Dorm Fridge Chiller Questions...

[freakaccident]

Not reef related but still aquarium related. I brought this here due to the knowledge available.

So I am a fisherman. I want to keep fishing minnows alive in a 29g high aquarium. Minnows need to be kept in about 53 degrees.

I have been looking at chiller options and I am not spending hundreds of dollars on a chiller to keep 100 fishing minnows worth $50 alive.

I am interested in the dorm fridge chiller idea due to the low cost.

My question is whether or not this will chill a 29g from 68 degrees to 53 degrees. Anyone have experience with that cold of a water temp with one of these?

I also looked into the window unit ac option but the noise is a concern and I believe it is overkill for what I want.

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[aaronpentz]

Dorm Fridge Chiller Questions...

Well easiest thing since they are just bait fish is just get a fridge big enough to place a bucket inside. Turn the temp up to 54 and add a bubbler. If you wanted fancy you could put a light in there Or go full aquarium in there if you can fit one. Otherwise a proper chiller is best You'll spend more money on the conversion of one of those to something functional for you


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[BeanAnimal]

Not reef related but still aquarium related. I brought this here due to the knowledge available.

So I am a fisherman. I want to keep fishing minnows alive in a 29g high aquarium. Minnows need to be kept in about 53 degrees.

I have been looking at chiller options and I am not spending hundreds of dollars on a chiller to keep 100 fishing minnows worth $50 alive.

I am interested in the dorm fridge chiller idea due to the low cost.

My question is whether or not this will chill a 29g from 68 degrees to 53 degrees. Anyone have experience with that cold of a water temp with one of these?

I also looked into the window unit ac option but the noise is a concern and I believe it is overkill for what I want.

Thanks,
Aaron

More than likely NO it will not work.

It takes 1 btu to raise or lower 1 pound of water 1F

A dorm fridge can move maybe 150 BTU/h at best. Even with the door closed, it cycles on and off numerous times a day keeping itself cold, using over 30% of its cooling capacity just to maintain a 35F internal temp.

Even if we assume 125 BTU/h left to chill the water:

25 gallons of water = 208 pounds of water. You want to go from 63 to 58 = 5 degrees.

So you need to remove 208 BTUs X 5 to get from 63 to 58 = 1041 BTUs or 8.33 hours of continuous run for the dorm fridge compressor.

All good so far - but if the heat input to that 25 gallons of water is more than 125 BTU/h then you will A) never get down to 58 and/or will never be able to maintain it.