How to Lower the Water Temperature in Summer?

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In this section we try to give relevant information on processes and common causes of aquarium lovers like us. We believe that to have a healthy aquarium and in which everything goes well, you have to have all the information possible at hand so as not to make mistakes, especially if you are a beginner. Therefore, we try to contribute by giving useful knowledge that it has served us a lot to be able to learn to love this aquatic world, its inhabitants and all that that entails.

Today we are going to talk about a phenomenon that happens during a specific time of year, and that is quite negative for our pets: summer heat. Especially if you live in areas where it is very hot in summer, you have to know that it is a time when you have to be especially careful so that the fish do not suffer: First, because temperatures rise, and as we will tell you later, this very negatively affects water of the aquarium. Second because summer is vacation time, maybe these are together bad water conditions with which we spend some time away from home.

You want to know why is the rise in water temperature so negative of the aquarium? How to do that your precious aquarium get over the summer and stay healthy and well for the fall season?

NEGATIVE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY THE RISE OF THE TEMPERATURE IN THE WATER IN OUR AQUARIUM

As we tell you, the temperature rise in the water from our aquarium you can bring us real problems, which will cause discomfort and even sickness and death in our fish.

Surely you are asking yourself a fairly common question, which is: Does the rise in temperatures affect species of fish that are cold water in the same way as those that are warm water? Well the answer is that basically yes, affects in the same way to fish that are used to living in warm water. This is so because when we talk about hot water fish we refer to species that live well in water with a temperature between about 20 to 23 degrees, as in the case of Killis fish about which you can read if you click on this link.

To these warm water fish, 35 degree temperature that an aquarium can achieve in summer if we do not take the necessary care, they make them exactly the same damage as fish that prefer waters of about 10 to 15 degrees. The damage, as we will repeat throughout the post, is not simply a little harmful: directly can kill your fish in a matter of hours if you can't help it.

For what reason causes temperature rise so many water negative problems to our aquarium? Let's see it.

LACK OF OXYGENATION

El first big problem what is the rise in aquarium temperature high, is that it causes nothing more and nothing less than a dissolved oxygen drop. This is extremely serious, and anyone who has had minimal experience with aquarium care knows perfectly well that the lack of oxygen, or the lowering of it, is absolutely incompatible with the life of fish and also of plants of the aquarium. In fact, in the Next post we tell you what are the parameters to take into account in water, in addition to oxygen, so that you are aware that the health of an aquarium depends largely on the quality of the water.

Why is the high temperature with the oxygen drop? It is an explanation that has to do with chemistry, and is that the increase in temperature naturally destroys the gases contained in the water dissolved. Among those gases is the Oxigen, and therefore the higher the water degrees rise, the more dissolved oxygen will disappear therein.

As we have told you in other blog articles, and which we will also talk about later, there are ways to increase the amount of oxygen in the water, but the fact is that we should not let this lack of oxygen go on for too long in our aquarium. For this, as we will tell later, you have to be permanently attentive that the temperature does not rise, and so we will not have to regret that there is lack of oxygen and use urgent measures.

How to Live Aligned with curious fact to this topic, we want to tell you that there is a species of fish that are the corydoras, the calls floor cleaning fish, who manifest in their behavior when oxygen begins to lack in the water: on his head they have some kind of antenna with which they can breathing atmospheric air in small amounts. If we see our Corydoras continually rise to the surface and quickly descend back to its natural habitat on the aquarium floor, it means that you have to check the oxygen.

In any case, not only can you rely on observing the Corydoras behavior, but we will have to get ahead of this problem and keep watch that the temperature of the aquarium water does not rise.

STRESS IN THE FISH AND CHANGES IN THEIR METABOLISM

Another serious problem of rising temperatures in the water of our aquarium if we are in summer, it is, obviously, the damage it can cause to fish health. Not only through lack of oxygen, but because of the heat itself, and that is the vast majority of species really can't stand to go above 30 degrees.

If we let our aquarium go rising in temperature in summer, and we do not control the situation, in addition to lack of oxygen, another of the worst problems is that heat directly accelerates the metabolism of fish. This means that if, for example, we have fish with a more limited life expectancy than that of others, if we do not control that during the summer the temperature of the aquarium rises, probably they will live less than they should.

