ideas to lower the temperature of the water

[csteven]

Hi everyone...
I am a beginner in aquarium plants.
I live in the tropics, Malaysia to be precise.
Currently there is a dry spell here and i notice that the water temperature in the tank is 31 degree with lights and 30 degree at night without lights. Most sites i visited said plants require not more than 28 degree.

Is there a way i can reduce the temperature?
I have thought of fans, but dont like the idea of putting 240V near water.

TIA

[izzat]

hi...

welcome to the forum...

besides using fan, you can use chiller...
that would maintain the water at the set temperature constantly...
but bear in mind that chiller would cause your electricity bill to increase sharply...
so using a fan would save much money on electricity...

[FC]

TIA,

As long as the ambient temperature stay high, there are not much solutions, namely Chiller, Fan and Semi-conductor cooling.

Regarding your concern about high voltage, I have been using 230V fans (with care) for many years. Important is that you have to earth it properly and seal any live wires at the fan. Your home must have earth leakage circuit breaker (ELCB) to be effective. Otherwise, you may buy from fish shop where 12Vdc fans are readily available.

[turaco]

Hi,

You can use those computer fan(12V or 24V DC). It's safer(But I find them noisier). How big is your tank? It might not work well if your tank is big. Or, you can turn on the lights in the evening & off during the day. Positioning of your tank play a part too, if it's near the window, the temperature will be definitely higher.

[kc]

I find that the AC fan sold by LFS here too noisy. Once I switched it on, the whole house got this humming sound. I've experiemented with a DC computer fan (3 inches square) for my 1 ft tank and I found that it is very quiet and effective.

I'm going to switch to computer DC fans my bigger tank.

[caseSENSITIVE]

Steven,

I wouldn't bother with getting a chiller/fan until you are ABSOLUTELY sure that the high temperature is responsible for your plants' poor health. I live in southern United States where the temperature do not get as high as Singapore or Malaysia, but hot nonetheless. One of my tanks is located in the garage and during the summer/early fall months (~3 months), the tank temperature stays consistently between 85F to >90F (29C to >32C). I have yet to have any plant* that fails to grow under this condition. One thing to take note of is that at higher temperatures, the plants' metabolic rate will increase so you'll have to supply more nutrients than during the winter months. Is that so bad? You'll just develop beefier muscles from all the frequent prunnings.

*Ok, so the mosses were not happy at these elevated temperature since it didn't grow at all for me. It didn't die either. It just sat there mocking me.

---

You should view this as a blessing. Who wants to spend money on a heater or have it clutter up a tank? Yuck. :wink:

[csteven]

Arggggggh its hot real hot here... air temperature is 34 celcius in the evening... not only the plants are having problems... me too

I guess using the fan will help... anyone has any idea how much cooler would a 3 foot tank be with fan?

Anyway, the java moss is turning brown, but the riccia is looking happy and growing.

Another question.
I only have one test kit for nitrate.
what is the next test kit to invest in ?

[wks]

Get a pH pen and kH test kit. These tools are important in keeping your tank healthy.

Jason Wong

[FC]

TIA,

If you use a 4" fan (recommended) and place it in an ideal position (blow at angle on the water and towards to the lamps, you should get about 2 degrees cooler (compared to without fan).

[Green Baron]

Another question.
I only have one test kit for nitrate.
what is the next test kit to invest in ?

I suggest getting the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals PH test kit.