Cool idea?

[Dan T]

Along with others (I assume), I have concerns and frustration with keeping the tank cool. I am using fans, which certainly helps, but it hasn't completely solved the problem for me. I live in New England and when it gets humid (often) the effectiveness of the fans diminishes. And honestly, the constant noise of the fans is tiring and the anxiety when the temps inch higher than desired is growing old.

The chillers available are obviously a possibility, but wow the price is pretty steep at $600 or so for a mid-size tank. Anyway, I suspect that the challenge I have with temps is really isolated to the Summer months and even then it is just some days. It occurred to me, while brainstorming for ideas, how about routing tank water through somewhere to cool it. How about taking the return off by reactor (or use a pump specific to this) and run the hose through a cooler packed with ice (or a dedicated small fridge or freezer).

I am picturing a coil of 15' of hose within a standard beer cooler that then returns the tank water to the sump. The pump in the sump would push the water through the hose coiled in the cooler and then back to the sump. The cooler could be packed with ice cubes and the cooler drain could be piped to waste drain. When I want to help bring the tank water temp down I would just dump cubes into the cooler. Thought this was a cool low-tech idea to help when needed.

So what do you think, good idea or not-so good.

- Dan

 

[Rustylugnuts]

It would work fine I think. I try to keep a zip loc bag full of water frozen for emergency cooling. I only have a about 65 gallons of total system volume so a quart bag of ice in the sump is enough to take care of things for an hour or two. The cooler idea would let you use a lot more ice. I imagine one of those 5 day coolers plumbed with something that really conducts heat would work great. A ton of 3/8th" tubing used for RO filters would be a pretty cheap to use DIY heat exchanger.


There was a geothermal cooling thread in which the thread poster used titanium tubing to avoid coppers toxicity. I bet it would still be much cheaper than a chiller if one were to plumb a 5-10' DIY Ti heat exchange coil with flexible hose to a large cooler fulla ice.

 

[tanker]

The idea is OK, but how would you control it?? Just run it during the day?? When only the lights are on?? How high does the temp get in the tank??

PS--Use a styrofoam container ----the ice will last longer.

 

[Playa-1]

That's not exactly an original idea. Check out the DIY forum.

I think you would be better off getting yourself a used chiller and a temp controller. That way the unit only kicks on when it's absolutely necessary and you don't have to manually control it. A refrigerator or freezer you will be running 24/7. A chiller may kick on for 30 minutes a day.
I purchased a used 1/4 hp chiller w/ a Ranco temp controller off of Craigslist for $350. It hardly ever kicks on but it's good insurance on the extra hot days.

 

[Dan T]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13079799#post13079799 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tanker
The idea is OK, but how would you control it?? Just run it during the day?? When only the lights are on?? How high does the temp get in the tank??

PS--Use a styrofoam container ----the ice will last longer.

I was thinking just throw ice in the cooler when I wanted to bring the temp down, when the ice melted it would stop cooling the tank. But I guess if you had the setup on its own pump you could power it from a controller based on temp. Perhaps a simple flow control valve on the line would also impact the cooling effect to adjust.

 

[Dan T]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13079866#post13079866 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Playa-1
That's not exactly an original idea. Check out the DIY forum. ...

Oh well, I thought it was neat and I hadn't heard it mentioned before. I think I will rig something up on the cheap and see if it is helpful to me while I save up for a true chiller. Thanks for suggesting the DIY forum, I suspect there may be some useful ideas there for me.

 

[reefworm]

just for a point of reference, what are the temp ranges in your tank?

 

[Dan T]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13079923#post13079923 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefworm
just for a point of reference, what are the temp ranges in your tank?

The tank runs between 78 and 82 typically. I have a large fan blowing down on the sump in the garage and also need to run a fan across the top of the display. On several occasions when the air temp is high or when the humidity is high it has gone above 82 and had me a little nervous. I have put frozen water bottles into the sump to keep it below 83.

 

[NirvanaFan]

I wouldn't worry too much if the temperature gets up to 83. The temp in my tank has gotten to a high of 86.9 this year. 83, or even 84 is not considered very hot at all. I wouldn't worry until it starts getting 5 or 6 degrees above the usual high for the day, which sounds like 87 or 88 for you. Once it hits 87, that is when I would start putting bags of ice in the tank.

 

[sassafrass]

A couple of 2 liter soda pop bottles filled with water and frozen drop them in the sump when necessary can help

 

[reefworm]

you're fine. mine runs right there as well.

 

[twoodall]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13079866#post13079866 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Playa-1


I think you would be better off getting yourself a used chiller and a temp controller. That way the unit only kicks on when it's absolutely necessary and you don't have to manually control it. A refrigerator or freezer you will be running 24/7. A chiller may kick on for 30 minutes a day.
I purchased a used 1/4 hp chiller w/ a Ranco temp controller off of Craigslist for $350. It hardly ever kicks on but it's good insurance on the extra hot days.

I agree with Playa, I think you can pick up a used chiller pretty easily, probably take some patience, but hey doesn't everything with this hobby. I think the benefit of the chiller would be the reduced personal oversight by yourself. Hauling ice and things like that is pretty labor intensive. For me it would be like going back to the days before ATO, now why would I want to do that?

Just a thought/observation! :rollface:

 

[Jeff cousteau]

I have my tank in my bedrom and baught a 5000btu A/C from wally world for $150.00 It was half the price of the cheapest chiller I could find and now I can stay cool without having to swim in my tank

 

[crsswift70]

Mine used to peak at 86 every day. I placed a small wallyworld fan on the sump and now it peaks at 84 I'm not really sure why i even did that as my tank peaked at 86 everyday for 2.5 years with no problems.

 

[otrlynn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13082122#post13082122 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jeff cousteau
I have my tank in my bedrom and baught a 5000btu A/C from wally world for $150.00 It was half the price of the cheapest chiller I could find and now I can stay cool without having to swim in my tank

+1 on the room AC. Where is your tank? A small room air conditioner (they should be on sale right now) might take care of your problem nicely. I live in an old farmhouse and we try to use window fans some of the time, but we also have window ACs. We use the ACs as needed to keep the house at about 78 degrees, which keeps the tank below 82 degrees. Since the AC has a thermostat, the compressor only comes on at the set point, keeping the tank where I want it.

 

[Indymann99]

I will prob get laughed at for this but I used to live in CA, in school I had a 55g that needed a chiller... I was cheap and ran some tubing through the "keg-a-rater" (use ONLY 4 loops... more will cool TOO MUCH)... I had to manually divert the water but it worked for the 15 or so days that would have driven my tank above 85.

I agree with the others that say get a used chiller if you are in this for the long run.

 

[Playa-1]

I've got a 12000 btu portable A/C/dehumidifier unit ordered for my fish room. The main reason I'm getting it is so that I don't have to run the whole house unit and also to deal with humidity.
A little extra cool air on a hot day will be nice too
I also have a 1/4hp chiller set at 84 degrees, but it hardly ever kicks on. I would invest in a nice mini split A/C unit but I don't think the land lord would like that :lol:

 

[Jeff cousteau]

where I only have the 1 tank in my bedroom and can keep the door shut the 5000 btu ac worked great for me.