In addition, this change in temperature that translates into a speed up your metabolism, is noticed by fish, which they get stressed, stop eating or overeat and therefore get sick much more easily.

DIFFICULTY TO FEED OUR FISHES

And, as we say, that fish alter their routines because they are in waters too hot for their health, because they lack oxygen and because his metabolism speed up, will inevitably result in feel very unwell and stop eating.

Anyone who has ever owned fish will know that when all is well in the water from our aquarium, fish tend to feed themselves all they need and more. They can generally even eat more than they should, what is a common mistake that we have commented on some other occasion on the blog.

By this we mean that the fact that they do not want to eat is a very bad symptom, and makes us fully aware of itor really negative that it is for them not to control the rise in temperature of the water.

HIGHER PROPENSION TO BOTH FISH AND PLANT DISEASES

Fish, first of all, but also the plants that inhabit our aquarium, they need us to worry about give them what is best for them. That is why we cannot be careless and not lower the water temperature in summer, because this translates into directly hurting them.

So much so, that as we count, they can get to die from lack of oxygen, and in the case of plants, in the same way. So much so that their metabolism speeds up, they get stressed and stop eating. And as a peak we need to understand how bad it is that they have to live for a long time in very hot water, we also have to tell you that fish and plants can develop specific diseases related to excess heat:

La disease called ICH It is caused by a bacterium called in the scientific field Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. It is, in short, a bacterium that reaches the skin of the fish and what gives them a characteristic appearance of white spots. The mucosa that protects the scales of the fish enclose the ICH within himself, and when this happens it is practically impossible to fix with any kind of medicine for fish. It is very serious, because if we do not get the fish to heal in the first days it will die, plus will infect other fish if we don't put them in a proper quarantine.

Although ICH disease is normally caused by the variety of very sudden changes in water temperature, which are usually caused by change clean water incorrectly, not letting the water temper so that the temperature does not change, also It can be caused if we let the heat rage at ease in our aquarium.

Likewise aquarium plants they can also start to have illnesses due to lack of oxygenation and high temperatures of the aquarium. Let's not forget about them when we are aware of this problem and try to solve it.

SOLUTIONS FOR RAISING THE TEMPERATURE IN THE AQUARIUM

Now that we know all the big problems that a rise in water temperature can cause us due to heat of certain times of the year, what we must do is learn more about what we can do to avoid causing irreparable damage.

The truth is that the rise in water temperature in summer it's practically something inevitable, and as we have said at the beginning of the article, it is added that in addition it's the time of year when we usually go on vacation and therefore We cannot be day by day checking that the water degrees are not rising.

So, how do we want our fish and aquarium plants get through the summer without difficulties, and we do not want to give up enjoying this time ourselves, we are going to tell you what solutions are there to the rise in temperature, how to download it and, afterwards, what instruments will we need to be able to carry out all this without any problem.

LOWER THE WATER TEMPERATURE ONE WAY CONCRETE

The first solution is the most obvious, and it is fundamentally about lower the temperature of the aquarium water to avoid possible damage to fish and plants. This seems obvious, but as we will continue to see throughout the article, it is not something that simple: you have to lower the water temperature in a very specific way, taking great care of respect the balance of chemical parameters that water should always have.

Fortunately, there are instruments and elements which can help us with this process without causing other problems in the attempt to overcome the heat. On our page Premium Divers is where you can find quality products, which are also shipped throughout Europe.

Lower the water temperature es one of the two solutions to look for when the aquarium has gotten too hot. We are going to tell you what the other solution is, and then go on to tell you about how and with which products we can carry out these two solutions.

INCREASE OXYGEN IN AIR-WATER EXCHANGE

We have already told you that the main and most harmful aspect of the rise in the temperature of the water in the aquarium is the lack of oxygen. So the other great solution so that fish and plants do not suffer this natural process of the summer or hot seasons, it is oxygenate the aquarium water.

Really are not two eligible options, but the ideal thing would be to apply both so that everything goes well and our aquarium will survive the summer season without problems. Oxygen is the main conflict with heat, and therefore get a method of increasing oxygen It will be very positive for the inhabitants of the aquarium.

