I've had a problem keeping my tank water cool. It seems to be sitting at 80/83 degrees F.

I stopped turning the light on all day and now I've moved the tank to a cooler room, but still no luck!

My goldies don't seem to mind it, is this harming them in any way??

83 degrees is a bit high. From what I've read, mid to high 70's is the prefered temp. To bring down the temperature you can try freezing water in old soda bottles and then adding them one at a time to the tank (make sure not to fill them all the way up or they'll explode). You can also try positioning a fan so that it blows over the surface of the water. Just make sure it's not possible for the fan to fall into the water! Good luck!

Another helpful hint is to make sure there is plenty of oxygen in the water. If you don't have an air stone get one, and if you do then add another to the tank.
Hotter water is less oxygen for the fish.

Can that affect my goldies?

I've noticed even when I change the water in their tank, they sit at the bottom for a couple of hours before the start to move around again.

New water is about 74/76.

Can this drastic water change hurt them if I go from 83 to 74?

I don't want them to get sick!

Hey LaurieP,

I have two stones. I have a 12" inch bubble stone (blue) and one little stone (green) that I've positioned under a fake coral.

I also have a little treasure chest with bubbles that come out of it.

They seem to like swimming in the bubbles when it's on.

But hasn't seem to bring it down.

I've just resorted to shutting off the light, but now they sleep all day long!

Yes drastic tempature changes will hurt them and make them sick. Try when you add the new water to make sure it is as close to the tank temp as possible.

I know you want to bring down the temp and you are right to, but they handle higher temps better than the temps changing drastically.

Using the frozen soda bottles works really well, try and make sure the temp only drops 1 degree per hour this is a safe way to do it.
Keeping the light off, also the fan is good. Try all these things to help.

It is good you should have adequate air supply in the tank.

Good luck and keep us posted

Hi, heard about your problem, what i do on a hot day is i take 4 or 5 ice cube and put in them in my hand all squashed. and put it under a running tap for like a sec or two. That makes them freeze together and then i just put it in the tank, since "grouped" ice melts slow it'll raise your temp up slowly without stressing the fish. and also make sure your not near a vent or a window(hot air).

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Joey

Laurie, as usual, is absolutely correct. Your fish will be far more stressed by the quick fluctuation of the temperature than they are with temps in the 80's. If you are really concerned, you can add a frozen bottle of water, but make sure that the bottle is VERY small in a 10 gallon tank (and it really does not need to very big in a bigger tank!) and that the water flows well around it. You do not want to create pockets of very cold water and pockets of warm water. That could be far more stressing than a general tank temp of mid-80's.

Goldies can and do survive in quite warm water - the all important factor is, as Laurie said, OXYGEN!

Add some extra bubble bars or stones and lower the water level a bit so the filter overflow splashes and agitates the suface water. Keep the tank squeaky clean - absolutely no uneaten food or broken plants bits. Your fish should be fine.

Fall is coming, fast and furious.

The frozen bottle of water is a good idea, if you use ice cubes you should really put them in a ziploc bag and float them.

If a fish swims through a cooler stream of water, or the temp changes suddenly, for some reason that seems to trigger an outbreak of ich, not to mention stressing the fish.

So you want to keep the cooler stuff isolated so that it slowly changes the temp of the water around it, not quickly.

cool,

didnt know tat bottle thing is able to bring the water temp down.
learn something new everyday B)