# Water temp



## Unnr (May 8, 2010)

We don't normally run an air conditioner, and today I've been seeing temps just above the "safe" zone in my tank... I suspect this has happened before when I *didn't* notice. The fish, if anything seem a little happier.

Temp right now is 27.5 on the relatively cheep thermometer.

Should I be worried? what should I look out for? What will the results of this be? How can I cool the water w/out using the room a/c, which is a lot of air-conditioning for 10 gallons of water.

And while I'm at it, any really interesting notes on water temp?

-Unnr


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

I assume that by above the "safe zone" you mean warmer than your fish are supposed to be in. Just to state the obvious, turn your heater down if you are using one. To make the tank cooler, keep it out of direct sunlight for any time of day, just because it wasn't in the sun at 8AM doesn't mean it won't be at 2PM I allow mine to get indirect sunlight which doesn't warm up my tank as much but to encourage the growth of algae for my plecos. Also keep it in a cool room, doesn't necessarily mean cranking up the AC, just a room that is relatively cooler, if they are all the same, move the aquarium to a lower level of the house, in my house, the top floor is the warmest like most houses and my room being neutral and basement being cold. Moving the tank shouldn't be too hard since it is only a 10 gal, u can empty it halfway during your next water change (make sure water is aged and treated) as long as you don't do this often, your fish will be fine. Water chillers are extremely expensive so don't even worry about that, just make sure the room is either the temperature you want the tank to be, or lower. Hopefully this helps 

P.S. what fish are you keeping and do you know what temperatures they like? What range?


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

Overheating can be a problem in summer if you don't have A/C. However, since temp changes are gradual, if your tank is lightly stocked, the fish can usually weather them. On the plus side, high temps often get some species of fish to breed!

Shade the tank from any direct sunlight. Having a fan blow over the top of the water can reduce the temp a few degrees. If the fish show lack of oxygen (breathing heavily near the surface) increase water circulation. This is one reason it pays to understock -- what if you had a power outage?


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## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

I would say that a slightly above-normal temperature would be OK for a bit of time. I think us hobbyists forget that fish come from nature, where temperatures can, and do, vary.


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## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

My room where my 15 gallon is gets very warm in the summer, i have a fan in my room for days that its warm but i dont need the a/c , i put the fan next to the tank and it blows on the lights and the top of the tank, i also turn the lights out sometimes because they are warm also. I have a heater but this week I havent seen it come on at all


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## Unnr (May 8, 2010)

Yeah, the heater only comes on when the water is below 25c. I guess I'm not really sure what temp the Cardinals really like... I've only seen the "standard temp for tropical fish" thing, really. There are also cherry shrimp in there, and I've heard they like it on the cooler side of "standard" temperatures.

We live in a building right now, so, nothing below hte 22nd floor is currently available  In a month we'll have more options.

It seems goofy to buy a room fan a month before moving, although that sounds like a good option. Hmph. Maybe we'll just run the AC 'till friday, and then see what the issue looks like in the new place. Easy enough to bring a thermometer to see what the air temp is in there on a hot day.

I was vaguely wondering if it is helpful to swing the temps a degree or two (or more) over the course of a year or something, to simulate weather in a river... 

thanks again 

-Unnr


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Cherry shrimp like it closer to 23 (ideally) while cardinal tetras like it closer to 29/30 (ideally) so you have a bit of a pickle there. You can probably get away with 26/27 (80-81) for the lot.


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## Unnr (May 8, 2010)

Right, which leads to the next question... is there a reasonable way to get a temperature gradient in the tank? 

I'm already planning a lighting gradient -- the big problem I see is that I want a higher temp in the SHADE... hmmmm.

-Unnr


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Both your tetras and shrimp will do fine in 27~ celcius water.

I would say that the shrimp are more forgiving of temperature than your tetras, so I might suggest aiming to keep your temperature around 27 or 28.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

*
I'm already planning a lighting gradient -- the big problem I see is that I want a higher temp in the SHADE... hmmmm.
*

Ya.... You realize this is water we're talking about and it's circulating. You can't do a cold side hot side like in a reptile terrarium.


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## Unnr (May 8, 2010)

Yeah... it's certainly not simple.... 

It does happen, so there must be a way to engineer it. And I'm not thinking about a big gradient, I guess the larger the tank the larger a difference might be manageable, but in 35 gallons, I'm just thinking can I get the top to be half a degree warmer than the bottom, or get an eddy someplace that tends to be warmer than the rest. I was thinking maybe there's a way to have a heat sink, but water being one of the better heat sinks... erm...well... yah.

I'm playing with puzzles 
If someone's already got a cleaver solution, it's worth finding out about.
It's always worth trying to find a perfect solution even if you know you probably won't reach it, right?

I'm also leaning more and more towards just trying to match the rio ***** with everything about the tank, but I kinda like the cherry shrimp, so I'm not ready to give up on 'em yet, and what would I do anyway, since I already have them.

I'm having fun, let me dream. 

-Unnr


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

If you manage to create seperate temperature zones in about 130L of water please invite me over. I will bring beer.

With regular aquarium equipment, this is so so so impossible IMO but go for it.

IMO no reason you can't just do 'rio *****... now featuring cherry shrimp' 
Just tell yourself they are an invasive species that was introduced to your biotope in the 1950's by farmers hoping to control pests in their java moss..


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## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

If you are doing something like that, I'm thinking there might be an idea somewhere in the mall entrance fans. You know, in the winter when you walk into the mall, there is always that ridiculous fan that blows hot air right on top of you...


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

If you don't actively circulate your water it will definitely be warmer at the top of the tank than at the bottom, especially when the room is cool.


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## RaidZero (Jun 15, 2008)

If you have temperature gradients bigger than 2-3 degrees I think that you need to move more water with that filter or pump.


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## Unnr (May 8, 2010)

I'm thinking the most likely to work would be to put the heater outside the tank, and have an intake near the bottom, and an output of warm water back into the tank near the top, and at least one other pump below the warm-water one, and comming from the same side.

I lost my first fish today, not counting the shrimp that didn't make it in transit. One of the Cherry shrimp. I'm wondering if it was the heat. I got her out, anyway. . Not happy me. Then I got all scared my snail wasn't moving, but it was, I was just freaking.

Grumble, grumble. <sad>
Grumble. Not happy!

I'll have to keep a really close eye on things today, in case I need to do something more. The temp is back down now, with the weather.


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## qwerty (Dec 15, 2009)

I think temperature fluctuations would be a bigger problem for your fish than temperatures on the warm side.

The cherry shrimp will be fine at the temperatures you have them in. I think any attempts to improve this will just pose more risks than solutions.

There's several problems with creating a warm side and a cool side in your tank... If your tank was several feet long, maybe a little more feasible... But if you have adequate filtration then you're just going to have your warm water and cool water mixing together as an equilibrium.

Anyways, even if this was feasible, in any case, I'm sure it would require the use of an aquarium chiller and a heater, in which case they would both probably be running against each other nearly 24/7...

But yeah, everything I'm reading says cherry shrimp will be fine up to 85F or so...


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