Beat the Heat! - Aquarium Chillers and Fans

The shifting weather of the great British seasons presents a massive challenge for those looking to keep marine fish: changing temperatures. Across the extensive literature on aquariums, the consensus appears to be that 75 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit is the optimum water temperature for your tank. This means that as the year gets further and further towards summer, it will be important to use artificial cooling methods to ensure that the tank remains temperate – fan cooling is one such method.

One of the best things about aquarium fans is that they can be automated so that they’re only on as and when they are needed. This is important if you have aquarium lights that heat up your tank at different points of the day that are fixed to a timer, or if your aquarium receives direct sunlight as the sun shifts through the sky.

Cooling Methods and Automation

An option would be to purchase a fan cooler that is automated to turn on and off when it detects that the water needs to be cooled. This means that your cooler is only cooling when necessary, and also that it doesn’t drain too much of your electricity.

Aquarium Chillers

Thankfully, aquarium chillers provide a simple solution to a complicated problem. But why would a small rise (or drop) in water temperature be a problem for your aquarium? Read on to discover more about how a water cooler could help prevent a significant number of aquarium-related problems. 

The Damaging Effects of Overheating

The first question you might ask yourself when considering the purchase of an aquarium chiller is why a slight increase to water temperature would be so bad for your aquarium in the first place. The answer is that a peak in temperature can quite simply ruin your ecosystem and potentially kill your fish.

So what causes the problem? Ultimately, an increase in room temperature means a decrease in the amount of oxygen in the water of the aquarium, and although tropical fish are fine at temperatures of around 24-26C, anything past this starts to become a problem, and many fish will suffer. As well as the direct issue of insufficient oxygen in the water, fish will panic and become more generally exhausted and experience real discomfort.

Make an Aquarium Chiller Your Solution

So, with water temperature being such a fundamental issue for those looking to keep healthy aquariums, you might be wondering what the best tools are at your disposal. The answer comes in the form of aquarium chillers.

Aquarium chillers are an external piece of equipment that takes water from your tank, cools it, and runs it back through into the tank. This might seem like a complex system, but actually the basic concept is straightforward, and is very similar to water coolers for computers which are relatively commonplace. The best thing about these chillers is that they’re digital and contain built-in temperature memories, meaning you don’t have to specify a temperature on a daily basis.

So, now that spring’s here and summer is on its way, now might be the time for you to consider purchasing a chiller or fan for your tank. It’s something that will help you to maintain your tank for years and years, so it’s definitely worth the investment.