Phew! What a scorcher!


Current warm and rising temperatures can be a cause of concern to aquarium and pond owners. Oxygen levels start to diminish which creates additional stress and sometimes panic and even death in your fish. They are pretty tolerant of a two or three degree shift, but the last couple of days is taking its toll.

For an aquarium, if you have T5/T8 lighting, switch them off, they’ll be adding heat and compounding the problem.

If the ambient room temperature is usually the temperature of your tropical tank, switch your heater off too (remember to switch it back on when inevitably the weather changes). If you’ve done both the above and the temperature isn’t subsiding, freeze some water in a plastic bottle or fish safe sealed bag and add it to float in your aquarium, keep a close eye on your thermometer and remove when the normal temperature is achieved (or the ice has melted!). Also look to do a partial water change with slightly cooler dechlorinator water.

The last two tips can be used for your ponds too, just upscale the containers for the ice or look to do a 10-20% water change with dechlorinated water.