I don't know if it's just becuz I live in Florida, or if my house is just poorly insulated - but whatever the room temp. is of my house, my tank water is up to 5 degrees warmer. In order to keep my tanks below 80 degrees, I have to keep my thermastat on the a/c set at 72 degrees year round. (I have experimented with removing the UV and keeping the tank lights off, and it doesn't make a difference in water temp)

Can others report their room temps versus tank temps, so I can try to figure out if I should buy a chiller? Not sure if paying almost $300 per month on my electric bill is worth it.

I don't know if this will help you Lola, but right now the temp outside is 56 degrees, and the tank temp is 68. I don't use a heater but I do keep the light on most of the time when its cloudy outside during the day, as it is today. During the summer when it was so terribly hot outside the tank temp would stay around 78-80 degrees. My home also isn't very well insulated, but I live in Indiana where it doesn't stay warm all year round.

What is your room temp in the house?

Water in the tank inside the house is always going to retain heat better than the house itself. Yes it is perfectly normal for the tank water to be higher than the temp. in the house, especially if you have sunshine hitting the tank during the day.

I agree. My tank water is always a few degrees higher than the room temp. For example, at night, we keep the heat on 68 degrees and the tank temp is between 72-75.

The temp in the house right now is around 66 degrees. Also, I only let indirect light hit the fish tank, not direct sunlight. The way summers are around here, the water would be much too hot for goldies!!

You forgot to answer the question JOH. What is your room temp of YOUR house right now, versus YOUR tank temp? My tanks get zero direct sunlight, so that's not an issue for me either.

66? I'm shivering just thinking about that. That's not too cold for you? Do you have to wear a sweater in the house? Gosh....we are really spoiled here I'm thinking. If I didn't have the a/c on right now, it'd be 80 degrees in the house.

My tank does not get direct sunlight either. Right now, though, it is 74 in my house and the tank temp is 75, according to the stick-on thermometer I have, which is prolly not too reliable. However, at night, it does get down to 68 in my house, I have gotten up in the middle of the night and checked and it is always 68 when I get up in the morning. My tank never gets down that low, it usually between 72-75 when I get up in the morning.

Hi Lolafish

I think we are spoiled here in Florida, although we've been pretty cool here in Orlando. Temps in the 70's. In the winter (the whole 5 days of it ) we keep the heat at 74º. I couldn't imagine 66º!!! I originally from Connecticut, and I guess the 19 years of living here has thinned my blood out a whole lot!

I thought I'd chime in with my house and tank temperatures, too. The house is 78º, and the tank is 80º. But the light is on in the tank, and that usually warms it up a little.
I don't have the tank in direct sunlight, either. Well I could if I opened the blinds, but algae grew quick when I had them open, so now they stay shut. I've had people come in and say "What's this, a cave?" and I had to explain that I keep the blinds closed for the fish. Plus they get scared when they DO get opened.... the scaredy-fish!

Debbie

Haha ironically at this exact moment, my room temp downstairs where the tank resides is 71 degrees and the tank temp is 70 degrees........

I usually wear shorts outside until the temps go below 40 degrees F. As a matter of fact, my mother has a photos of me when I was a little kid in Japan making a snowman in shorts. I ride my motorcycle all winter long weather permitting as long as it stays above 20 F. I have skied in wind chills as low as minus 70 F as well. Now with all that being said, I still keep the house temp at 70 when I'm home.

Hmmm.....there's your reason why your tank does not sport a shag green carpet.

Ya think? I'm in an onery mood tonight. That's a whole other issue...but as you can see, if I did have sunlight on the tank, it'd be even hotter in there. They'd have a little sauna going on.

That's true, you would have boiled fish.

Don't fishes need some sunlight though......

Indirect.

I have my 55 in my son's room, which doesn't have a window, but instead, a big sliding glass door with no window dressings (it faces a fenced in backyard). So plenty of light. I also turn on his closet and bedroom light to help the fish know it's time to be awake...since I have the light bulbs off over the tank for now to help keep the temp. in the water as low as possible.

The big tank is set up in the living room, where 2 sliding glass doors and 5 huge windows face the front yard. The sliders have window dressings which are pulled shut in the evenings. The other windows are up to high, as they follow the outline of the A-frame house we live in.

When the big tank cycles and they are all moved back into the living room, I plan on having them under 260 watts of lighting (4 x 65w.). Even with the bigger volume of water, and the suspension of the lights 6" above the top of the tank, the water still mimics a bit warmer than room temp.

What I think I will see in this thread, is a trend of warmer climates (like FL) equaling warmer tank temps - although I am asking you all this question in the winter time where most states are experiencing some form of colder weather. Since we don't get much relief from the warmth here (which I am certainly not complaining about), our fish don't get exposed to a fluctuation of seasons. Their fishy environment then, has to be either modified artificially, or left alone. That's what I'm trying to figure out. What do I want to do?

Oh I see what you are asking.

