one of those in the tank. When it thaws, put another one in and refreeze the first bottle. That will help to keep the temperature somewhat constant/the same. It doesn’t look pretty having a bottle floating around the tank, but it works. But, like I said, your temp is fine, and winter’s coming around so it’ll cool down in awhile anyway.
June 20th, 2011 - 20:07
Buy a fan and put it over the water.
June 20th, 2011 - 20:41
Well they can withstand a little higher temeratures for a short period, some stress coat may help them to cope but I sounds like this is somewhat of rare problem. I would try everything before you go and get a chiller, since they are very pricy.
June 20th, 2011 - 21:18
Smile is right. All you need to do is put a fan next to the tank so that it is blowing the top of the water. I have to do this for a couple of small tanks in my kitchen.
It’s the evaporation that causes the cooling. You’ll be amazed at how much cooler the tank will stay. I even had to put a heater in mine to keep it at 79 degrees (tropical marine tank), even though the temp in the kitchen was probably in the 90′s.
You don’t need anything fancy. I got a little cheap fan at WalMart. It doesn’t have to blow hard across the water, just create a little rippling.
June 20th, 2011 - 21:39
You could use a fan to blow across the top. Or leave it alone. Don’t put ice or float ice bags in the water it could cool it too fast. Actually you can keep goldfish at 80 and they will be fine. Mid to high 70′s is actually ideal for goldfish. Don’t drop the temp below 70. Just because they are labled coldwater fish don’t be fooled into thinking they need chilly water. What it means is the fish can survive cold water unlike tropicals if the temp drops for them they will die. If the goldfish has to constantly adjust to temp changes they will stress and eventually get sick. They will not become fish soup at 80 degrees nor will they at 85. In fact if you want to kill bacterial infection a raise in temp to 83 will do it for ya. If you have plenty of air going and filter on high, 80 shouldn’t hurt them a bit. Oxygen saturation is lower at higher temps so good ciculation as you mentioned is important. I keep a heater in my goldfish tank simply because a constant temp is far better than one that fluctuates. If the temp fluctuates by more than 4 degrees per day then you will be really stressing the fish. Think of it this way, the water temp in a lake would never drop so drastically, that is why the fish cannot handle it very well. 2 degrees daily would be the max I would try to take the temp down by. Going warmer doesn’t stess as much as colder. In the wild if there was a cold front the fish would simply leave the shallows for deeper water of the same temp, they cannot flee in the aquarium. Try not to drop the temp very much all at once and they should be ok.
I think its very wise of you to only have gotten one fish for your 10 gallon. Too many people don’t do the research you obviously have done. Way to go!
June 20th, 2011 - 22:38
The fan is a good idea…but here is what i do for my goldfish: When I go around filling up the tanks from evaporation, I take some of the treated water and put them into ice cube trays. I have an ice maker, so they are never almost used…lol. I just drop them in from time to time, and it seems to really help them
June 20th, 2011 - 23:29
I have a 10 gallon tank with three goldfish in it. I had a 2.5 gallon and the water would be over 80 and the goldfish could be in stress. But want I did was do 20 water changes and I put fresh cold water and that would get the temperature down. But I don’t use lighting my tank at all. Right now the temperatue is a good temperature for them and I haven’t done anything. I would do half or 20 percent water change. and do fresh cold water. the fish would thank you for it since my does,