Water temperature

[Joeljohn]

Hi guys,

I am a beginner to this forum and to planted tank aswell.
I would like to get your expert views on Water temperature.
My tank size is 24 x 18 x 12 inches.
I have fixed a 40W (20 + 20) flourecent tube light on my tank.
The light enclosure is placed about 2 inches above the water.

My tank water temp is always standing at 30 degree C .
The temp does drop to 26- 27 degree when i switch on the aquarium fan. But another problem is when i switch the fan on. the water evaporates very fast and my water level drops about 1 inch in 1 week time. Due to this I don't prefer the fan to be on always.

I want to know if this is due to the heat from light ?
Is this water temp ok for planted tanks

Thanks in advance for your views..!

Joel

[michael lai]

The water evaporation is due more to the fan then lighting if that's what you're asking. Most of the plants are okay between 26-30 degrees but personally I find 26-27 best especially with moss around. The solution around this problem is a chiller...

[nkthen]

I thought it's pretty good to have water evaporation.

You just add water once a week, skipping the first step changing water.

[torque6]

If you have med size tank, might as well go for a chiller with maintained temp at 25. Fans will only keep your tank at 27 at best and cooler at night.

[WaterH2O]

Agree tank temp as affect by your ambient environment temp and condition. If your is windy always then opening your windows a little helps to bring down the temp a bit with the help of your fan. If too stuffy then temp will go up a bit.
During Feb where there is huge rain fall in Spore, my tank temp maintain at 25-26 with only a fan. I am doing my rain dance now ha ha

[juggler]

Hi guys,

I am a beginner to this forum and to planted tank aswell.
I would like to get your expert views on Water temperature.
My tank size is 24 x 18 x 12 inches.
I have fixed a 40W (20 + 20) flourecent tube light on my tank.
The light enclosure is placed about 2 inches above the water.

My tank water temp is always standing at 30 degree C .
The temp does drop to 26- 27 degree when i switch on the aquarium fan. But another problem is when i switch the fan on. the water evaporates very fast and my water level drops about 1 inch in 1 week time. Due to this I don't prefer the fan to be on always.

I want to know if this is due to the heat from light ?
Is this water temp ok for planted tanks

Thanks in advance for your views..!

Joel

I think for a small tank like this, a fan is a good start. Chiller consumes much more power. As mention, an airy home also helps.

For my 5ft tank, it is surviving on a 12v DC fan running 24 hours. Another same fan also kick in when lights on. This maintain the temperature about 3 degrees (26C or 27C) below room temperature. I can top up about 20L or more of water a week. That's part of the hobby.

[Cloud-Strife]

I've 4 fans attached to my aquarium's hood. the temperature drops until 25 degree. But, I need to refill the water every 3 days. The evaporation is bloody fast. One good thing is the moss and the ferns will be very nice and green.

[jacian]

I thought it's pretty good to have water evaporation.

You just add water once a week, skipping the first step changing water.

Water evaporation does not equate to water change. Water evaporation does not remove the waste from your tank.

[Cloud-Strife]

Yeah. Agree with you.

Anyway, I would like to ask, how do I remove the brownish color coming out from the driftwood. I've soaked my driftwood in water for about 3 months with frequent water change. Eventually I give up and put it into my tank.

[torque6]

I used bleach, 1 day soak, next day vinegar to remove impurities and 1 week of hot water boiling remove the brown tint.

[Joeljohn]

Hi,

A million thanks for all your valuable suggestions....
Chiller is the best solution. but at the moment I dun have the budget to go for a chiller.
I keep a timer for light and Fan. the switching cycle is morining 6.30 am - 12.30 pm then 5.30 pm to 11.00 pm
So the Fan is off at night and during the afternoon.
The point is even at night the temp does not drop considerably. When I check in the morning, the temperature is always close to 30... I would say that's really weird since even at night the temperature does not drop without a fan.
But if u see.. if you keep a bucket of water in bathroom., it really gets cold by morning....
Then why the aquarium does not cool down...???

Surprisingly no one mentioned about heat from light. Does this really do not affect the temperature?
Also i have an external hanging filter, do you think the filter might be another cause of raising the temperature.
Any pointers ??

Thanks

[Joeljohn]

I've 4 fans attached to my aquarium's hood. the temperature drops until 25 degree. But, I need to refill the water every 3 days. The evaporation is bloody fast. One good thing is the moss and the ferns will be very nice and green.

from what i read from other sites, we shouldn't top up the evaporated water. Its bad for the tank as they say it increases the concentration of the waste products.

[properfool]

Look out for 2nd hand chillers in the marketplace section? May be cheaper than trying and failing with overwarmed plants and unhappy fish At least that's what I told my wife...

Evaporating water may not be so good because you are essentially concentrating every pollutant in the water.

So you should still take out some volume of water first before topping it up to reduce nitrates.

[dcwk]

Have your thermometer checked to ensure the reading you have is accurate.

[Joeljohn]

I think the thermometer is correct.. as i can see that after a heavy rain when the atmosphere is generally cool, my tank temp drops to almost 25 degree with the fan always on.

[gyjd]

Look out for 2nd hand chillers in the marketplace section? May be cheaper than trying and failing with overwarmed plants and unhappy fish At least that's what I told my wife...

Evaporating water may not be so good because you are essentially concentrating every pollutant in the water.

So you should still take out some volume of water first before topping it up to reduce nitrates.

thanx for info, i always do top-up only. no wonder my water ph is only abt 5.....btw, if i do 50% WC, will it stress out my shrimps? will it raise my ph too?

thanx & regards,

[Joeljohn]

50% also is a bit high. ideal is 20%. but i take out upto 35%

[daoism]

my fan is also not doing the job. stays at 28 degrees. will adding another fan help? i only have a 15 litres tank so a chiller is not an option. right?

[torque6]

from what i read from other sites, we shouldn't top up the evaporated water. Its bad for the tank as they say it increases the concentration of the waste products.

I think most of us top up water and perform water change on a weekly basis, not sure what you meant by "its bad for the tank". Believe you are refering to top up only without water changes.

[ronang]

Hi,

A million thanks for all your valuable suggestions....
Chiller is the best solution. but at the moment I dun have the budget to go for a chiller.
I keep a timer for light and Fan. the switching cycle is morining 6.30 am - 12.30 pm then 5.30 pm to 11.00 pm
So the Fan is off at night and during the afternoon.
The point is even at night the temp does not drop considerably. When I check in the morning, the temp is always close to 30... I would say that's really weird since even at night the temp does not drop without a fan.
But if u see.. if you keep a bucket of water in bathroom., it really gets cold by morning....
Then why the aquarium does not cool down...???

Surprisingly no one mentioned about heat from light. Does this really do not affect the temp?
Also i have an external hanging filter, do you think the filter might be another cause of raising the temp.
Any pointers ??

Thanks

Yes the heat from the filter motor is heating up the water during lights off. So if you off your filter and on the fan the water temp will go down further.