Cooling Aquapod 24 Standard

[cfarahiii]

I have the Standard aquapod 24 (not the metal halide) and temperature fluctuates greatly (77 - 83 F) - BTW live in S. Florida - short of spending the money for a current 1/15 hp chiller i wanted to bring down the temp by:
1. purchasing a fan to install in the spare fan side of the hood.
2. or.... purchase the ICA Chiller to install in the spare side of the hood from nano-customs

I would be interested in anyones experience with the fan or the ICA chiller?

and opinions on the recommended approach...ICA Chiller from nano customs or a fan (from current)?

Thanks for any help!

 

[july865]

no experience with any of those devices. but ditch the hood, run open top. i have the USA 150 halide. my max is 80 w/o fans.
so your choices are
. open top
. relocate your tank to a cooler part of home
. add small fan and aim at water surface
. add more computer fans in stock hood
. go for the chiller. forget those cheep designs. you'll only get what you pay for. then spend it on the better one anyway
good luck and welcome to RC

 

[cfarahiii]

Thanks for the response - I had a hunch that the chiller would be best (of course) so i am thinking about taking baby steps here....

first go ahead and add the fan into the hood, see if it makes any difference at all.....
any recommendations, instructions, pics etc on how to add the fan to the spare side? (i assume it will some how tie on to the other fan??)

i have seen some blogs mention having one pulling and one pushing.... any thoughts on that?

(i already open the little flap....the whole hood is out of the question since its next to my work from home desk and the light would drive me crazy! LOL)

 

[max1234321]

I agree with popping the hood. I got 250w MH on mine. no hood. I just point a fan at it and i got 78.5 no matter what.

 

[max1234321]

At least by the nano chiller. Its much cheaper, but its just as good. I think its around 200 new. If you only need to drop it a few degrees.

 

[cfarahiii]

so any one out there actually install another fan in the spare side of the aquapod 24 hood. iwould be interested in any actual experience?

also anyone have any experience with the current nano chiller....in a ap24? how did you get a new pump in there or did you just add a T to the tubing? (if i get the chiller...it will be later but first i am doing the fan mod...and will post pics.....hey how do you do that?)

 

[hcahan]

Do a search....I know it is often busy. I read a thread not too long ago taking about the extra fan install. Sorry I can not find the link but it was in one of the "Starting an AP" threads. The guys tank is amazing. As for yours, many of us with the standard AP run it with temps about 82. Things do fine. I wouldn't spend the money on a chiller unless your corals are looking bad and everything else is stable. Just my opnion but the nice thing about the standard AP is the closed lid and clean look.

 

[Matrexz]

Check out the guys over at nano-reef.com they have some fans on theirs to keep them cool. It's under the all-in-one tank forum.

 

[All Delight]

I had the same problem you had. So I did the fan deal and it cooled the tank a little. But then I had evaporation problems. So I would have to top off my tank every day (I don't have a ATO). So my salinity was up and down all the time. Which isn't good for corals or fish.

So I thought it sucks but its better to shell out the money for a chiller. At first I got the 1/20th but it sucked and ran all the time. So I returned it and got the 1/10th, it only costs $100 more and I can use it if I get a bigger tank.