Aquarium/Fish Owners

[thetoad30]

All,

I have an aquarium that is a freshwater tank. I have two comets and a pleco in there. The tank is a 75 gallon with two 250W heaters and an XP4 canister filter. I usually keep the temp at 73 degrees F (23 degrees C).

The lights are a triple-tube fluorescent, 32W per tube.

The temperature during the day when the lights are on gets up to around 78 degrees F. This is when the apartment is only 72-74 degrees F. In the summer I will be setting the A/C to 82F for most of the day while I'm gone (9 or 10 am to 5 or 6 pm). After that it will drop back to around 75 degrees F.

Question: Do I need a chiller? I plan on going out of town for a week and a half and to leave the A/C set on 82F. I know the tank will reach 85-90 F.

I was told I don't need chiller, and that the fish will adapt, by a respectable aquariust, but I wanted to double-check and make sure.

Thank you to anyone who can reply.

[Eagle156]

It sounds like you have a very rapid change in temps in the aquarium, which is harmful for the fish. Comets are coldwater fish so I'd imagine they won't like high temps.
From wikipedia: "Goldfish may be coldwater fish, but this does not mean they can tolerate rapid changes in temperature. The sudden shift in temperature that comes at night, for example in an office building where a goldfish might be kept in a small office tank, could kill them, especially in winter. Temperatures under about 10 °C (50 °F) are dangerous to goldfish. Conversely, temperatures over 25 °C (77 °F) can be extremely damaging for goldfish (this is the main reason why they shouldn't be kept in tropical tanks).[9]" AFAIK the same should apply to comets.

I don't really understand why the temp would go to 85-90 if the ac is set to 82, though?

[thetoad30]

I don't really understand why the temp would go to 85-90 if the ac is set to 82, though?

Good question. The reason is that the lights and pumps dump their heat into the water as well. Mainly it's the lights that do it.

I know what you're thinking... "Turn off the lights. Duh."

Here's the problem. By turning off the lights, I mess up the fish's bio-cycle, as well as kill the plants in the aquarium. Plants I can rebuy, though I'd rather not.

The fish would need weeks of getting back on their normal rythm after thinking that it was night all the time.

I do understand the rapid change in temps argument. However, the temps won't be rapidly changing as much as they'd be constantly increasing until they passed 82F over the week and a half that I'm gone.

[schapkl]

I would think that the lights above your tank would not be necessary (unless you have live plantings). As long as you don't have your tank in a closet, I would think normal ambient light should be fine (at least for your time away).

Now if it were a reef tank (like mine), Most corals require a lot of light.

Are you planning for a sitter/feeder?

If you add Fans to you hood, less heat could/would enter the water...

[thetoad30]

I would think that the lights above your tank would not be necessary (unless you have live plantings). As long as you don't have your tank in a closet, I would think normal ambient light should be fine (at least for your time away).

Now if it were a reef tank (like mine), Most corals require a lot of light.

Are you planning for a sitter/feeder?

If you add Fans to you hood, less heat could/would enter the water...

I do have some plants in the water. For a temporary fix, I've removed one tube from the triple-tube light. These lights do not have fans as they are not HO lights... but I have raised them off the glass hoods using wood shims so that light can move underneath and help cool them down. Doesn't seem to be working so far...

Secondly, as for lighting... I don't get a whole lot of ambient light at the tank. I leave the windows open, but I live in a high-rise apartment with a 3-4 foot balcony, so I am shadowed most the time, especially since my tank is all the way inside the apartment on the inside wall.

I do think I'll have a feeder, if not, I may end up just having a vacation feeder and an auto feeder for the tank.

I'm still worried about the 82F temps though, even without the light. Especially for the comets. I'm pretty worried about the pleco too, since I'm not quite sure how tolerant he is of the higher temps... I think I'm already asking a lot from him living with two comets in a basic environment since I've read they like slightly acidic water.

Just trying to make sure I don't kill these fish. Granted, they're just fish... but still... something just doesn't seem right about that to me.

[schapkl]

Just trying to make sure I don't kill these fish. Granted, they're just fish... but still... something just doesn't seem right about that to me.

I understand! These creatures are "in your care". I too feel it is not "right" to make them uncomfortable (or knowingly put them in harm's way) if I can help it.

a couple things you may want to try.

1) swap the light cycle to have the lights on at the coolest part of the day. (Safest approach) You can gradually change them back once you return. Just make sure to feed while the light is on (most fish don't like to eat at "night").
2) When my tank gets hot, I typically "open the tank" and allow the water to evaporate. (Natural cooling effect, I don't have a cooler {yet}). I usually use a fan blowing across the sump (something you probably do not have/use). This could be dangerous as you don't want the water to fall below the pump intake. It all depends in the humidity in the room. If it's low, you'll have a lot of evaporation/cooling. If you live in the mid-west (like I use to), the humidity is so high that it probably wouldn't help.

One other note (as you may already know): While using a feeder, try not to over feed (as it is easy to do). Slightly less than necessary is far better that slightly too much. Use it the week prior to leaving so you can monitor the operation and volume of food delivered.

As for water chemistry, I don't know the origin of the fish you have (I thought the Pleco is amazonian and the Comets are African cychlids {pardon the spelling}? If so, acidic water would be correct for the Pleco and basic (some times PH close to sea water {8.2} depending on the lake of origin) and very hard water for the cychlids). I would only worry about the chemistry if these were breeding fish. I believe that the fish you have are pretty hardy and are use to the water they live in. As long an the fluctuations are kept to a minimum, I would think you are OK.

Good luck and have fun on your trip!

[schapkl]

XP4 canister filter

One last thing. Insulate the filter if you can. Fiberglass batting, or even a Styrofoam cooler would help stop the heat transfer from the room to the water.

Heck. Insulation around the tank itself wouldn't hurt anything either...