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Old 05-27-2005, 03:31 PM   #1
BlennyMan1
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Tank Cooling Plan


Well i posted the first forum about cooling my tank and I've been reading so now im gonna write what i think im gonna try:

* replace back half of glass that covers tank with egg crate....(how this is this stuff)
*if i have to raise my light to accomodate the eggcrate i think i will
* im gonna go to walmart and buy a clip on fan and point it down on waters surface
*i will have frozen 1 liter bottles in freezer constantly just in case it need an extra boost
*the craziest thing i heard that i may try if things get crazy will be the home made chiller.....fill an ice chest with ice and buy a long piece of tubing that i can coil many times around in bottom of ice chest then run a low flow pump from tank through tube and back into tank while it is chilled when it goes through ice chest....sounds crazy but it may work.
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Old 05-27-2005, 03:35 PM   #2
BlennyMan1
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i got it down to 84 without addition of fan on surface so hopefully the fan may bring it down a degree or two and i wont have to make that chiller. todays temp is going to be one of the hottest days of summer so if this works i think ill be good.....at what temp do corals really take the downfall?
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Old 05-27-2005, 04:11 PM   #3
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you want to stay below 90. a lot of the time it is not the temp that is bad, but if there is a drastic change in temp. you want any change in temp to be gradual.

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Old 05-28-2005, 03:26 AM   #4
BlennyMan1
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alright ill make sure and remember that...what would be a drastic change in temp. for the tank like -10 degrees in a half hour?
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Old 05-28-2005, 07:51 AM   #5
carloskoi
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i doubt it is going to be the hottest day of summer. summer doesn't even start for another month. the hottest months are aug and sept.

as your temps rise O2 carrying ca[acity of the water declines.

good luck

Carl
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Old 05-28-2005, 08:37 AM   #6
Loverotties
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Wow if I had to do that (buy ice everyday) I,d have a garage sale and scrape money together for a chiller.Lucky I have central air!
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Old 05-28-2005, 08:40 AM   #7
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I also latly have bought a nice new heater for my tank that keeps it at what I set it at .Not like your regular heaters that have a few deg. swing.That in it self keeps the tank cooler!
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Old 05-28-2005, 11:00 AM   #8
carloskoi
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your frig will take more elctricity making ice also. also hard to control the final temp just by adding ice. temp swings are not too good either.

you will be very busy the next few months with this method.

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Old 05-28-2005, 11:57 AM   #9
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Why re-invent the wheel?


Remove all the glass from the top.


Use eggcrate only to cover the open area top of the tank if you have fish that like to carpet surf.


Rather than make a device as you've mentioned, add a sump to the tank and have your fan blowing onto the surface of the sump, this will not only double your evaporative surface area (depending on the size of the sump), but it will give you a larger amount of water that the lights will have to heat. By removing the glass covers, you also help reduce the amount of heat being trapped by the lids, and increase the evaporative cooling from the main tank. This will also improve you pH in the tank by increasing your CO2 exchange rates. The surface area and water volume in the sump will also become a heat loss area rather than a heat gain area, and if the room temp is in the 70;s, then your tank will maintain adequate cooling from the sump. Rather than purchase a chiller, buy a window shaker AC unit and put it in the window of the aquarium room, last time I was at Wallyworld, they had room-sized units for $149 USD, chillers are around $500 to $800 USD...


Depending on being able to supply ice for a chiller following the design you've suggested is a waste of your time and money, although the design will work. It is easier to increase your surface area and evap rates through the use of the fan, adding the sump, and improving air circulation for the system's general cooling.


If you want to build something extra, consider an evaporative cooling tower, or incorporate one of the piezoelectric cooling plates under the sump. However, I think you'll be surprised at what a difference just changing the setup you already have will make.


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Old 05-28-2005, 02:57 PM   #10
BlennyMan1
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yeah well i think my tanks doin good i havent added ice for a while just tried a few different things to cool the house down and my tanks stayed at about 79 degrees. the reason i said that it was one of the hottest days was becasue portland rarely breaks 90 and those were record temperatures, next week is supposed to be highs in the 60's.
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Old 05-28-2005, 03:02 PM   #11
BlennyMan1
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i also bought 2 fans i only put one on the back 1/6 of the tanks surface and it seemed to help. i think it would have helped more if i had 1/2 the tank covered in eggcrate instead of glass but i have only seen eggcrate that is like 1/2 inch thick so i may have to drill a bunch of holes in a sheet of plexiglass or something i dont know. yeah i havent put a fan on the sump yet but i will tonight and see if it makes a difference. how much more evaporation will this create? like an extra gallon a day? (55 gal) oh yeah i wans tbuying ice or making it i was freezing these cans that stay colder longer than ice and double wrapping them in ziploc bags and setting them in sump, they work much better than ice.
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