In the summertime, I leave the central A/C on 80 when I'm gone to work. When I come home it goes down to 70. The house cools down to 70 degrees but the tank usually don't go below 75.

in my house around about 26celsius and my tank stays at 20-23celsius

Haha, I'm just a cold weather person, I guess. I don't mind cool weather, and love it a little cooler in the house. Sweatshirts or sweaters are fine for me...I also love rain. Friends say I should live in London or Seattle as they are more suited to my favorite weather! 80 degrees inside the house would suffocate me.
And that being said, I don't feel like I should owe 1/3 of my paycheck to the utility company, who already gets enough!

Right now, the house temp is 64-66F. (night/day) It is set that for winter. THe tanks are at various temps, depending on water volume (I suppose). The smaller the tank, the lower the temp. My smaller 20s are at about 68F, average. My 30s seem to be around 69-70 and the larger tanks are running 71-72.

Even though there is little heat production in a flourecent light, there is still SOME - as well as anything that is running in the tank. (IF you want to get into the physics - even the friction of the bubbles and such add heat! )

Only one of my tanks gets sunlight - but I have full spectrum lights on the tanks. I do not have the option for sunlight at this time. (for that matter, we will probably not see the sun until sometime in March...... ) Most of the fish keep good color - and the ones that need a boost will get green water or the tank with sun.

IN the summer, the house is kept at 82F. The tanks rarely rise above 76-78F for the larger ones and 78-80 for the smaller. Adding in extra aeration seems to help.

A cheap "chiller" can be constructed with a bucket of ice (Or, in my case - I bought one of those tiny little desktop refrigerators - students sell them cheaply when they leave the dorms!) and run water hoses through them. I run hoses through the ice portion for large tanks, refer portion for small tanks. This is sufficiant to take the temp of a tank down by a few degrees - all that is usually needed. I only bother on important breeding fish or such - the rest do fine in the 80s with sufficiant oxygen.

Ok, I didn't see this mentioned yet but the main reason many tanks are warmer than the ambient room temperature is because of filter heating. Usually the filter pump (impeller type) is submerged in the aquarium water and will raise the tank temperature just a bit. This won't be as noticeable in larger tanks. I have a 10 gallon quarantine tank set up with a small internal filter. I like this filter because it will heat the tank just enough to keep it at 68 F when my house is at 60 F. My 45 gallon tank I just set up has an old Supreme Aquamaster filter and doesn't raise the tank temp at all. The pump motor is completely out of the water. If filter heating is a concern, check out the specifications for the watt rating. The higher the watts, the more it will raise the temperature of a given volume of water.

See - that is why you do not get "pounded"!!!!!!!!!!

You know all the GOOD stuff.

Haha, thanks
Actually I don't really know squat. I even subscribe to a talking newspaper! My wife gets to it first and loves to read me all the important stuff!

You got it in your last post where you said "other equipment". It is a bizarre coinsidence that this topic was started because yesterday I wanted to set up a quarantine tank and figured I needed a heater. It is getting cold in our home now and the two small heaters that I do own are both junk and can't be trusted. Then I remembered that goofy little internal filter that heats the tank more than It filters! It is doing a great job of maintaining the tank temp at 68 now. I wondered why that filter was so cheap? Hahaha

There is no difference in the temp. of my 55 compared to my 125.

It's really refreshing to hear how MOST of the time, our tank water is a handful of degrees warmer than the room temp. I was wondering if it was just me. I always keep a lot of aeration becuz I do worry about oxygenation, but now that I have the black fish, I was trying to do everything possible to keep them as dark as possible. But considering the dynamics of where I live, that's probably not that realistic. Maybe genetics will kick in, and they won't bronze up too much. Either way, they are gorgeous fish - but it's nice when you can enjoy your fishes different markings and coloring.

I know it's a debateable issue as to whether tank temp for goldies should stay in the low 70's - but most importantly, it's their health that is the primary concern. As long as a bit higher temp won't hamper their ability to ward off illness, I'll try not to worry about it too much.

Thermostat here is set to 74 to 76. My tank water is 78 to 80. The tank is next to a window but not in front of it and there are blinds and an awning (aka clamshell shutter) blocking light from coming in. It's also same temp at night and day.
66 is cold to us here because we are used to the 90s.

Don't rub it in . My Dad wears a sweater when he and Mom come up here to visit in the summer! Oh well, less than 9 years till retirement (I hope).

55!!!!!!!! Aw - go for 62 at least! You will be BORED!

(Try buying a farm. They are great for retirees.....!!! )

I like the cooler temps. I can work harder and not be bothered by the heat. It also keeps the fishes happy. (good excuse. I am always dialing back the thermostat and my hubby is always cranking it up!)

Nobody else wants to chime in? I noticed 144 views, but certainly not that many answers.

This morning it was in the 40's outside, 70 in the house (no air on), and 77 in the tank.

WOW.... your house must be well insulated

Wow that must be like a record!

silly boy. Just becuz it's FL, doesn't mean it don't get cold.

Maybe in the panhandles but not where you are. It was in the 40s in CT and that's normal temp for up here.