DIY Chillers???

[adamc1303]

Does anyone know how to replicate a chiller, any methods will be helpfull. I am loosing fish and the lfs said the cheapest chiller with pump will cost $800.00 for my 90 gallon tank. I need other solutions because I do not have the money and do not want to loose more fish! All help will be appreciated.

 

[adamc1303]

Does anyone know how to make a cool down the water using cpu fan???

 

[vyperone]

Natural cooling of the water is achieved via evaporation. Fans blowing across the surface of the water helps the evaporation process, thus cooling the water.
First to help in the cooling process, how long are you running the lights?
Too long and you are just heating the water if they are metal halides.
Are they metal halides? Can you reduce the amount of time the lights are on?
Air conditioning: Do you run AC all day? What temp do you keep your house at? A hot house equals a hot tank; period.
In your light hood you should have two fans. Blowing in or drawing air in, I will leave that argument to the rest of the gallery.
Does your light hood have a full opening on the back side, but no fans? Add the fans.
I have a 200 gallon with three 250 watt metal halides. On a good day with AC on normal, 75-78 degrees my tank run at 80 degrees.
Playing with my settings with regard to light on time and house AC has clearly shown the amount of influence those two factors have on tank temp.
Oh BTW, what is your tank temperature?

 

[nm reef]

More info on your system...lighting....time schedule.....canopy design....run a sump?
For minor issues the use of fans can help a lot....other simple solutions could be as easy as removal of the glass tops if you use them. A fan blowing directly across a open sump can help....fans in the canopy pulling air in can be of benefit.But...without specific info on the source of your heat its hard to sugggest solutions. :thinking:

 

[adamc1303]

Well I think the main reason I am having these issues is because I have been away on a business trip for the past 5 weeks so my ac is never on. The lights are timed to be on for 6 hours a day. I purchased fans and am returning from my trip Wed. I guess once I install the fans and have my ac on as it usually is for a few hours a day everything will be ok. The water temp is above 90 degrees. Check out this ---- link for the fans I purchased today all ready to go. I purchased 2 sets and do not know if I should install both in the canopy, or one in the canop and one by the sump. Any sugestions on that?
http://cgi.----.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...PcY_BIN_Stores

 

[flux]

Get a mini fridge. Drill 2 holes in it ,coil some hose up inside of it. Hook a pump up to the hose and you would be in business. I have seen mini fridges for $100 and a mag 12 pump says it can do 600gph up to 10feet so that another $100. So even with all the little extras that pop up when you diy stuff if it comes to $300 that $500 under the one the fish store could get you. I have never done, so I cant guarantee that it works, just an idea. On the up side, if it works, you could have cold beer on hand for when you work on the tank.

 

[acrylic51]

The concept on the mini fridge use has been tried, but nobody has really noticed a significant cooling drop doing it that way......

 

[vyperone]

The fact your AC is not on is going to be one of them main factors for your heat problem. Ambient temperature controls your water tempature. Keep your room temperature at normal levels and you will see a reduction in tank temps. In my case even with the AC on, if it is a really hot day outside, I notice my tank temp will go up a degree or two just because the AC is working harder to cool the house. Even so my tank never goes over 82, my lights are on about 10 hours a day.
As far as where to put the fans... My opinion, put them in the hood to help cool the tank and remove the hot air that naturally builds in the hood. Of course that is my opinion, get a few more before you start cutting holes.

 

[ou_snr_fn]

i was wondering bout the mini fridge also.

why couldn't it work?

would it have a better chance of working if ya plumbed it with aluminum?? would the aluminum put trace elements into the water that would be bad for the tank?? not sure just wondering?? my thinking is it would be alot easier to get the water cooled with aluminum piping than with a rubber hose acting like an insulator. :thinking: just wondering

 

[fishntx]

do a search for chillers. ive seen them for way less than $800 for tanks up to 100 gal. just recently saw an inline for up to 120gal for like $380 but don't remember what site, but still searching because i am looking for one also and don't want to spend alot on one.

 

[golfish]

Originally Posted by ou_snr_fn
i was wondering bout the mini fridge also.

why couldn't it work?

Bottom line is its not big enough....there's a lot smart people in this hobby, you'd think that if it worked everybody and his brother would be on it and there would be no market for chillers...

 

[sw65galma]

The Btu's aren't there in a mini fridge. You'd need a big stand alone freezer.
Even then there is no real way to regulate temp.
The chillers are the best method...best to wait for people breaking down thier system and selling them used.