Chillers as compared to AC Fans

[Marlin]

Dear Marine Aquarists,

- From the Forum, I see quite alot of people intersted in Chillers, so am I I have checked with PetMart, they are selling for $1300 (For an Italy Brand one) and selling $850 (For a Singapore Brand one). So, no matter where they are made from, it seems that we still can't escape the high cost of a chillers ! Imagine letting your gf or parents know that your fish are actually living in an Aircon Environment !! (My house casement Aircon unit also cost around the price of a chiller !) So, my question is, is there really such a necessity to give our Reef Aquarium to live in such a comfortable environment when even some of us have been living so long without actually an Aircon installed in our home ? [:0]

- I would just like to share my feelings here today in this forum. I went to PetMart and saw this 6 in 1 AC Fans, which indicates that it can actually cools a 240L tank down by at least 3 to 4 degress. So, last night I have already complete making my own (DIY) 6 x AC Fans in one straight row. When I on it, it is really nice to see the surface of the water 'rippling' very gently. My avg. house Temp. is about 29 degress.

- I have a total of 5 Ice coolers packs inside my Trickle Filter, and I changed it everynight when I goes back home, but the Temp. still hovers at around 28 to 29 degrees. But last night when I add in my newly DIY 6 in 1 Fan, the Temp. drops to 26 degrees this morning. So I guessed, it should stable at about 27 degress in the afternoon.

- I am not too sure if this 'cheaper' method can replace the idea of buying an Expensive chiller or not, but I guessed it works pretty well for me and would just like to share this idea with the people here.

- If anyone is intersted in DIY this Fans, drop me a mail at [email protected] and I will forward the DIY Fan to show how it is constructed.

Thanks and Cheers
Marlin

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[Marlin]

Dear Marine Aquarists,

- From the Forum, I see quite alot of people intersted in Chillers, so am I I have checked with PetMart, they are selling for $1300 (For an Italy Brand one) and selling $850 (For a Singapore Brand one). So, no matter where they are made from, it seems that we still can't escape the high cost of a chillers ! Imagine letting your gf or parents know that your fish are actually living in an Aircon Environment !! (My house casement Aircon unit also cost around the price of a chiller !) So, my question is, is there really such a necessity to give our Reef Aquarium to live in such a comfortable environment when even some of us have been living so long without actually an Aircon installed in our home ? [:0]

- I would just like to share my feelings here today in this forum. I went to PetMart and saw this 6 in 1 AC Fans, which indicates that it can actually cools a 240L tank down by at least 3 to 4 degress. So, last night I have already complete making my own (DIY) 6 x AC Fans in one straight row. When I on it, it is really nice to see the surface of the water 'rippling' very gently. My avg. house Temp. is about 29 degress.

- I have a total of 5 Ice coolers packs inside my Trickle Filter, and I changed it everynight when I goes back home, but the Temp. still hovers at around 28 to 29 degrees. But last night when I add in my newly DIY 6 in 1 Fan, the Temp. drops to 26 degrees this morning. So I guessed, it should stable at about 27 degress in the afternoon.

- I am not too sure if this 'cheaper' method can replace the idea of buying an Expensive chiller or not, but I guessed it works pretty well for me and would just like to share this idea with the people here.

- If anyone is intersted in DIY this Fans, drop me a mail at [email protected] and I will forward the DIY Fan to show how it is constructed.

Thanks and Cheers
Marlin

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[Marlin]

Dear Marine Aquarists,

- From the Forum, I see quite alot of people intersted in Chillers, so am I I have checked with PetMart, they are selling for $1300 (For an Italy Brand one) and selling $850 (For a Singapore Brand one). So, no matter where they are made from, it seems that we still can't escape the high cost of a chillers ! Imagine letting your gf or parents know that your fish are actually living in an Aircon Environment !! (My house casement Aircon unit also cost around the price of a chiller !) So, my question is, is there really such a necessity to give our Reef Aquarium to live in such a comfortable environment when even some of us have been living so long without actually an Aircon installed in our home ? [:0]

- I would just like to share my feelings here today in this forum. I went to PetMart and saw this 6 in 1 AC Fans, which indicates that it can actually cools a 240L tank down by at least 3 to 4 degress. So, last night I have already complete making my own (DIY) 6 x AC Fans in one straight row. When I on it, it is really nice to see the surface of the water 'rippling' very gently. My avg. house Temp. is about 29 degress.

