It's been getting really hot lately and I was wondering how your tank temperatures are.
Do you guys have uncovered tanks or covered tanks? Using fans or chillers? Just keeping the house blasted with AC?
I'm personally having a hard time keeping my covered tank temperatures under control.
I have uncovered tanks. I have shrimp and fish in the garage with no heaters or ac gets in the low 50's and up into high 90's. I have outdoor ponds with no heaters or ac. I only have one tank inside the house that is spoiled and houses the majority of my fish maintains between 74-84 I'm guessing.
THE CAKE IS A LIE!
I stick with fans and keep the ac on when the fans are not.
I will buy a chiller with my bonus if it comes in this month for my reef, but otherwise, i just stick to fans.
A temp controller is a wise investment that isn't too expensive to build.
I think @pikachux3 built one before. He should make a vid
Zenzu liked this post
Yeah there should be a video online.
You buy a cheap temp comtroller on ebay or amazon for $20-28 make sure you get one with a water proof probe.
PC fans to a power adapter
Heater
15A outlet
wire up the fan(s) to the power adapter, Wire the temp control to the outlet. Plug the fan into the "Cool" plug on the outlet, Plug the heater into the "Hot" plug on the outlet. Place probe near filter flow. Set temp controller and you are rolling. This works great because you can just set your fan(s) to max output (if you have a pot inline or dimmer) and the controller will make sure your fan doesn't contstantly trigger your heater which can save lots of electricity.
THE CAKE IS A LIE!
I also recall a thread here on scape posted by cGar. It was for a DIY chiller using an aluminum radiator block, CPU heatsink, pc fan and some hose. Another option was instead of cpu cooler is to hook up an electronic cooling plate. In essence it turns any canister or pump into a chiller. Not super effective but can cool 5-10 degrees.
THE CAKE IS A LIE!
A really cheap alternative uses a thermos (or similar) portable cooler, and you drill two holes for a hose to go through, and you coil as much hose as you have that fits into the cooler, and then you cover the coils with bagged ice (so that is does not leak out of the cooler) and/or a 2 liter or similar bottle of ice.
Every day you change out the bottle of ice and refreeze the melted one.
Doing it with a sump is easiest, because the pump can be smaller and it is less intrusive.
A smaller diameter hose also allows more hose in the cooler, which allows more total surface area, which cools the water line much quicker.
There is a decisive balance in deciding what flow vs cooling reaction is best, but 3/8 is about the best compromise.
(sigh)
Another project that I need to pull off this summer.
Had friends that did that with copper tubing and hooked it up to a warm keg... instant kegorator. The problem with that option is ice is a consumable and will need to constantly be replenished and there is no control of temp.
THE CAKE IS A LIE!
I am glad to see this post because I have shrimps inside my garage and the temperature went up to 89 degree even with 2 fans (1 with 4 smaller fans and the other one with 2 big fans) and 1 big fan (that you use during the summer) blowing at the tank. I also put in a big 2 liter water bottle with frozen ice. The temperature of the garage goes up to 110 degree because there are no window and I have to keep the door shut when I am at work. I don't know if the shrimps can survive the whole summer. Can someone give me some suggestions?
It is great for beverages, etc, but always be very wary with copper tubing when housing inverts.Originally Posted by Zenzu
I have my doubts that the yield of copper would be bad if you practice regular water changes and/or supplement your filtration with a copper bonding agent like cupramine, but even so, I would still advise against it.
Don't ever whisper the word copper to saltwater though. It is one of the least resistant metals to saltwater corrosion, and it will kill your entire tank.
Re: temp control,
Just use a temperature controller and plug the pump into the cold side.
Yes, you have to replace the ice daily still, but the temperature will maintain proper parameters due to the control of the pump via the temp controller.
I have an open-top 10 and a 20-long with a DIY "window screen" top. When heat waves hit, both regularly get to around 82 -- my platys and neons don't seem to be suffering much, though; they survived last summer. I've used one of these in the past:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XN24GY
...and it does a good job cooling the tank. You just have to also buy the USB cable and find a way to secure it.
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