Alternative cooling methods?

[Tmoriarty]

I am setting up a seahorse tank soon (60g cube) I will be using LED lighting to keep the temperature down, what I am curious about is cooling the tank. I do not have a lot of space underneath the stand and do not wish to spend 300+ on a Chiller if I don't have to. I keep my house at 78 in the Summer but the seahorse tank will be 3 feet from a wall that gets direct sun. Would a Fan over the sump on 24/7 keep the tank cool enough to not require a chiller. I was wanting to keep the tank at 74, but If I have to I can keep it at 76, although I know this is higher than reccomended for most seahorses.

If I have to get a chiller what are my best/cheapest solutions? BTW I am not trying to skimp on money cause I am cheap, I have multiple tanks running and do not want to break the bank setting up the wifes seahorse tank.

 

[mtc1966]

clip on fan

 

[jeff@zina.com]

Set the tank up and test. Dropping room temp is best, but whatever works for you.

Jeff

 

[Northside Reef]

Maybe someone has some feedback on one of these?

http://www.amazon.com/IceProbe-Thermoelectric-Aquarium-Chiller/dp/B0006JKO6U

 

[rayjay]

An LFS near me got them in a couple of years ago but they never dropped the temperature very much.

 

[Nyc Joe]

I did a fan in the canopy and 1 in the sump.
Kept my tank a steady 76.
With ac in the apt at 75. The tank stayed 75.

I think dropping room temp will work best.

 

[pledosophy]

If your going to use temperature to control the reproduction rate of bacteria, which I assume you plan to since you mentioned the 74F number, know that the number is not random but was reached by testing various strains of vibrio (the bacteria most common to cause seahorse illness) and at 75F the bacteria becomes more virulent and reproduces with a much greater frequency and at that point will begin to alter it's proteins so it is not recognized by the seahorses immune system so there is likely to be no resistance at that point.

If you live in a warmer client a chiller is the easiest way to ensure saftey of the animals.

Fans can drop the temperature a few degrees IME, central air seems to work for many people. Some people use RO Icecubes for top offs, some people freeze bottles of salt water (using salt water is better then fresh water as it freezes at a lower temperature and lasts longer IME) and soak them in the sump during the hotter periods, just rotating the bottles out. I even saw a guy who used his venturi intake to run an airhose through a 50g cooler filled with ice and back out the other side to continually bring cold air into the system.

There are several ways to do it, a chiller in the long run is just the easiest for most people who do not wish to run or may not have air conditioning and live in warm climates.

I am kinda lucky here, 9 months a year I am worried about my heaters. Since moving North from Southern California the temperature range means something different now.

JMO

 

[Tmoriarty]

Pledosophy, I appreciate the long well written response. I have Central AC, but I keep the tank at 78, the cost difference as you know, in California for keeping my house 4 degrees colder is substantial. I was just wondering if fans would be able to cool the tank the additional 4 degrees needed to get the tank to 74. I did not know that the bacteria were much more active at one degree higher, but good information.

I have decided to plumb the return pump externally to remove some of the heat. The only other pump in the system will most likely be the pump for the protein skimmer, which should not add to much heat. I will be using LED lights to also decrease the heat footprint on the tank. I was just hopping to avoid using a chiller because the tank will be sitting adjacent to my couches in my living room. The other options such as adding icecubes and the like is an inpractical solution. If fans will not work then adding a chiller is probably the most cost effective solution (it would be cheaper than keeping my house 2-4 degrees cooler).

Has anyone had success with fans cooling tank temperatures below ambient temperatures?

 

[WallysWorld]

I use a fan on both the sump and the tank. This will cool things a few deg. But what you really have to watch using the fans is the make up water. My tanks have an autofill which I suggest getting if you are going to use fans. I keep the room at 74 deg and the tanks stay at around 72 deg.

You may also want to add a UV sterilizer if you don't already have one.

 

[mtc1966]

yes i have a pellet stove in the room and a fan on the tank has worked wonders for me.

 

[Tmoriarty]

Yep I know using fans means more makeup water, The sump will be designed to have a large return section as to prevent daily filling. Something I learned a while back with my 55g that has a small return section . there is a good chance I will build the sump so I can design it the way I would like to.

I will have to get most of the setup going and then test it to see if the tank gets hot or not. With the return pump outside the tank and LED lights, along with no internal pumps for water movement, I am hopping the tank will stay pretty cool. If not Than I guess the only choice is a chiller.

What are peoples experiences with the electrothemal coolers iceprobe? I know they are designed to cool smaller tanks but I have seen reviews of them cooling 50g tanks down 5 degrees, which would be more than enough for what I need it to do. Just a curiousity.

 

[Bela N]

Fan works like a charm! Our 140 gal school aquarium is in a wall between the hall way & the science office. As a result the tank is only open to the air from the back see pic 01. The sides are surrounded by concrete while the front has a protective sheet of glass see pic 02. For lighting I use 18 X 36 W T5HO bulbs, as you can imagine the cubical the tank is in gets like an oven. I purchased a large 24" Turbo fan to blow the hot air out of the cubical. I was surprised how quickly the temperature dropped when the fan was on. As a science teacher I now about evaporative cooling, but I was still astounded at how quickly & well it works. As everyone has stated the drawback is that you have to constantly top off. In the absence of a sump & ATO the problem is exasperated. I do not have a sump or ATO but have solved the problem by using my dosser to dose RO water see pic 03. This method also has a drawback as you have to adjust dose rate based on the seasonal & weekly temperature changes. Currently by temp is rock solid between 25.0 & 25.5 Celsius (77 -77.9F). I use my Digital Aquatics controller to turn on the fan when the tank temp reaches 25.5C & shuts off when the temp drops to 25C. I dose water, 1 L per dose, at hourly intervals during the day (up to 10-12 L/day [3 gal] during hot periods). The only thing you have to keep an eye on is the relative humidity! Evaporative cooling only works if water can evaporate. As relative as humidity increases, the rate of evaporation decreases resulting in decreased cooling. This method would be great in Nevada but suck in Vietnam during the wet season.

 

[Tmoriarty]

Yep I kept that in mind as well, the humidity in the summer time in my location is fairly low, so perhaps cooling with fans would work. i am still considering buying a chiller for backup purposes, If nothing else I will use it on a seahorse fry tank that will get setup in the garage should the seahorses start to breed.

 

[pledosophy]

IME fans can help to keep a tank below ambient room temperatures, by as much as 15 degrees for short periods of time.

 

[rayjay]

Wow!!
I've never been able to get much more than two or three degrees most times and that is using a floor pedestal 22" fan blowing on 40g aquariums.

 

[pledosophy]

it should have read "1-5" The missing dash was a typo.

 

[rayjay]

:ape:

 

[namxas]

Since you asked:

A 60 gal is too small for any TE chiller. We've used Ice Probes on smaller setups (< 25 gals) and they work nicely. Unless they've changed them, you'll need to pair them up with a temp controller such as a Ranco.

Another tip would be to use a super power-efficient pump (fewer Watts)...you can get a good 2*F - 3*F of headroom that way.

 

[Tmoriarty]

Ended up using a Chiller, 1/2HP chiller actually. Yah I am sure it is plenty overkill but might as well.

 

[Devaji108]

can we see pic of your tank plz