<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7435030#post7435030 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by luvabunny
I have read that putting insulation around 3 sides of the tank will also help to keep it cool.
While I don't know for sure, this sounds pretty reverse intuitive to me (i.e. WRONG). The ONLY way this is going to help is if you want to keep the aquarium water COOLER then the surrounding air. Usually I keep my house at abour 70, which is perfect for your potbellies.
Insulation is going to stop heat from going from an area of higher heat to one of lower heat. So if the outside air around my aquarium at home is 70 and my aquarium is 80, then insulation would ONLY keep heat IN the aquarium.
On the other hand, if my power went out, insulation would be AWESOME for keeping heat in. In FACT, I have heard that it is a good idea to have insulation pieces cut to the size of your tank walls so that you can quickly put them in place in case of an emergency. Again, the point being to keep heat IN.
Insulation in a house does 2 things. It keeps heat IN in the winter. And heat OUT in the summer.
Now, fan cooling will work spectacularly. However, it will also evaporate LOTS of water. I suspect your best bet on maintaining temperature is to (1) use a chiller and (2) avoid the heat in the first place.
The first part is easy. Buy a chiller and plumb it into the system. The second is more complicated. Extra heat is going to enter the system due to LIGHTING and PUMPS.
Concerning lighting. If you didn't plan to keep photosynthetic plants or critters, this would be easy - NO flourescent. However, since you probably will at least have plants, you'll need more light. I would SERIOUSLY suggest T5 HO lighting with plenty of ventilation built into the lighting system. That would either be with no canopy and no glass top and a light fixture that sat up with plenty of air space around it. Or with a canopy that incorporated a fan to move air through, venting the heat from the lights out of the canopy, rather then into the water.
Normally, I wouldn't even say fans are required in a T5 canopy. However, with the PLAN BEING to keep the water extra cool, I'd say that they would be a good idea. You'd also benefit from a little evaporative cooling.
Next, the Pumps. First, for a sump return pump, I would carefully reseach and find an external pump that does NOT use water to cool itself. If I remember right, some of these
Eheim pumps qualify. And of course there are
Iwakis and more. I might actually call MarineDepot customer support and ask some questions. Last time I did, they had EXCELLENT answers about pumps.
As far as circulatory pumps, a closed loop + manifold with another low heat transfer external pump would be a good plan, IMHO. I don't know exactly how much flow you would be wanting. Maybe the sump return would be enough.
Anyhow, just some thoughts - don't know if they are actually useful,
At rest, with no outside heat input, the water in the tank should cool to the temperature of the surrounding room, which should be pretty close to right. I'd say that by working to keep as much heat out of the water, and then maybe adding a chiller, this shouldn't be too tough.
