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How do you keep your tanks cool?


JT_Redmist

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Hello All,

With Summer fast approaching I'm trying to get some ideas how you all keep your tanks cool.  I have a newly setup shrimp rack in the garage, and it can get pretty warm in there.  An AC unit is not an option at the moment, so I've been thinking about using some small fans to blow over the water surface to bring the temp down.  How much cooling can I expect?  What do you use and what has worked for you?  Please advise...... :) 

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This will be interesting, Hopefully others will chime in. My tanks are in the garage would get up around 86-88 degrees last summer. All I had were tanks of Hawaiian red shrimp which can handle the temps. Now I have 2 neo tanks and want to do a caridina tank. Right now the tanks hover around 70-72 which is great. I have the Coolworks Iceprobe that I bought used. Works great for what it is & lowered the temps around 6 degrees in my 5 gallon but there's no way I want to run one of these in every tank. 

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Ok, I did some research.  I'm going with fan (evaporative cooling) idea.  I'll have a few fans connected to the controller you see on the pic and have it turn on the fans when the temp hits 78F and turn off when it cools down to 76F.  From what I've seen the fans can lower the temp 3 - 4 degrees.  I've seen the tanks go as high as 80F in the garage.  If that's the case I'll still be within limits where the shrimps will be comfortable.  What you think?

 

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1 hour ago, Shrimp Life said:

While the fans do lower temps a few degrees your garage getting up to 88 degrees would be too hot for Caridina and Neos. If its possible to move your rack to a room that has better temperature control in the summer, that would be ideal.

 

Hi Shrimp Life,

Thank you for the feedback.  Hmmmmmm......I really can't move the tanks to any other location.  I'll look into other options besides the fans.  

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I mount a high CFM PC Fan onto the tank. I tried some of those commercial "Aquarium Fan Coolers" before but from my experience, their CFM are extremely low(~ -2 to -4 degrees Fahrenheit) and their prices aren't great either. I tested the results with the Silverstone FM121, CoolerMaster MegaFlow 200, and Akasa Viper fans. The Silvestone and Akasa works really great; able to lower the tank's temperature down to 80-82 during peak summer days of mid 90s. On cooler summer days, it was even able to make my redundant inline heater turn on. The Akasa is quieter than the Silverstone but does not come with a fan controller by default. The CoolerMaster is large and obnoxious and doesn't work really well(~ -4 to -6 degrees). The major downside of using these high CFM fans is the amount of evaporation it causes(~a gallon a day).

 

This is how I have mine currently set up:

PC Fan + mounts -> Fan Controller(optional) -> Power Supply -> Temperature Controller(optional)

I assembled this a long time ago. I am sure there are better/more convenient parts available today like a 3/4 pin to USB cable to plug into a power strip w/ USB plugs or adding a USB to AC adapter from an old phone charger. 

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I've heard about using fans to cool the water down. Just wondered how effective it was when the ambient temperture is high. Just seemed like if was blowing hot air. 

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Has anyone ever tried the low cost chillers you see on ebay that sells for around $70?

 

35L Fish Tank Shrimp Aquarium Water Cooling Machine Chiller + Pump High Q

 

Edited by Vorteil
Just wanted to show the pic
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