Cooling tanks in the summer

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bluegryffin

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 25, 2008
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fort collins, colorado
The apartment I live in gets pretty damn hot in the summer time, but only really hot for like 3 months or so. We have an air conditioner in the living room, but not in the bedrooms. So that leaves one 55 gallon tank and one 10 gallon fancy goldfish tank that might develop overheating problems. I'm asking now so I have time to plan it out before the heat hits us. I certainly don't want to buy a $300 chiller for 3 months out of the year, so what should I do to get around this? Will fans with timers work? If so, what would be a good way to set that up? Any suggestions?
 
i've used liter bottles frozen floating in tank. very temporary but very cheap. or go to a garage sale and buy another window shaker is another idea
 
People have used small bar fridges with pipes running through them circulating through the tank to cool it.
 
he wont spend 50 bucks on a window shaker how much of that diy you think he can affoard? i love the idea but i think we're on a very tight budget here.
 
The thing is if you find a run down old little bar fridge that doesnt even have to work that well because you arent going to use it for drinks and the likes. Here they can be found pretty cheap.

But tif the budget is tighter than that then Dr. Joe would probably be of more help here.
 
So you take the cooling pipes out of the fridge and stick them in the tank? Am I understanding this correctly? What about putting a fan next to the tank, with a timer? Would the fan convect enough heat away from the tank, or do you think that wouldn't work?
 
Just keep some 1 liter bottles handy. Fill them with water & freeze them. When the tanks start getting out of the normal range, throw in a bottle or 2. They will cool the water down slowly. You can keep as many as you like on hand. Cheap and easy solution.
 
no you dont take the fridge apart:nilly:you drill holes in the side, run tubing from tank, thru hole coil inside, out hole, return to tank. :D
 
well i say move the 10 gal into the living room but i like the bottle idea. we used a big bucket that we froze evry nite and threw it in the fridge when a chilller went out
 
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