Cooling ideas.

[Aeon]

During a recent water change, I realised my water is quite warm. Probably due to my 4x15W FL tubes on a 2ft tank and a very small distance between light and water.

As my light hoods are covering up 100% of the top of the tank, I can't put a fan/s anywhere... so an idea struck me.

Why not put cooling mechanisms/coolant/ice/whatever at the filter?

Ideas:

1) Put whole canister inside a pail of ice
2) Somehow have a coolant (like those in refrigerators) tubes as filter media
3) Replace the plastic canister with an aluminium one
4) hmmm...

Please post your ideas here! I believe cooling the flowing water in the filter is much more efficient than just cooling the surface.

[Aeon]

Haha crazy!!

[crandf]

BUt if only concentrate on cooling filter, then cooled water gain heat quickly from the motor in the filter and also when they are travelling in the tubing back to the tank.
Or more detailedly, becos temperature gradient is greater in filter due to motor and cooling source localised at same spot, therefore heat gain faster. And surface area of tubing very high also thus heat gain high, but maybe tubing material conducts poorly?, dun know...
But one benefit is that it does more accessible to cool the filter; more modular anyway and more moddable

[tawauboy]

though your light hood may be cover 100% of your tank top, you may be able to open some holes to accommodate some fans.

immersing your filter in ice is not efficient. you’ll be better off by freezing water in pet bottles and dumping these bottles into your tank.

replacing plastic canister with aluminium may cost you more money than buying a second hand chiller. don’t believe you can get an aluminium canister off the shelf so you’ll have to custom order one.

and running your tank water through an intercooler may not cool your tank water at all. the temperature differential between air and your tank water is only a few degrees.

[Aeon]

As efficient as it might seem, I realise that water don't have enough time to be cooled to a siginificant degree as it's constantly flowing...