Poor Man's solution for keeping the tank water cool

[dts_spawn]

contribute your ideas ya, for our mosses and shrimps.

I'll start the ball rolling, i freeze a 500ml of alcohol+water and dump it a 1ft cube. doesn't last long though.

[stardus00]

contribute your ideas ya, for our mosses and shrimps.

I'll start the ball rolling, i freeze a 500ml of alcohol+water and dump it a 1ft cube. doesn't last long though.

I was thinking of using a tube with flowing cold water, coil the tube inside the tank. Might work
Still must try

[Cacatuoides]

Keep the tank in the toilet...temperature hovers around 27 or below...

My plants and mosses are growing well in there!!

[dinosaur]

How you get a tube of cold flowing water in the first place....

I was thinking of using a tube with flowing cold water, coil the tube inside the tank. Might work
Still must try

[neon]

I was thinking with this idea :

a) get a big stylofoam box filled with water and drop in few frozen bottles with water.
b) run a pipe to circulate the chilled water back and forth , like a cooling coil. No alteration of the water condition as the chilled water and the tank water are not mixed.
c) put thermostat sensor into the tank and set with require temperature. The thermostat will activate the pump in the chilled box if the tank water temperature rise beyond the desire temperature limit, and stop if the desire temperature is reached.

Whether it is economical or efficient ? Cost :
a) new thermostat $70-80 , or any used/cheap thermostat
b) pump (could have use spare/available pump)
c) what kind of tubing or coiling is able to transmit the chilled water efficiently and effectly ?

Any comment ?

[Shadow]

saw the same idea at arofanatic. You can check it out with the thread owner

[jellydot72]

Hi folks,

For me I started with dumping blocks of ice,
then started using fan after I get tired of having to freeze ice blocks.
Now given up on fan using chiller after tired of topping up water.
Still keeping one fan for my mini cube.

[stephen chung]

I was thinking with this idea :

a) get a big Styrofoam box filled with water and drop in few frozen bottles with water.
b) run a pipe to circulate the chilled water back and forth , like a cooling coil. No alteration of the water condition as the chilled water and the tank water are not mixed.
c) put thermostat sensor into the tank and set with require temperature. The thermostat will activate the pump in the chilled box if the tank water temperature rise beyond the desire temperature limit, and stop if the desire temperature is reached.

Whether it is economical or efficient ? Cost :
a) new thermostat $70-80 , or any used/cheap thermostat
b) pump (could have use spare/available pump)
c) what kind of tubing or coiling is able to transmit the chilled water efficiently and effectly ?

Any comment ?

neon,

1. I think the pump should be in the tank not in the Styrofoam box.

2. The best tubing should be made of metal. As it is for heat exchange. But, I think most of them use normal tubing.

[neon]

neon,

1. I think the pump should be in the tank not in the Styrofoam box.

2. The best tubing should be made of metal. As it is for heat exchange. But, I think most of them use normal tubing.

It should pump the chilled water from the box to bring chilled water inside the coil and circulate around the tank.

[stephen chung]

It should pump the chilled water from the box to bring chilled water inside the coil and circulate around the tank.

neon,

I think what they are doing is sing a long tube and put it inside the styroform box that fill with ice water. The water inside the tube is your tank water. The cold water is use to cool down the water inside the long tube. It is a delicate balance the length of the tubing and the flowrate of the pump.

[dts_spawn]

Cool.. lots of ideas. Anyone tried the tiny fan for their small tanks? The wind speed is barely there, wonder if it's working..

[bossteck]

Reduce lights, go filterless. These makes your tank water tempreature hotter. Go the low tech approach.

[eddyq]

Put small tank in aircon room and used fan only when aircon is switch off.

[stardus00]

Cool.. lots of ideas. Anyone tried the tiny fan for their small tanks? The wind speed is barely there, wonder if it's working..

Currently i'm using that and it can only stay at a temp of 27C. But u need to top up water once a while

[pringles]

Hmmmm......

I guess I must be lucky living in Melbourne. I get those temperatures in the low twenties to late tens without any help indoors. We tend to get more worried with heating up the water instead.

More of the problems is in getting the shrimps in the first place ( a bit scarce in the aquarium industries here)

[Shadow]

but it going to be very hot during summer