[BIG BWALZ]

Ok, im in so cal and it is getting hot! We are in the high 90s now and soon it will be 100f+ outside. Just had a couple questions because I don’t want to have boiled cichlids! I woke up this am and my 55g mbuna tank was already 82f? My 10g fry tank is also having the same issue. I haven’t used heaters for at least a month now and the water never goes below 78. I have yellow labs and ice blue zebras (greshakeis) for now, and they seem to be ok, kinda aggressive but that’s prob cuz they are growing up and starting to mate, I hope that is.

I was actually considering making some "salty, dechlorinated ice cubes" to add to the tank during the latter part of the day, is this ok? I really dont want to purchase a chiller, I'm kinda poor right now. Also i changed the timers on my lights when i pulled the heaters, they run 7 hours a day now down from 11, and that seems to help but not enough. They are just the 24" cheap 40$ tops from petsmart with a bioplant 15w 18" bulb. I guess i could cut the time down further, or not use them at all however this sort of conflicts with my reason for keeping the cool fish in the first place lol? (I like to look @ em', am I wierd?) House temp is about 80 now, and when it gets much past that I switch on the ac with the thermostat @ 78, but I turn it off as soon as it cools off. I live in an all electric community (no nat. gas), so the power bill is quite high and I try and conserve, don’t really want to have to run the ac all the time for the fish.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated, Thanks

 

[MalawiLover]

You can put a small fax to blow acrioss the top of the water during the hottest part of the day. The evaporation will cool the tank a couple of degrees. 80 is a pretty common temp for many of us in our tanks, and most mbuna can handle even a constant 82. They are likely to be a bit more active, aggressive and hungry at an elevated temp, but it should harm them at all.

 

[Britnick]

Hi

You can also try freezing water in a food bag and putting that in the tank, which will help reduce the temp some what. If you want to keep the fish interested, you could always make up a frozen food block and float that in the tank directly. There are some good recipes for that type of mix on various forums.

Alternatively, there are coolers for aquariums but in the UK they start about $500.

Good luck

 

[BIG BWALZ]

Cool thanks those are both good ideas that I had not thought of, I appreciate it! I like the idea of freezing water in a bag, and I already have a large fan in my office so I will open the top of the tank and turn it on right now!!

Thanks again!!

PS - At what temperature do the mbunas start to become affected? It seems to be general consensus from what I have read here that "they are ok into the mid 80's", but i'd like to know exactly in order that I can try and be safe as opposed to sorry!!

 

[Britnick]

Now that’s the $64,000 question and the answer is, there isn’t a hard and fast rule about the exact temperature. Some fish will succumb quicker than others, but I think you may want to avoid temperatures 85+ for any extended period of time. Also, temperature spikes may cause the fish some health problems later on, so worth keeping a close eye even after the temperature goes down.

You will probably want to increase your oxygenation by increasing surface movement during hot weather, as you loose oxygen as well as water in the heat.

 

[BIG BWALZ]

Cool, I think I should be able to handle that. Thanks again everybody for all of your help, it is much appreciated as always!!!