Tank water ice cubes?

[ocean.mirage]

I have a smaller tank (30 gallon). I usually don't have water temp issues. But this last week we had a heat wave and my tank did get up to 85/86. I don't need a chiller, because this rarely happens. My tank always sits year round at 79-82 degrees.

So I filled a couple glasses with tank water and froze them in the freezer. So then I have them ready anytime I need them. Then on the days when I get home and my tank is too hot. I just throw a tank water ice cube in the tank in the back area(filter area) where it can't touch fish or coral. And it does the trick. It brought my tank temp down 2 degrees. And it didn't cost me a thing.

Is there any reason why I should not do this? are there any negative reprucussions I am not aware of? What do you all think?

Thanx.

[jvetter]

Great idea. I would just be careful that the temp. of the tank does not change too rapidly.

I may freeze some tank water as well in case of power outages this summer.

[Shekki]

I used ro/di ice to top off when I was having heat issues. I put a handful of ice in the overflow in the morning, and everything stayed cool and topped off!

[barbra]

I don't think that's a very good idea. I can't tell you exactly why I think so, but it sounds risky. Most of us freeze tupperwares full of water, use ice packs, etc. and don't mess directly with the mix of the water at all.

[AquaReeferMan]

Ive used ice cubes directly in the tank when I had my 20g. I never noticed anything bad happen from it. Although now since I upgraded tanks, I just throw frozen water bottles in my sump. Works great.

[Shekki]

I used ro/di ice to top off when I was having heat issues. I put a handful of ice in the overflow in the morning, and everything stayed cool and topped off!

[ocean.mirage]

will this cause ammonia to spike in anyway because the tank water that froze in a way died?

[MrSpiffy]

I can't see this being an issue. The small amount of water that may have had some minimal bacterial culture in it that died shouldn't cause any spike in ammonia. It's released slowly as it melts, so your tank should be able to handle it. Just make sure the temp doesn't swing too quickly, or it could shock your livestock.

[dodgersfan25]

based on my experience, it does not work. the only way it would work is in large quantities of ice.........and thats a lot of effort

[InLimbo87]

Are you running any fans already? A good sized clip-on fan from wal-mart blowing over the top of your tank/sump should definitely do the trick.

[dpearly88]

I run a clip-on fan that kicks on when the MH lighting turns on. It works great. Frozen top-off water works too, but not as well.

[kuoka]

I use those two liter bottles that soda comes in. Clean them well, remove any labels, adhesives etc., fill them up with water (leave enough room for expansion) and freeze em. Put them in your sump and you're good to go!

[kuoka]

Originally posted by dpearly88
I run a clip-on fan that kicks on when the MH lighting turns on. It works great. Frozen top-off water works too, but not as well.

I started doing this too and it works great! I use the frozen water if the temp still gets high. Good luck!

[Icefire]

Originally posted by dodgersfan25
based on my experience, it does not work. the only way it would work is in large quantities of ice.........and thats a lot of effort

Yep, unless you put 4+ 2L bottle, you won't have much cooling.

Evaporation will work better

[Jimbo327]

Why mess around? Use a water bottle, and fill it with water, freeze and use. Don't mess with the frozen salt water because it will screw with your salinity. And the problem with this method is what happens when you are NOT home and the temperature spikes up? The ice doesn't automatically drop into the tank by themselves, and I don't plan to be next to the tank all the time, I got places to go and people to see. I don't want to be a slave to the tank. Besides there is too much $$$ in the tank to take that risk.

[Criminal#58369]

I would just invest in a fan to keep it cool.

[pncpon]

I bought a small used air conditioner for my fish room, it seems to do the job.

[ocean.mirage]

well, it works for me. I don't mind a huge temperature swing once in a while. My tank can handle it. So I am not a slave. Most the time though. The ice cubes will do the trick when I get home from work. And again. I almost never have heat waves here, so heat is usually not an issue.

[bgiles11]

BY A CLIP ON FAN FROM WALMART, AND CLIP IT TO THE SUMP!!!!! It works. My temp never climbs above 80 now since i purchased this clip on fan. it used to hover around 83-84 without it. Trust me, it was one of the best investments (8) bucks I have made in this hobby.

[tangyreefer05]

I used to have a heat problem with my 90g in my old place. To drop my temp a few degrees I would take food safe ziplock bags and fill them up with lots of ice cubes, then let it float in the tank until it melts. They melt pretty quick and it will drop the temp in the tank without any worry.

[Louie3]

I used to freeze RO/DI water and dump the cubes in the tank and my wrass loved swiming near the cubes never seemed to do bad for me.
But once I get my sump up and running I'll just freeze 2liter bottles and place it near the return area

[kaihonu82]

ocean.mirage...as long as it works for you and your tank, do it

but yea, a fan works really well, just like the others have said

[pledosophy]

I used to use 2 Liters filled with frozen tank water. Had to switch them out every 2 to 3 hours to keep the tank temp where I wanted it in my 18g.

Since then I have found the joys of a $10 clip on fan. I do go through more top off water, but the fan is able to drop the water temp 6-8 degrees on my 65g and keeps it more constant then using frozen bottles.

Another cool (hahaaha sorry for the cheesy pun) thing to do isrun your lights at night. If you run a sump skimmer with an airline intake, some people liek to run a hose off of that and through a cooler to help out as well.

Some of that shoudl work for ya. In my last apartment my room temp hit the 100's but hte tank never went above 78F. I aimed for 74F.

HTH