temperature suggestions

[silke]

since i keep many herps in a 1 bedroom apartment, the room temp is around 80
i'm having trouble keeping my 20 gallon fish tank temps down below 80 so i have to leave the flap on the lid open when the light is on since the light raises the temp too much
the temp is still too close to 80 ....

can anyone suggest what i can do to lower the temp. of the water?

thanks

[Zoe]

I don't know, the only thing I can suggest is to move the tank nearer a window... or lower the temp of the room and increase the temp in the tanks.

Hope you can lower the water temps!
Zoe

[snakedude_03]

lol.. throw some ice in! umm.. i'm not quite sure..turn off the water heater? open the windows?sorry :S

[silke]

wow...didn't think i'd get such quick replies :)
being closer to a window might cook it or freeze it and the drastic temp fluctuations aren't good either (which is also why I can't throw in ice cubes)
i have no control over the room temps - no thermostat in the apt...old building
i have over head lighting for my basking lizards and that is what is raising my room temps...it is not an option to keep them in the dark :)

[Shane Tesser]

Well silke...i know that you have mollies and the temp range for those is not out of reach. I would say continue on..you have had several successful breedings if memory serves me correct..therefore you are well within limits. I would not worry about it...i run some of my tanks as high as 87 during breeding preperations, then dive them down to the mid 70's, but for mollies 80 is not crazy.

And yes there is commercial chillers available for tanks, but unfortunately you might just as well throw the whole tank in your fridge..as they cost about the same as a refridgerator on average. Hope this helps :D

[homebrewed]

on a plus side. a tank in mid 80's has less disease risks, and also, ick cannot survive past 82

[silke]

Thanks for all the responses

Shane - my male mollies...well they screwed themselves to death. The babies are very slow in growing which baffles me. I also have more variety of fish now. Black tetras, Columbian tetras and some teeny mountain fishies (I can't remember the name but they are smaller than the glowlights and black tetras)
I looked up the temp requirements (i know...me bad...i should have researched the temp compatibility BEFORE getting the new fish) and i want to get the mid range since some seem to prefer low / mid 70s

The temps are acceptable now but i have very little control over it and that is why i wa hoping for some advice. I have not used the water heater for months now
I will confess that the temps got so warm in the summer that i did put in the occassional icecube

[Shane Tesser]

Silke, ill guess and say that the mountain fish are white cloud mountain minnows, yes they do like slightly cooler temps, but can tolerate higher ones. 80 is not extreme, i would guess that your place would probably fluctuate enough in temp from day to day, hour to hour, season to..etc etc that it should not be a problem. I currently have every of the above mentioned fish minus the columbians and everything is in tanks that are running at above eighty. Eighty two to be exact, and these fish have been in there for over five years give or take, so again, i would carry on, leave the heater out, and you are a good mom for asking, but you are doing fine :D

[silke]

YAY - thanks !
may i drop some ice cubes in in the summer though?
i do weekly water changes in the summer and i was told by a fish person in Big Al's that putting in a few ice cubes can be very dangerous ...sounds a little extreme but you get the jist

YES - white cloud mountain minnows ! They are adorable and so tiny...highly underrated IMO

[Shane Tesser]

Its great that you do weekly water changes in the summer..but that should be part of your routine all year around...1/3 or even 1/4 of the water would be great! :D. Im not liking the ice cube idea either, large and fast fluctuations or temperatures and stun, and even kill fish...not to mention stress them out and make them more susptable to disease. You have to remember...these fish come from (the majority) place where the temperatures get extremely hot. In the dry seasons alot of the waters are reduced to puddles and small ponds...multiply that with the humidity and the sun...and these little guys see about the same temp as alot of your reptiles would. White clouds are great..there is a long finned version available as well, they are egg scatters and can tolerate temps as low as 68 degrees. Very easy to breed, but unfortunately the young can be tricky as they have extremely small mouths. Hope this helps :D