But, as we have told before, lack of oxygen is not the only problem, and is that also the heat will alter the metabolism, well-being, the desire to eat properly and the physical health of the fish, and therefore it will also be necessary put a solution to the rise in temperature itself, and not just the lack of oxygen it causes.

Would you like to know what tricks and what products are we going to need In order to apply both solutions, the oxygenate the water and of lower the temperature?

TRICKS AND MATERIALS TO LOWER THE WATER TEMPERATURE

Next, we are going to tell you about the most important that we want to highlight in this article: what exactly you will need to lower the temperature of the aquarium water and to oxygenate her:

FANS FOR AQUARIUMS

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The aquarium fans They are a product that is usually sold in specialized stores, and that basically serves as solution to lower the water a few degrees quickly and without causing damage to its inhabitants. On Premium Buces we have this product, which also has a speed regulator so that we can do it more immediately in case we are seeing problems with heat in water, or more slowly in case we are only doing it as prevention. In addition, you can also purchase a digital controller for the fans, which is very useful if we want set a specific temperature where to get to.

It is ideal, as we always tell you, that we are pending on a more or less regular basis of needs and problems that can arise in our aquarium. But, as we have said, summer is a time when we probably have less time to be consistent, and this is coupled with that problems also arise faster due to the change in temperatures, especially in some specific cities.

For all this, always it is better to routinely control that the temperature does not rise excessively, who oxygen is still as it should be. He aquarium fan is a great instrument if we have not had time to be able to regulate the heat of the water constantly, or if we are beginners and we are going through the first period of excess heat with the aquarium and we have discovered along the way the negatives of it for the fish. We recommend if it is your first aquarium that you buy for the summer a fan, to save you a bummer in case the temperature rises excessively and you don't know how to handle it. To this, of course, we will follow adding other products or recommendations that will make sure that before you know it, you have it completely under control.

OXYGENATORS FOR AQUARIUMS

The main idea is that for one of the most troublesome problems from the rise in temperature, do not leave our fish and plants without oxygen and directly cause death, you have to take specific action against it.

How do you do this? Well causing the surface of the water to break, so that in that way the aquarium is oxygenated immediately. As we tell you, this is a measure that you will have to combine with others to avoid the temperature rise too high.

So the idea is break the surface and thus make the bubbles that come out oxygenate the aquarium more, balancing this parameter again so important: doing this is easier than you might think, since you simply have to upload the pipette or flute of the biological filter to get a greater impact of water leakage on the surface. Thus we can ensure that there is a rapid rise in oxygen that avoids greater evils for fish and plants.

In the event that you already have a biological filter y do not have this exit to the outside, there's also little tricks that you can use: with the help of some tube that we have that is resistant and can be adapted to the filter, we will get that surface oxygen reaches our filter and therefore it spreads through the aquarium without any problem.

Once you have mastered this, you will have resolved a very important problem and for which you can put yourself before worse problems for your pets.

REDUCTION OF THE HOURS OF NATURAL OR ARTIFICIAL LIGHT

So far we have talked about types of products that can be purchased in specialized stores and what are they for systematically correct a problem with temperature rise in water. They are products that, as we say, are good for save us an upset, and also if we are Beginners and we have not yet controlled the routine of our aquarium. But to the filter with extra oxygenation and aquarium water fan to lower the temperature, other more rudimentary little tricks that however will help us prevent the problem, instead of having to fix it because it has already been created:

It is difficult to foresee that temperatures will skyrocket in the place where we reside, but we can take one routine when more or less we realize that summer is coming: lower the number of hours of exposure to natural light or artificial light from our aquarium.

Light is positive for fish because it makes it easier for them to adapt to the habitat as if it were natural, and above all for plants that, thanks to light, carry out the photosynthesis process. In fact, it is usually put in aquariums an artificial light when we don't have access to nature precisely because it is fundamental in the life of our pets. But in summer we may have to reduce the number of hours with light: place our aquarium in a shaded area of the house: turn off artificial light for longer of the aquarium.

