Bong cooler for a 90 gal

[crazyforcrabs]

I'm thinking of making a 5' tall Bong cooler for my soon to be cold water Channa tank. gonna be a 4x18x24.
My tank temps in summer stay at about 30-31* C. Any idea how effective the cooler will work?
Gonna use 4" diameter PVC. 'Bout 5 or 6 feet tall. I'll use a couple of PC fans halfway down to do the evaporation bit. I need the tank temp to be 20-24*. What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks all.

 

[diddyu]

Well Im new around here, but Ive made one for my computer. You probably know what it should look like, but here is a pic I stole off wikipedia.

What Ive found works best is a $10 shower head, but you might want to get an adjustable head so you can better control the temps. Also, adding more fans wont help you much, unless they have different numbers of blades, are counter rotating, and you straighten the airflow between the fans. Just some slight airflow should be enough, you just have to add dry cool air to the system. Doing this, you should be able to get temperatures below ambient, depending on how much heat youre putting into the water.

 

[daleros]

How would a room humidifier work for the input spray? They are cheap and the mist is already close to being atomized.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Evaporative coolers work best in climates with very low humidity.They are not very efficient at lowering the temperature. While the air is dry they will work as intended, but over time they add excessive humidity to your personal environment making the house uncomforatble. Additionally when this happens, the air reaches saturation and/or super saturation. The cooler's efficiency drops off sharply as it reaches this point. The other problem with an evaporative cooler is that mold and mildew grow exponentially faster in humid environments.

A coil of tubing inside a small refrigerator will do the job in all humidity levels and temperatures. The electrical efficiency is not nearly as good as an off the shelf chiller.

 

[Danger_Chicken]

A coil of tubing inside a small refrigerator will do the job in all humidity levels and temperatures. The electrical efficiency is not nearly as good as an off the shelf chiller.

Interesting idea McGyver

 

[dominicolas]

Do the american thing and just throw some ice cubes in from time to time.

 

[crazyforcrabs]

Ice cubes is not a good idea, it'll trigger a sudden drop in temp. Not good for fish.
Well, the tank is in my fishroom, and its pretty humid in there. I live in Calcutta, and its freaking humid mostly all summer.
So i'm a little worried about the bong cooler idea.

Chomper, won't that mean the compressor in the fridge working overtime? The water will constantly have to cooled in the tubing, and that kinda means huge electricity bills.And if i set the fridge thermostat at 20* C, will the water temperature fluctuate very much in the tubes while the compressor isn't running?

 

[CHOMPERS]

They come in very small sizes. Just estimate how much you need to chill the water by and try to match the cooler to it.

This one is 12 volts and won't use a lot of electricity. You will just need an adapter for it to use it in the house.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Well, the tank is in my fishroom, and its pretty humid in there. I live in Calcutta, and its freaking humid mostly all summer.
So i'm a little worried about the bong cooler idea.

The bong cooler won't work in your case.

Chomper, won't that mean the compressor in the fridge working overtime? The water will constantly have to cooled in the tubing, and that kinda means huge electricity bills.

The refrigerator will only have to work a lot during the initial cooling of the tank. When the tank has cooled down to the temperature in the fridge, less work will need to be done by the fridge.

And if i set the fridge thermostat at 20* C, will the water temperature fluctuate very much in the tubes while the compressor isn't running?

The temperatures will remain fairly steady. When the compressor turns off, the inside of the fridge will remain cold, keeping the water in the tubes cool. The thermostat in the fridge will keep the inside of the fridge cold and will prevent any noticable fluctuations.

 

[Knowdafish]

They come in very small sizes. Just estimate how much you need to chill the water by and try to match the cooler to it.

This one is 12 volts and won't use a lot of electricity. You will just need an adapter for it to use it in the house.

These are EXTREMELY POOR at cooling and slow too! Don't waste your money!