- I have a total of 5 Ice coolers packs inside my Trickle Filter, and I changed it everynight when I goes back home, but the Temp. still hovers at around 28 to 29 degrees. But last night when I add in my newly DIY 6 in 1 Fan, the Temp. drops to 26 degrees this morning. So I guessed, it should stable at about 27 degress in the afternoon.

- I am not too sure if this 'cheaper' method can replace the idea of buying an Expensive chiller or not, but I guessed it works pretty well for me and would just like to share this idea with the people here.

- If anyone is intersted in DIY this Fans, drop me a mail at [email protected] and I will forward the DIY Fan to show how it is constructed.

Thanks and Cheers
Marlin

[] [] [] []

[Marlin]

Dear Marine Aquarists,

- From the Forum, I see quite alot of people intersted in Chillers, so am I I have checked with PetMart, they are selling for $1300 (For an Italy Brand one) and selling $850 (For a Singapore Brand one). So, no matter where they are made from, it seems that we still can't escape the high cost of a chillers ! Imagine letting your gf or parents know that your fish are actually living in an Aircon Environment !! (My house casement Aircon unit also cost around the price of a chiller !) So, my question is, is there really such a necessity to give our Reef Aquarium to live in such a comfortable environment when even some of us have been living so long without actually an Aircon installed in our home ? [:0]

- I would just like to share my feelings here today in this forum. I went to PetMart and saw this 6 in 1 AC Fans, which indicates that it can actually cools a 240L tank down by at least 3 to 4 degress. So, last night I have already complete making my own (DIY) 6 x AC Fans in one straight row. When I on it, it is really nice to see the surface of the water 'rippling' very gently. My avg. house Temp. is about 29 degress.

- I have a total of 5 Ice coolers packs inside my Trickle Filter, and I changed it everynight when I goes back home, but the Temp. still hovers at around 28 to 29 degrees. But last night when I add in my newly DIY 6 in 1 Fan, the Temp. drops to 26 degrees this morning. So I guessed, it should stable at about 27 degress in the afternoon.

- I am not too sure if this 'cheaper' method can replace the idea of buying an Expensive chiller or not, but I guessed it works pretty well for me and would just like to share this idea with the people here.

- If anyone is intersted in DIY this Fans, drop me a mail at [email protected] and I will forward the DIY Fan to show how it is constructed.

Thanks and Cheers
Marlin

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[Phang]

Marlin,

IMO, Fans are fine provided you don't mind the constant topping up of water...
the cooling effect basically functions on the principle of heat loss through evaporation and this would require topups of substantial amount..

Next , their performance is also linked to the ambient temperature of the room..
so lets say that if a room's ambient temp is around 31 C , then you could achieve around 27 - 28 C excluding the heat generated by pumps and lights...

Chillers would of course be much better in terms of consistency in temp and also reduced amt of evaporation...

[narkosis]

Marlin,

Phang is correct in stating that chillers are more consistent than fans. This is because there's always a sensor and controller that determines what temp. range to set the tank water to. You could also do this with fans, but the controller isn't exactly cheap.

[Marlin]

Hi all,

- Thanks for the feedback
- I have tried out the 6 in 1 Fans for 1 week already, and I would like to state the advantage and disadvantage of using it :

1)The Temperature is rather constant, ranging between 25.5 to 27 degress (Max), guess the slight difference will not have too much impact on the 'creatures' living inside.

2) I have also discovered after adding the 6 in 1 Fans, my corals 'prosper', in other words, (not too sure how to put it), you see the soft corals with all those 'Goosepimps' coming out of the soft corals. When the water was warmwer (29 to 30 degress), it did not happen. Two days ago, when I woke up in the morning, suddenly found my water cloudy for no reasons. I was so afraid, I consulted my friend and he told me not to worry, chances are the cloudy water is caused by the corals 'Sperms' and 'Eggs'. I have check the water parameters that night, all looks fine and nothing died. So, I guessed the corals are happy in the current temp. and condition that they are staying in.

