Advice for cooling a tank.

[EasternRomioi3]

Hi, sorry, my first post, I'll cut right to it, I inherited an axolotl from my friend who moved from the far north of the US to Mexico. Unwillingly to risk her axolotl's health, I inherited her. She currently has a 10 gallon tank, I am trying to get a 20 but the quarantine has made it near impossible for me to get close to one, and my house has no air conditioning. We still use our heat in July sometimes so my little axolotl's tank temperature ranges from 65 degrees to like 72 degrees Fahrenheit and I know that's not ideal. She has a fully covered tank because I have two cats that predate me inheriting the axolotl and my one cat is SUPER curious and always trying to figure out what's in the tank so I dare not take the lid off. She has a sponge filter and sunlight is minimal where we have her. I was thinking on maybe getting a curtain set up around her just to be extra safe.

She is apparently healthy, she always eats, is never lethargic, very reactive when we come by but I am just so terrified of doing something wrong since she's A ) my best friend's axolotl, and B ) a super endangered species and I would just die of fright if anything bad happened to her. Can anyone offer any quick tips that I can do? My state is still pretty much on lockdown, we just finally opened a few businesses so I am trying to get out and get a new tank ASAP but I work an essential job and by the time I get out, everything is closed or the police and encouraging us to stay indoors.

Again, any advice would be GREATLY appreciated, thank you, sorry to bother anyone with this.

 

[Frank0the0tank]

Frozen bottle of water, ice cubes, ice packs. You can alternate having some in the freezer at all times. Also a fan blowing air on top will cause evaporation and evaporation cools the water

 

[EasternRomioi3]

Frozen bottle of water, ice cubes, ice packs. You can alternate having some in the freezer at all times. Also a fan blowing air on top will cause evaporation and evaporation cools the water

Would a fan still work even if she has a fully enclosed lid? I do not want my one cat getting in there. And ice cubes, just put a few at the top and make sure she doesn't attempt to attack the ice, right? She was very active tonight when I fed her so she seems good. She's a leucistic, 2 years old, probably should have mentioned that earlier.

Thanks again, and thank you if you have anymore advice for me!

 

[Frank0the0tank]

If you can find a grated lid or wire lid something that will let air blow into the tank while keeping your cat out. And I use 20 oz soda bottles and reusable ice packs to keep my temps low, I try to bring the water down to 59 degree then let it raise back up

 

[EasternRomioi3]

Ok, will do. We found a nice 20 gallon tank for her but I don't get paid till Wednesday but when I do, I will move on it, that gives me time to get the ice ready too. Thank you. Really appreciate it.