Surely you know that when we are in summer, the best way to contain the heat from outside is to lower the blinds and not letting the sun in too much, right? Well this is exactly the same. You must go testing how plants feel without a few hours of light and establish schedules that indicate a perfect balance between having light for photosynthesis and have enough darkness for a water temperature is maintained good

As we have already told you in previous posts, there are some types of plants that do well in a darker environment that light: these are the moss, about which you can read much more in this guide to the most common aquarium mosses. We tell you this information because if you are forming your first aquarium, and you live in a area where you know in advance that it is very hot in summer, maybe mosses would be a good option to start and thus give the aquarium the shade that suits it in summer.

LEAVE THE AQUARIUM LID OPEN FOR AT LEAST PART OF THE DAY

Another little trick which will also be very useful both for balance the temperature of the aquarium waterAs for collaborate with the oxygenation process of the same, is lift the aquarium lid for as long as possible throughout the day.

The lid closed helps in some way with microclimate conservation which is established in an aquarium during the process in which water parameters are set, the fish begin to get acquainted with the ecosystem y the plants begin their growth. But in summer and with a lot of heat in the environment, the lid closed it's a problem: causes, logically, a condensation of the internal air of the aquarium y avoid ventilation at all costs of the same. This makes when the heat from the environment reaches the aquarium water, that Celsius rise and it is not feasible to lower it, because the lid is closed and does not allow it.

Therefore, it is best to summer times in which we are going to be at home, Let's open the lid of the aquarium and leave it like this for at least a minimum number of hours up to date. In the same way that it happens with the trick to remove natural or artificial light of the aquarium, the rise of the lid is only an extra help that can make it easier for the temperature not to rise in excess, but of course they are not definitive solutions and to which we can welcome ourselves to have complete peace of mind.

If you want our advice, the best to ensure that the water temperature in summer does not rise enough to damage the life that we conserve there, is to make a mix of all these solutions: have a electric fan to lower the temperature between 2 and 4 degrees and make use of it especially when we are not going to be at home much; have a oxygenation system so that the biological filter reaches the surface and break it, and thus ensure that there is never enough oxygen lacking for fish and plants to suffer; open the lid more often in the hot months and remove artificial light for as many hours as possible (or move the aquarium away from the source of natural light) also during these months.

AQUARIUM COOLERS: IS THE SOLUTION FINAL?

If you have had an aquarium for a long time, you will have reached the conclusion that it is indeed not possible to have a healthy aquarium and not be able to take care of it completely. This is the truth, and it is that especially at the beginning, we will have to worry on a daily basis because everything goes well in the aquarium: first of all by carrying out the aquarium cycling process, worrying about reaching the perfect parameters depending on the plants and fish that we want, then introducing the fish little by little to see how they act and how they do feel the temperature, the amount of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxideas well as a hardness of water, also routinely observing that the plants are fine, that the biological filter is ok, that the fish have not gotten sick and they have not infected the other fish ...

Perhaps said like this, all of the time it may seem to us that it is hard work, but neither: simply we must be concerned because the habitat of our pets is fine and they live the best possible. As we always say, they are animals that will depend on us, and if we really do not feel like taking the necessary care, then it is better not to have them, than to have them bad.

With all this, what we mean is that in the aquarium world it is quite difficult to find definitive solutions that allow us not paying attention to our animals, and with the issue of rising degrees of temperature in the water, more of the same happens. The best is always be attentive and do not wait to put a solution when it has already happened that the water is too hotbut go checking it before and thus not regret the consequences.

However, in case you want invest some more money and assure you the possibility that the temperature of the aquarium is kept at a fixed temperature that you want according to the needs of your fish and plants, there is an instrument, what is a aquarium water cooler, and what could fully control this rise in summer in order to save us all the trouble.

El aquarium water cooler is to fish what for us it is the air conditioning. When our house is too hot due to the summer temperatures, we can effectively take solutions such as using Fansas open the windows at night to lower the temperature or as having the curtains or blinds drawn down when it is more sunny so that the heat does not enter the house. But all this can be alleviated in a much faster way if we have a air conditioner.

Especially for people who practice aquascaping, or aquarium landscape design, and have invested a huge amount of time and money en create a landscape with exotic plants, reefs and all kinds of natural elements inside your aquarium, as well as those that have most exotic and exclusive fish, with higher demands on your care, It is possible that the aquarium water cooler is the product they really have to use.

