Hepl keeping the water cold!

[Ajolote]

Well, I'm planning to buy some Axolotls soon but there's 1 thing stopping me, the temps. I live in a tropical area, so I can only keep the temps at 66F at night when the air conditioner is on. But, what can I do during the day??? I already know keeping the tank on the floor will keep it cooler for a few extra hours, but what about in the afternoon? Buying a chiller is probably my last resort, but can I use some kind of homemade undertank chiller??? Like putting some bags of ice under the tank?(Outside the tank, not the inside). Any ideas?

 

[ghogg]

There are some methods like that you can use, for example having a long tube coiled in a bucket of ice water with your tank water flowing through it. These methods do require you to change the ice regularly obviously, the frequency depending on how fast it melts!
I don't think keeping ice under the tank would provide much of a cooling effect. Maybe having the bottom of the tank submerged in cold water might help, but how much of a temperature drop your going to achieve, I have no idea. A chiller is by far the best way to do it, but many people do employ simple methods to help cool the tank. Have a look at the Caudata Culture page on the subject - Caudata Culture Articles - Cooling

 

[dragonlady]

There are many different options discussed out there, hopefully, you will find one that would work in your situation. Good luck.

 

[lea]

i have used the filter in the ice, frozen bottles in the tank, fan blowing across the surface. all these work ok but if you want the tank to be cool and you dont want the stress and extra work load (cause it can be hard work) i would buy a chiller like ghogg said.....they are a bit pricey tho

 

[ted22]

Hello! its certainly not tropical here in the U.K but have had a pretty hot spell over the last few weeks n my temp got to 24degrees, right on the axolotl limit! I gave the evaporation method ago, i have a hood top and have taken the lid part off and placed a small desk top fan blowing accross the water one end and a fold up laptop cooler sucking air out the other end and a couple of airstones bubbling away and it dropped my temperature down to 18degrees (alot more comfortable for my axie)! I couldnt belive ive achieved a 6degree temp drop with just a small £5 fan! Obviously a screen lid would help even more but its certainly worth a go!

 

[Ajolote]

Thanks guys, but I'm not 18 yet, I'm a teenager, I still don't work or anything to get money, I don't get "allowances" or anything, that's why I want to keep chiller to a minimum. But the problem is that my rooms temps are ranging from 80F-95F. It rarely reaches 90F in my room(outside it's 90F-100F almost everyday), but it's still a LOT of degrees. But luckily, water temps in my room drop easily. And as for the ice bottle, I'm going to put about 2 or 3 cause 1 won't do much! But thanks anyways! I still don't have an Axolotl cause I'm experimenting on many to lower temps day and night. And with air conditioner ONLY(not even water in the tank) It dropped to 70F, so I'm getting there... I hope!

 

[Manifest]

Yep I used a fan for the first few weeks with my axie and got a good drop in temp with it, but it fluctuated depending on how hot the room is, you could try a large household fan to help evaporation along, depending on the size of your tank, and you will be topping it up every couple of days. We eventually got sick of worrying about it and bought a chiller from ebay for just over $200 second hand, and now we don't think about it at all other to occasionally check the temp is constant. Our study can be 27 degrees, and our girl is a nice comfy 18 degrees all the time

Maybe, while you are cycling your tank and saving for a chiller, you could consider getting other fish that prefer the warmer water like guppies or a siamese fighter?

 

[Ajolote]

I already have guppies and bettas, a betta in a solo tank and a community 30 gallon tank

 

[michael]

I think keeping an axolotl in Puerto Rico would be quite a chore without air conditioning or a real good chiller. I know a guy in Hawaii that keeps his axolotls at 75F most of the time. I would think that is about the warmest I would want to try. The frozen bottle swap trick helps but big swings from cold to warm can be more stressful than no swing.

Their is also the issue that a permit is needed to import most amphibians to Puerto Rico.

 

[Ajolote]

Yeah, I wasn't approved to order a Axolotl online. But he said that he knew a person that can LEGALLY bring one here. Cause she's an expert in the Pet Shop business so importing is quite easy for her, the hard part is finding someone! And can't I put more than 1 bottle? You know, like 1 in each side(2) one one the left side and the other on the right tank or something? I think they would last and cool a little more than one. And this is just me making crazy ideas! And my room is Air Conditioned, but only at night when temps in there are 60F-70F. But if I have to give up(), I won't be such a brat about it. Just that I'm trying to avoid failure!

 

[lea]

i used the water bottle last summer(our temp gets to 35-40oC) and i was able to do but it was hard work......i put 2 3lt frozen bottles in before i left for work (7.30am) and then i had to change them(with another 2) when i got home(4pm) and the tank temp was starting to rise(but still in normal range)....there was days i came to work with the air con left on at home because it was just to hot for the ice to work without me being home to change them during the day...........it is great that you are trying these things before you get one.....keep trying you work out something that works

 

[Ajolote]

i used the water bottle last summer(our temp gets to 35-40oC) and i was able to do but it was hard work......i put 2 3lt frozen bottles in before i left for work (7.30am) and then i had to change them(with another 2) when i got home(4pm) and the tank temp was starting to rise(but still in normal range)....there was days i came to work with the air con left on at home because it was just to hot for the ice to work without me being home to change them during the day...........it is great that you are trying these things before you get one.....keep trying you work out something that works

Thanks, it's just that I want to have everything perfect for the baby's temporary tank (he's gonna be a baby, about 4" and will keep him in my 10gallon tank until my birthday in a few weeks so I have enough money to buy at least a 30gallon tank which in here they're sold to almost $100.00 or so.) But the problem is I have the CHEAPEST thermometer. It's a Zoo Med tapeable thingy that marks AIR(not water) temps, so I need to wait a little to get a high quality one. Without ANY source of cooling, my room is marked between 80F-92F(Usually 87F). With the air con on at night, it marks 68F-70F. But water is going to be colder. So, wish me luck!