What do you do on hot days?

[kkiu]

It was a scorcher today, the tank hit 32 degrees and one of my discus was breathing more heavily.

Is 32 degrees actually that high for a discus tank?
Is there any need to worry? if so, what steps can be taken to lower the temp?

Maybe im just being paranoid.

[weird]

32 degrees is not that high for discus. They can handle up to 34 degrees, but I think most of us keep discus in the 28 - 31 degree range, especially if we want to keep them with other tank mates.

I had the same problem today, not so much with my large tank (approx 360 litres), but with my smaller 3 foot tank ... it really over heated.

First I tried floating an ice cube tray on top of the water, with frozen ice cubes inside and turned off the light. This did nothing.

Eventually I just did a water change, this mind you was at 8 pm. This has dropped the temp from 31.4 to 30.7 degrees ... my house is a hot house. Normally these guys are at 29.6 degrees.

[heckelboy]

I know someone who keeps his tank at just over 32c all the time.

[DiscusMan]

I would say that it might be an idea to turn the heater down a bit so that they start the day not so hot. The fish are happy down lower anyway as i assume you have them like most of us around the 29 - 30. Try jsut lowering it down by 1 degree and they will be fine if it is cold and will take longer for the ambient temp to heat the tank up.

I dont have this prob as my house is air cond but in my fish room the tanks are normally at 29 during the day and raise to 31 on hot days but as the other poster said it about the volume of water so in the end just buy that 8 foot tank you know you want 8-) and put them all in there.

Wayne

[kalebjarrod]

you can keep the lids open and face a fan onto the open top

this will give some evaporative cooling effect,

we had a 42 day up here the other day and we found the way to keep everything cool was to take the family out of the house REALLY early (6:30-7:00) we closed all the blinds and windows and doors, left the fans going, turned of all the heaters and teles and computers that produce heat, and left the heat outside

the house was nice when we got back in the arvo

no warm bodies to get to hot, no one opening the doors for the hot air to get in

hard to manipulate that one on a daily basis

[kkiu]

42 degree day, thats tough.

the idea of keeping the lids open seems scary, worry one adventurous fishie might want to jump.

Would there then be any advantages or disadvantages between keep a tank at 29 to 31 degrees?

[DiscusMan]

42 degree day, thats tough.
Would there then be any advantages or disadvantages between keep a tank at 29 to 31 degrees?

What when it gets hot during the hot day or generally.

29 - 31 is fine to keep your fish at. Tanks kepts indoors in Penang are at a constant 31 degrees so aint no different here.

Wayne

[kalebjarrod]

if your gonna frak with the lid open use some egg crate across the surface to allow that airflow

[chrissyoscar]

My tank got as high as 33.5c the other day.
My heater is set at about 30c but the blo*dy thing keeps turning on even though the tank temp is well above the heaters setting. I ended up loosing 1 bristlenose, 3 glowlight tetras and 1 cardinal tetra due to the heat :cry: .
My discus didn't seem to mind the temp but the other fish did.
It'll be great if you could buy a heater with an accurate thermostat.

Oscar

[chris_d]

i agree with kalebjarrod, the most import issue with rising temp is amount of dissolved oxygen in the tank. The higher the temp the lesser the oxygen. it can be solved simply by using an areator or the like to break the surface water to allow for gas exchange.

[chris_d]

i agree with kalebjarrod, the most import issue with rising temp is amount of dissolved oxygen in the tank. The higher the temp the lesser the oxygen. it can be solved simply by using an areator or the like to break the surface water to allow for gas exchange.

[nicholas76]

Hi Chris

I hope your heater isnt on the way out!

probably a good idea to invest in a quality heater. send me a message if keen and il direct you to a cheap supplier of premium stuff in melbourne