La price range for chillers it is quite varied, and depends mainly on the aquarium size for which they will be destined, and also of the more or less digital or rudimentary design: some have a external display that allows us to program the hours in which we want to lower the temperature. In the market we can find aquarium water coolers from € 100 so so, up to € 500.

The way the water cooler works is as if it were another biological filter: we must place it in such a way that the internal water can pass through the machine and go back through a water outlet converted to water with a lower temperature.

As you can see, there are quite a few possibilities when it comes to finding a solution for the high temperatures in the aquarium. This is a completely personal option, and each will prefer to invest more or less in your aquarium. What has to be common to all is awareness that rising temperatures are a major problem for our aquarium, and what we can't just let it go.

COMMON ERRORS THAT WE MUST AVOID TO LOWER THE WATER TEMPERATURE

Now that we have reached this point in the article, in which we hope we have explained you well and with all the information possible what are the main problems that heat can cause in our aquarium, and what solutions can we put, we are going to tell you more about the possible mistakes that many people, without knowledge on the subject, commit to the hour trying to cool the aquarium.

Many they perceive in summer that something is actually going wrong in the aquarium, and they take hasty decisions on how to lower the temperature of the fish and plants so that they are better. We have even come to see iinformation through the internet that ensures that these tricks are very useful to improve the situation. It is not true! Conclusion failed solutionsWhat else to help us they can even make the situation worse y endanger the health of our aquarium.

THROWING ICE OR FROZEN ELEMENTS IN THE AQUARIUM

Here is the first trick that some information assures that works to alleviate the heat of the aquarium: throw ice or some frozen item (including bags of frozen food kept in the freezer) to lower the temperature of the aquarium suddenly and thus "re-stabilize the life of fish and plants."

This is a big mistake: first ice or frozen items in general can contain bacteria or have been in contact with other elements that are harmful for our fish. If you remember our article on how to change the aquarium water, in it we told you that when we put water it has to pass a waiting process for the temperature to adapt to that of the aquarium, in addition to using products to remove chlorine (which is very harmful to fish and plants) and go throwing it out little by little.

If we kick him out ice to the fish tank, we will be skipping all that protocol suddenly, we will be introducing in the tank an element with parameters that have nothing to do with what the fish need, and we will also put them in danger, because as we have told you before, there are certain fish diseases that develop from drastic change Of temperature.

On the other hand, this solution is not even useful. Ice or frozen elements they will melt in the water, they will warm up immediately if the aquarium water was very hot and in just ten minutes we will continue with the same temperature problem, and also with a water that has unbalanced the aquarium chemistry.

PUT COLD WATER WITHOUT HIT AND WITHOUT ANY CHANGE PROCESS

In the same way as with ice, many people can come up with improvising the cold water from the tap to the aquarium directly, so mix the new water with the old water and balance the temperature: Another huge mistake! El new water coming out of the tap, if immediately thrown into the aquarium, will be full of chlorine, possibly lime depending on where we live, with a unsuitable temperature to adapt to the new water and endless problems that they will not take long to show up as soon as we do this procedure.

It is possible that changing the water in the aquarium when the temperature is very high can help us with oxygenation. But we have to do the procedure as we have told you what to do: leaving in a bucket the water the night before so that it tempers, giving it a product to remove chlorine y give you the necessary nutrients so that you have the same parameters as the biological filter has achieved and doing it very little by little and with the fish out so as not to stress them out.

In any case, we have already told you at the top of this article what are the best methods against drastic temperature rise during the summer in our aquarium, and everything that comes out of there and is improvisation, you should think better of it because it often happens that with good intention we can fall into blunders, and cause problems in the aquarium that we would not have had otherwise.

We have reached the end of our article, where we hope you have learned more about the fascinating world of aquariums, and the care that we must have to see how they grow healthy and make us enjoy. Don't worry, because maybe the first summer what happens with the aquarium you will have to be a little more attentive and buy a product to help you, but when you have overcome it and everything is fine in the aquarium, it will be part of the routine the one that the temperatures rise.

For any other duda, relevant information on this topic and others, you can write us through the comments. And if you want to know all our specialized products for the aquarium world, you can take a look at our online store and social media.