Keeping them cool in the summer.

[rick]

Hey,

I've been reading a lot about the ideal temps. to keep the newts in. BAsically, I'm wondering how you keep the water cool in the summer. I really can't afford to run the air conditioner all day. Does anyone have any suggestions? Would a fan help?

Thanks,
Rick

 

[kaysie]

keep them in the basement... on the floor as far from light as possible. if they're aquatic, try frozen water bottles.

also, one theory (that i've never tried) is to keep the tank on a sheet of metal, metal almost always being cool to the touch. in theory, it leeches heat out of the tank, but i dont know if it works in practice.

Rob St John swears by a fan, though, and i trust him.

 

[juraj]

Yes,
the metal leeches heat out from your hand because human hand has mostly higher temperature than the room has. But in this case metal sheet would have the same temperature as the all objects in the room. So this cooling system can`t work correctly.

 

[kaysie]

and i had a thought on using frozen water bottles in a terrestrial setup... the frozen water would cool the surrounding air, and cool air sinks, and so would settle lower in the tank.

dont know how well this would work. if anyone's tried, i'd like to know

 

[rick]

Thanks for the advice. I think when it gets hot around here, I'll try that water bottle trick. My girlfriend's gonna do that with her newts as well. Never thought of that before!

Thanks again.
Rick
www.greyskiesfallen.com

 

[jennifer]

Rick, there is a whole list of suggestions for keeping temps down in the FAQs at Caudate Central. Personally, I do the following: use screen tops instead of hoods (more evaporation), minimize lighting, use only air-driven filters. In the hottest weather I put a frozen bottle in the tanks in the evening. Also, tanks kept at floor level are a couple of degrees cooler than those at table-top level. I didn't believe this until I tried it! A fan will help a little, but only if the tank is well ventilated so that the fan can increase the evaporation of the water.

Kaysie, I have been putting frozen bottles into terrestrial tanks in the evening too. It probably cools both the air and soil to some extent.