Dang it!

[mikelly02]

I'm new at this but I did a water change in a hurry yesterday and now my temp is 84 degrees, what is the best/safest/quickest way to bring it back down? Prior it was 78-80. I left the lights off w/ the fan on in hopes that would reduce it but it didn't budge...
Lemme guess, another water change?! If so how exactly should it be done?
Thanks,
Kelly

 

[kilhullen]

Originally Posted by mikelly02
I'm new at this but I did a water change in a hurry yesterday and now my temp is 84 degrees, what is the best/safest/quickest way to bring it back down? Prior it was 78-80. I left the lights off w/ the fan on in hopes that would reduce it but it didn't budge...
Lemme guess, another water change?! If so how exactly should it be done?
Thanks,
Kelly
I don't have much suggestion unless maybe you can get / borrow a chiller.
Water really takes quite some time to change temps. If you have a sizable tank, it only delays it more. For example... I recently started my quarantine tank, and I used hot water to absorb the salt quicker. Then I set my heater to the temp I wanted and waited until it started lighting up. All the while I watched the temp. (It was also a kind of experiement, to see how long it would take it to cool down from a said temp should it get too high.) The tank was at 100 degrees and it took 2 days for it to cool to below 78, and that was a 30 gallon all glass tank with no lights, no hood (at the time), a ceiling fan running 100% of the time, and airconditioning making the ambient air at 77-78.
I have read that acrylic holds a temp better than glass, which when you have a set temp, that is good, but when you have to cool from a wrong temp, not so good.
Now, I don't know what to suggest to you to help your situation outside of that, but I hope something was helpful.

 

[dawman]

I`ve heard people floating a bag or plastic bowl with ice cubes to slowly cool down the tank .

 

[1journeyman]

If your temp is not going down there is another issue. Water will not hold heat indefinitely.
Your water temp could not be 78-80 then go to and stay at 84 after a water change. Something is keeping your water at 84 degrees.
Check your heater and see if you bumped it.

 

[mikelly02]

Hmm, I dunno...
It's a 125g All Glass, there are 2 heaters each set at 75 (1 at each end), I initially turned them off then back on deciding that they shouldn't kick on anyway (Was that wrong?) It is unbearably HOT in my house today which is unusual, it generally stays pretty cool but it's >90 outside & all the windows were open, (lesson #2 no doubt) so I closed them, kept all the lights off & then--w/ my eyes glued to the tank--saw this freaky looking striped/banbed WORM come out of a rock a little ways!!! It was like the diameter of a strand of cooked spaghetti. Guess he doesn't like the heat, either. Or he's nocturnal, either way, it's a HE! LOL, J/K Anyway I tried floating little bags of ice but to no avail, I think I'll have to wait until this house cools off some & hope everything is okay... Any other ideas?
Thanks for the help!!
Kelly

 

[mikelly02]

Oh I lied, sorry, the heaters were actually set at 77, then I turned them off & when I turned them back on it was at 75, if that makes a difference

 

[autofreak44]

lemme ask a dumb queston... do you have air conditioning?... if the answer is yes, you know what to do... i would say the best thing to do is unplug the heaters, turn off the lights (which you already did) and float some ice... dont do a lot, you want to bring the temp down slowly so it wont shock your tank inhabitants. also check all your equiptment (powerheads, skimmers, filters ect.) to make sure none are malfunctioning and overheating. good luck

 

[autofreak44]

also get a 2nd thermometer to verify. its $3 and it will save you a lot of hassle. also blow a fan across the water surface, it will cool the tank

 

[mikelly02]

Autofreak, I do have a second thermometer, I DON'T have air conditioning, installed right now anyway, we actually just moved into this house 3 months ago & haven't bothered w/ it as the house generally stays pretty cool and almost all rooms have a ceiling fan (except of course, the kitchen, the office where I sit and roast as I type, and the dining room where the TANK is !) But boy oh boy, as soon as hubby gets home from work I have a job for him! I guess I'll try the fan across the surface thing, so then, should my glass covers come/stay off?

 

[robdog696]

take them off... the fan method is actually cooling by evaporation... works very well!

 

[vicegrip]

The temp number on heaters are just for reference. Maybe you just need to turn down the heaters.

 

[1journeyman]

1. Don't unplug heaters. Set them at the temp you want the tank to be on. You don't want the tank temp fluctuating. If your house is going to stay warm bump up the heaters to 80 degrees so there is not as much fluctuation.
2. Remove glass tops.. those are trapping heat and preventing gas exchange.
3. Fan across the top works well.

 

[mikelly02]

Thanks, will do

Right after I plug the heaters back in, LOL!
Oh well, can't win 'em all....Any idea what this worm is? (Hope this works...) It seems to have two very thin white bands periodically w/ a thicker red band in between them.

 

[imfsub12]

some people use frozen pop bottles. and put them in the tank...

 

[mikelly02]

Well, I wasn't going to admit this, but I did try a frozen package of hotdogs!!! Seal intact of course, then down the disposal they went anyway, LOL! They seemed to stay frozen longer than my ice pack but didn't seem to help any!

 

[symon]

If your tank was steady at 78-80 before the water change and now at 84, is it possible you have a power head or pump running dry causing heat to build up?

Take the glass tops off , if you are woried about something jumping out get some egg crate from home depot and cut to fit !