The Dutch problem

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Subject: The Dutch problem
From: "Jan Fidrmuc" <J.Fidrmuc at kub_nl>
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 1995 19:36:08 MET
> Interesting to hear about problems to keep the tank warm. I live in 
> Holland, and I never experienced a power outage longer than about 
an 
> hour.
> I do have another problem however. Last summer the temperature 
> outside was about 35  C for a few weeks. That combined with the 
> "heat" produced by the lamps made it impossible to keep the 
temperature 
> to my normal level of about 25 C. (it went up to  more than 32 C )
>  I don t have airco, the normal temperature here is about 20-30 C in 
the summer 
> (and it nearly always rains....). 
> 
> This stopped the plants from growing altogether. None of them died, 
> but especially the ones that grow near the surface had a hard time. 
> Now most of the plants are growing fine again. The ones that 
suffered 
> most were the Aponogeton crispus, and Cabomba spec. The fish are 
still 
> alive but I grew a bit worried after three weeks.
> 
> There must be other people that had the same problems.
> I d like to be prepared for next year, so if anyone has a solution or 
> an idea please respond.

I'm not sure about the plants but  most tropical fish should not suffer 
too much if the temp goes over 30 C temporarily. I would suggest that 
you protect the tanks from direct sunlight and reduce the lighting 
hours (heat from the light bulbs). More areation could help too. If you 
have a room in your house that is colder than the rest of the house, 
you could also try to place the air pump to this room. The colder air 
should thus reduce the water temp. If the temp is really bad, you 
might consider changing small amounts of water several times per 
day to add colder water  to the tank.

Jan

-----
Jan Fidrmuc
CentER for Economic Research, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
P.O.Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, phone: +31-13-466-8221, fax: +31-13-466-3066
Email: Fidrmuc at KUB_NL.