temperature problem

drewster

drewster

Member
I live in the worst apartments ever built and I have really poor air circulation. The room that my tank is currently in is almost 90's in temperature and its not even 80's outside. My water temperature is at about 80-82 degrees. Is this going to pose a threat to my fish and live coral? My live coral seem to be curling up their tentacles at the ends of their bodies. Is this a bad sign? This is supposed to be the hottest day of the week and it should go down to normal temperatures in a day or so. Keep in mind that i'm moving back home next Saturday and this tank will be moved in an air-conditioned house. Am i safe for now?
 
drewster

drewster

Member
ok, this temperature thing is getting more serious. It's gone up to almost 84 degrees according to my cheapo thermometer. Are there any quick solutions to my problem? I've already changed about 5 gallons of the water to very cold water and the temp went back up. Can i throw ice cubes in there or will the freshwater be very bad for it? Or can i make saltwater ice cubes? Or do you think the ice cubes will have little affect. Should i just keep changing water constantly? It seems to be the best solution since it does drop the temperature for awhile. Please help me ASAP. Thanks
 
clayton

clayton

Member
Hi Drewster, I am interested in what you said about your corals turning the tips of their tentacles up. Even though I live in England I am still having a problem with temperature - it's from all the flourescent tubes. I have noticed that my green star polyps although doing very well and growing rapidly, are displaying this trait. The tank is 80-82. All other things are very good but I recently bought an elephants ear coral that has developed white patches and drooped. Temperature is the only culprit I can think of. Which corals are you noticing this in? I would like to know more.
Don't alter the temperature more than 1 degree each day as you can stress your animals. Ice in a bag is fine. Evapouration will also cool the water so increase the circulation of air around your tank if you can.
 
eric

eric

Member
I agree with claton on the 1 degree change but with the heat in your tank you are stressing the corals any way, you have to get the temp. down or risk loseing all your stuff get a long tube and a bucket fill the bucket with water at a temp. 4 deg. lower than your tanks temp. coil as much tubeing in the bucket as you can and syphon from your tank through the bucket and back into your sump.if you don't have a sump attach the tube to a power head and cycle back into the tank add a few ice cubes at a time to the water in the bucket to keep the temp. cool. this way of transfering heat will be easiest way to controll.
 
drewster

drewster

Member
I don't have much in this tank because its brand new. I only have 2 clownfish, 4 turbo snails, and it looks like 4 little anemone corals (i'm guessing, i honestly don't know much about corals but they live in holes in my rocks and have a tube for a body and tentacles at the end). The tentacles were curling up when my temperature went sky high to about 83-84 degrees. I'm guessing they didn't like this temperature. The temperature is now down to 78 and they seem to enjoy it more. Their tentacles aren't curling any longer. There's no way i was going to be able to only lower the temp 1 degree per day. I don't have the equipment or means necessary to do that. I put in a ziploc bag full of ice cubes and that did the trick for awhile. I'm not worried about losing anything because i honestly don't have much yet because i didn't want to buy anything until my tank finds its permanent home when i move next weekend.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Turn off all your lights [in the tank as well as the apt to reduce heating], close all the blinds or curtains in your apt to keep the place as cool as possible and blow a good fan on your tank [and if you have more than one fan, blow it [or them] in the room with the tank. If you don't have any jumping fish, you may want to take the hood off your tank to let heat escape.
Ice cubes are not going to be very reliable unless you are going to sit by your tank 24/7 to ensure that your temp doesn't go up [when the ice melts] or down [when you put in the ice]....in other words, fluxuations in temp can be just as harmful as too high. Once you get re-set up, you should keep the temp at around 75-76 degrees...and an ac residence does not always accomplish that. I have central ac and I love it very cool. My house is around 70 degrees or less, but the tank maintains at 80 degrees. This is too hot for corals.
 
drewster

drewster

Member
well....i can't remember the last time i turned on a light in this apartment. I've kept most of them off all week. I've had 4 fans running in this room all week too. Two in the window, one blowing air in and one blowing air out, one blowing air on the top of the water, and one just circulating air in this room. It's supposed to cool down a lot starting tomorrow so hopefully my apartment will cool down a little too. When i move the tank on saturday it will be going into an AC residence and also in the basement where i will be living. So the basement makes it extra cold. I'll keep you posted when i move the tank to see if the temp maintains at 75 or so. But thanks for the input guys and gals.
 
jt

jt

New Member
I have similar problems. Fans are okay. You can also turn off your skimmer during the hotter periods of the day. It may produce heat.
 
jt

jt

New Member
You don't have to run the skimmer all the time. I usually do, but I know several people, including pet store owner, who run it about half the time.
 
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