12G JBL NanoCube DX - Chiller?

[Jim Cannon]

I have the 12G JBL Nano Cube. As you know the hood houses the lights and fans to exhaust heat from the lights.

I am having water temps over 82. I haven't tried the 'open cover with fan blowing across the water' system yet. I'll try that this weekend.

Has anyong purchased a chiller for their JBL 12G ? If so, what brand, what was the cost.

My house is A/C'd to 78, so the lights MUST be the issue. I can't have a reef tank without lights.

 

[ghrays]

You might consider the Nanocustoms ICA 2.0 here.

Although it requires a small modification of the splash guard, you don't have to open the hood for the chiller to work.

 

[ghrays]

 

[BethanyM]

Just wondering what kind of equipment you are using to check your temps. I have tried dozens of types and the best indicator for me has been my fingers in the water.

 

[Jim Cannon]

Thanks for that recommendation. It looks like a doable solution if I need it. Do you have one on your tank?

The finger test? It's not warm to the touch, but I don't know what 80 degree water feels like on my finger. It's waay too cold to swim in! LOL.

I just bought a relatively inexpensive thermometer at my LFS.
I don't expect exact readings, but even if its off a few degrees I think my water is too warm.

I don't see any ill effects to the living creatures in the tank. I am told the lime green algae is normal for a cycling tank. Leaving the lights off during cycling was suggested, but with a 7 and 3 yr old in the house, that's not possible. *s*

I gonna try the fan over the water idea this weekend to see if that makes it better.

 

[thedraven]

Hi. Im having the same issue with my 12g DX. My temp usually hovers around 83-84 degrees with the stock lighting. So far everything is doing alright, but my corals havent opened up as much as Id like. Im ordering the chiller soultion shown on this page - hopefully it'll do the trick. Let me know how the fan trick works out for you.

 

[noschmo]

I have the ICA chiller shown above by ghrays. Well done. Its on a 24 Nano and has held the temp at a contant 78 degrees. It should work well on a 12 which I also have but no chiller yet. My 24 gallon chiller was installed directly by nanocustoms and I doubt I could have done it myself but I am not very mechanical. That said, it should be a good solution over the larger and more expensive chillers.

 

[ghrays]

I have the modded heatshield from nanocustoms, with 24 watts extra lights. My tank gets to 82.8 degrees then the lights shut off by a Neptune Systems Aqucontroller Jr. The ambient temp is about 75 degrees now, 80 degrees max.

I don't have the ICA 2.0 chiller, as I haven't needed it yet. One drawback of the ICA: the replacement cooling fan is only 10mm thick, so it spins at a higher RPM to move the same air as a 20MM fan, and is louder. I have one of the 10mm fans on the right side because I added a 13W refugium light, and the shallower fan is required to fit in the lid.

 

[ghrays]

Also, from what I understand, a separate pump is required to run the ICA chiller, so a little more heat would be imparted to the system as well as noise.

 

[gboo]

If you still use the stock pump that may be driving the temp up. I switched to mini-jets and the temp stays lower now. The mini-jet has better flow with less power (at least compared to the pump that came with my cube).

 

[matty0206]

I prop the lid open and have a fan like five feet from it blowing across the top it keeps temps down to like 78 when the temp in room is like 84

 

[Jim Cannon]

Mini Jets? I am not familiar with those. Can you give me a brand name or where I can buy them?

I bought this tank secondhand, and the previous owner upgraded the stock pump. But I haven't had the opportunity to pull it and see what it is.

I went and bought a little 4" fan at Target. I propped it in the front of the hood and it was really working. So I thought maybe if I just leave the hood open that might work too. With the hood open it got up to 81. With the fan it was like 78 or 77. So maybe thats all i need to do is leave the hood open.

The diatoms seem to be less today. Maybe next weekend I'll think of buying a xenia or something. Any suggestions for my first livestock?

 

[gboo]

Chances are if the pump was changed he put something like this in just like everyone else.
See here:

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium...stems_maxi-jet_mini-jet_micro-jet.asp?CartId=

I put Xenia in mine. Did great and totally took over my tank. Grows like a weed.

 

[noschmo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7979131#post7979131 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by matty0206
I prop the lid open and have a fan like five feet from it blowing across the top it keeps temps down to like 78 when the temp in room is like 84

And evaporation increases 5 fold with the possiblility of fish jumping out of tank. Chiller is the only way to go.

 

[matty0206]

This very true but I have a tiger watchman goby who likes feeding time to much to escape! I leave my lid open all the time and have very little evaporation? I guess here in oregon its wet enough! I dont know