3) Even if the Temp do differ, but I don't think it's any drastic change (about 1 to 2 degrees), when night falls, it will still hit back to about 25.5 degrees.

4) No doubt water will evaporate faster, but to me, it's just another additional minior step to take care of, I have to wash the Protein Skimmer
everyday, so I just add in 1 bottle of water everynight. I have also use a Timer to control the AC Fan, will on it in the day and off it in the night.

5) Although chiller is a better choice, but it it is so expensive and electricity bill may also run high, this may turn away some people who is really interested in Marine but really cannot afford the money to buy a Chiller.

I am trying to reach out to those who are really interested in Marine and to keep it also affortable enough for more to enjoy. So, I hope this is also an alternative way out if the chiller is not within reach

If we have the money to afford, a chiller will be good, and with money the whole tank can go AI automated, but if we are not so rich, I guessed the Fans will just do fine also

Hope it helps
Marlin

[wangzx]

Hi Marlin,

With the fan can achieved 25.5~27 is dam good liao and is OK to have reef with this kind of temp.. Too bad it can't work in my home. With a set of Fan you mentioned plus an A/c fan, I can only get avg. of 29oC. []

[kelstorm]

yes.. marlin.. to achieve that temp is very good.. anyway..PM u already.. []

[tigershark]

it is very amazing that u could reach 25.5 degcel.... i'm using 2x 80mm 5800rpm DC fan + 1 x 96mm 3800rpm DC fan + 1 x 60mm 7200rpm DC fan...... what i could reach is only 27deg cel min and 28deg max...... and i have to top up 3.5 on average litres of FW everyday..... BTW, my reef tank is only a 10 gallon (50litres) tank....Are you placing your tank in a air conditioned room??

[Killerwhale]

It is possible to achieve that kind of temperature using the fan. Last time, for my small tank, I'm able to achieve 25 to 27 deg and on avg is about 26 deg c. Actually, it depend how you place your fan and the angle where the fan blow. Next, is also the concealment of your fan. Actually, it narrow down to venturi effect where ALL the air blow into an inlet and exit at only one outlet. In between it passes throught at a slightly narrrower gap which cause at high velocity at the throat that actually lower the temperature significantly. As for my present tank, I'm not able to achieve that temperature anymore because I used open concept and lazy to DIY that tank cover for venturi effect.[]

[jellydot72]

Hi,

Pardon me for asking, six DC fan enegry cost izit high? Honestly I have not really calculate the enegy bill for the chiller I am using. Each time the Power bill comes, my wife will occasionally ask about the consumption of my chiller. And I simply divert her to other appliances in the house
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I was doing the ice pack thing before I use a chiller (for my planted tank). I agree that having cooler temp does really affect not just marine but also plants.

at 25 to 26 degree, does your tank condense on the glass surface? I am using a digital thermometer and when it reaches 28 my tank start to have condensation liow[] Guess i need to installa wiper

So far, with a chiller I save on topping up water, freezing ice pack and when I am away for longer time I nit not worry about all the routine.

Jelly

[Marlin]

Hi Jelly,

- Pertaining to your questions :

1) I can safely say that the 6 AC Fans consumption is defintely lower than the chiller So, the bill should be lower also.

2)No, my tank does not condensate, maybe my tank is coated with Anti-Fog chemicals hahaha...

3) Topping up water is a must, just how frequent. I must admit that initially, the water does evaporate very fast and I have to top up water everyday. But later I DIY my own auto top up water system, now I don't have to top water everyday. Further more, I havae a Timer, when midnight comes, all my Fans will be programme to be off, and the Ice Packs takes over the job till next morning. In this way, I top up water even less !!!

4) My Temp never hits more than 28 nowdays, mostly 25.5 to 27 (Highest, when lights are on and on a hot day).

Cheers
Marlin

[LiveRock]

Pretty amazing Marlin!
I have a small tank with an AC Fan, 2 DC fans for each PL lamps and fans for ballest, and DC convertor but during the day, the temp always stay at 30 degrees. Even in the night, the temp is 28 lowest.
How did you manage to keep temp. low with fans only.
Can show us your DIY fans kit?
Thanks and cheers!