DIY chiller of some sort (putting the Eheim 2215 in a cooler box)

[intelsys]

Declaimer note: The information here is shared in good faith and I will not be liable for any damage whether it is actual or perceived that you experience.

Caution: Do not submerge the top black portion of the Eheim in water, I do not recommend doing that.*Only the green part of the Eheim is submerged in water.



I was inspired by the bright idea from this 15 year old boy from Malaysia

http://www.shrimpnow.com/content.php...r-temperatures


Ambient temperature: 30 degrees
Tank position: Slight exposure to the sunlight indirectly (need to face North for fengshu reason)
Tank size: 1 feet with 2 breeder tanks
Tank capacity: 25 liters of water currently

Cooling method
1) Block out the indirect sunlight using Thomas and Friends' box lol
2) Using 2 fans to cool the tank
3) Dumped the Eheim 2215 into a cooler box filled with ice packs and filled with ice water

Temperature achieved after intervention: 26.1 degrees which is good
I am freezing more bottles and buying more ice pack, I guess with more cooling pack
and frozen bottles, I should be able to reach 25 degrees.

Pros: Achieve lower temperature without a chiller
Very quiet
Does not generate ambient heat like the chiller do
Cheaper option

Cons: The pain of changing the icepack and frozen water bottles every 12 hours.
Usage of space in the freezer
Slight temperature change of between 1 to 2 degrees
Lowest possible temperature is around 25 degrees (not going to make it to 24 degrees)

Will follow up with pictures soon

[intelsys]

I just managed to achieved 25.7 degrees without my planned enhancement of adding more ice pack.

Latest temperature achieved is 25.2 degrees

[intelsys]

Going to insulate the eheim pipes

[blurless]

How stable is the temperature?

[jamesneo]

Good idea. Did you drill two holes for the cooler boxes? Where did you get your cooler box and pack?
Do you need to pour condensed water out from the box after a few days?
Post some pictures. Thanks

[intelsys]

I did not drill holes bro, I used insulating materials to keep the heat out.

I got my stuff from NTUC, rubber maid type cooler box and ice pack.

I am hoping that the water will be there for a while, I covered the whole cooler box. There should not be any insects in it.

The temperature is moving plus 1 degrees. The fan will set the upper limits of 27 to 28 degrees.

I am still running tests, I am hopping that it will last around 10 hours of cooling. I insulated the eheim outlet pipe and the temperature went down by
0.4 degrees

Still running test. More pictures coming soon.

[intelsys]

Temperature is moving by around 1.5 degrees from 25 to around 27 degrees. I am concerned about temperature shock. May do more to enhance and pro-long the cooling effect from the ice packs.

[intelsys]

It took me a short while but within 3 days, I am now ready.

Putting more ice packs to maintain the temperature from morning to after work.

The plan is to put in a 12 hours ice packs rotation cycle.

12 hours - batch 1 in the ice cooler

12 hours later - batch 1 will be in the freezer

[BFG]

Google pykrete. Should last longer than regular ice.

[jamesneo]

That's a big ice cooler box to contain the canister. How many ice pack did you use to maintain around 26 deg?

[intelsys]

Google pykrete. Should last longer than regular ice.

Yes Bro the British wanted pykrete aircraft carrier in WW2 Problem now is to look for saw dust to mix with the water (in the 1.5 litres bottles). :P

Please do not throw saw dust into your tank :P

[intelsys]

That's a big ice cooler box to contain the canister. How many ice pack did you use to maintain around 26 deg?

Using 2 1.5 litres bottle and 3 small ice packs bro Now temperature is around 26 degrees

There was better results when I used all ice packs, I got to 25 degrees

I am now balancing the mix of ice packs and frozen water bottles

I am hoping to get 25.5 degrees plus minus for the whole day (which is 25 to 26 degrees fluctuation)

[intelsys]

My tank, I tried to overcome the 1 feet limitation using breeder tanks




Insulation works done to the pipes using cheap $6 filter media

[jamesneo]

Asethetically, the insulation part looks really bad. Why not try stainless steel pipe, should look much better.

Keep us posted of the result.

[intelsys]

Asethetically, the insulation part looks really bad. Why not try stainless steel pipe, should look much better.

Keep us posted of the result.

Dear Bro, cost is of a concern here. If I can well afford it then it will be an Artica Chiller all the way :P

I will work on it to make it look neater

I got to 24.2 degrees just now It is around 25 degrees now. There is a swing in temperature of around 2 degrees for the 10 hours duration (24 to 26 degrees).

CRS may make it in this kind of environment.

Going for sakura now. I hope that they live long and prosper

[intelsys]

The tank 31 second video. It is super fast

[wongce]

bro, just a suggestion...why don't you use air conditioner Black colour insulation foam instead of those white protection foam sheets... Those air conditioner insulation foam should work even better and looks neater ...

[intelsys]

bro, just a suggestion...why don't you use air conditioner Black colour insulation foam instead of those white protection foam sheets... Those air conditioner insulation foam should work even better and looks neater ...

Dear Bro, I totally agree. I think that these insulation from the cheap filter materials will have to do the job until I get the air conditioner foam

[wongce]

Dear Bro, I totally agree. I think that these insulation from the cheap filter materials will have to do the job until I get the air conditioner foam

Oh, those are filter WOOL?? sorry..i thought they are packaging insulation foam(furniture)...

Btw, I diyed on something else with air-conditioner foam, you slide filter pipes into the foam and use cable ties to secure them... tah dah... proper insulation...

Good effort bro... i am too lazy to change ice packs/ freezer packs every 12 hours... so i have to settle with a fan cooled tank at 28-29 degress...lol

[intelsys]

Oh, those are filter WOOL?? sorry..i thought they are packaging insulation foam(furniture)...

Btw, I diyed on something else with air-conditioner foam, you slide filter pipes into the foam and use cable ties to secure them... tah dah... proper insulation...

Good effort bro... i am too lazy to change ice packs/ freezer packs every 12 hours... so i have to settle with a fan cooled tank at 28-29 degress...lol

Yes bro those are the filter wool and it is doing a good job of lowering the temperature by 0.4 degrees.

Btw bro, where to buy air conditioner foam?

My shrimps are yamato and sakura hence they are good in a non-chilled tank but I am going to let the sakura reproduce so that I can give to my relatives and friends hence I need better temperature