I have these horrible incandescent bulbs on my hood. With the lights on my tank gets up to 80 degrees. Without the lamps it's still around 75. Is there anyway to keep a tank consistantly cooler than the room? I intend to buy a new hood so I can see my fish and not boil him, but is there more that I could be doing? He sits on the bottom when the water is warm.... I don't blame him. I sit on my rear a lot during the hot Texas summers.

80F is certainly hot (it's actually tropical) but not too hot for a goldfish to tolerate. It is routine to raise the tank temp to 80F when treating for some diseases, like ich or dropsy, in fact. Believe it or not, GF can tolerate up to 90F. (This isn't recommended by the way!)

However, the danger of a high temperature is the lack of oxygen: warm water holds much much less O2 than cold and this is probably why he has sat on the bottom before - not because he feels too hot but because he can't get enough O2.

You have to oxygenate the HECK out of water that warm: I usually run the filter venturis or spraybars as hard as possible (I also raise them so the water really splashes down) and add two 12" bubblewands and another airstone to get the surface moving enough.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the post. I was keeping the water level a bit lower and running a 4" bubble wand but I will try adding some more. Is it possible to run those off of one pump or do I need another?

but higher the temperature, less air.. so you need more air pumps/air stones.

You can get more than one on the air pump. Look at the fish store around the airstones. There are valves that will hook up 2 or 3 lines to one pump. I think getting different bulbs that don't put off heat will make a big difference.

I agree. I am keeping the lights off for now and all the shades closed. I only have the lights on for a short time at night so I can enjoy him a bit. I will get a new hood AND a new air pump... mine is small, AND a few new stones.

My tanks are pretty much always over 80 and the lights dont change it (biggish tank) i mean thats only 26 C. I wouldn't worry about it unless you see your fish suffer, just keep it oxygenated like people have said, i just have the venturi on my internal and my canisters spray bar above the water line.

I bought a florescent hood and a larger air pump. It perked my little girl right up (I think she is a girl now). She looks better than she has in a while. I hope this is it and she will be better.

Thanks for all the great advice everyone. I don't know what my fish would do without you guys.

Yeah! I hope that is it for her too. Glad she is feeling better

By the way what is the Ideal Temp. to keep, in numbers. i know Room temperature but my room changes up and down.... i wanna keep the tank at a constant temp. thanx.

I have heard and read upper 60's to low 70's but I am pretty new myself

I think its in thelower 70's or upper 60's

I used to have that problem, my poor fish were near boiled, my moor accually ended up dying from it. My tank stays at a chill 62-64 degrees now, the fish love it, although when breeding i put it up to 76 and they get a bit sluggish, but nothing to worry about.
The humidity in my room really makes the tanks heat up, so i found shutting the blinds and opening the windows, and leaving the lights off in the tanks with the bedroom door open helps.
In the summer, i have all these little pop bottles full of water down in the deep freezer, and when the temp gets to hot, i plop one in the tank. They are small enough not to raise the water level to spilling point (my tank is full to the absoloute brim) and when they melt the water isnt going to leach into my tank.

also, why 80degrees? this ALSO shortens their life span. mid 70s is fine really..

As far as I know, Goldfish can adapt to various kind of temperature. My Goldfish is living under 90F condition in Singapore. The only thing to note is at high temperature, give lots of aeration so to increase the gas exchange. I would be more worried with swinging temperature than constant heat.

As for shortening lifespan ... I'm not too sure as it is genetic, unless you are the breeder there is no way you can tell that.

You guys made me feel a bit better. Living in Texas it's really expensive to cool. It gets HOT here. Her tank varies between 75 and 80 but I think it will stabilize more in the lower end with the a/c being on in the summer. (Very soon)

What I find funny here is that I use my iredescent bulbs as a heater on my guppy tank. Thay keep the water at a perfect temp.LOL NEhow good luck.

in the summer my smaller tanks get like that without lights... (thats what ya get when its 110 outside and the air doesnt work!)

I use extra air pumps and float frozen water bottles in th tanks in the afternoon.... i have heard of running a fan across the top of the water to cool it. lots of luck your way!

That's a great idea! I may try the fan if it gets bad this summer.

That's not that bad, i live in hawaii and the water in my tank gets pretty warm and they live through it.around noon it would get 8o something.

I wish i had air con..... My fishes are loving their cool 75-80 degrees Winter has arrived!!! Praise the weather man!!