DIY cooling fans ??

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
B

Bassinkorea

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 7, 2008
631
3
0
50
South Korea
I am in the process of designing a plywood/glass tank for my ever growing LM Bass. His current tank (140g) is in the spare room has a wall mounted cooling fan blowing down into his tank, but I will be building the new tank in my living room and don't want a ugly fan on the wall.

I have heard of folks fitting computer cooling fans into the tank lid to cool the water.
The tank I am planning will be around 500g and in the Korean summers, his water temps can reach 85~90 degrees. What would you DIYers say I would need to cool a tank of this size?? I am thinking about having 2 fans blowing in to the tank at one end and 2 fans blowing out of the tank at the other end. Let me know y'alls thoughts.

Also, what is needed to wire these fans up so that I can plug them into my 220 volt electrics at home, including some kind of timer??


BK.
 
i would leave the back of the canopy open then just add 2 fans.. one on each side..

as for wiring and such its not hard

-2x 220v fans
-wire #14 for 15amp breakers #12 for 20amp breakers... if you dont know you can cheat and just cut the cord off of something like a dead dvdplayer/lamp.. for some reason prettymuch everyone always has one of these kicking around..
-plug.. im guessing you want to plug this in vs directly wiring it..
-electrical box.. plastic
-light switch
-cover plate
-timer
-follow all local codes those trump whatever i tell you to do.. and if you dont feel safe doing it dont do it 220 provides a nice kick in the pants

other than that.. nothing to it but to do it..
http://www.electrical-online.com/lightsandswitches.htm
thats some basic wiring for a light with pics.. you are doing the same thing except with a fan insted of a light.. and insted of it ending at the breaker its going to end at a plug that you will just plug into the wall/timer
 
Remember that fans can pull air out 4 times more efficiently than they can push air through. If it were me id focus on having the exhaust worked out and just have enough passive air intake with a mild air filter on it. In other words dont bother pushing air in that happens anyways. Just have enough passive air intake to feed the exhaust fans.
 
hmm..

$600 for a chiller+electricity
vs
$10 for a years worth of daily topoffs+$30 worth of parts....
 
chesterthehero;3082749; said:
i would leave the back of the canopy open then just add 2 fans.. one on each side..

as for wiring and such its not hard

-2x 220v fans
-wire #14 for 15amp breakers #12 for 20amp breakers... if you dont know you can cheat and just cut the cord off of something like a dead dvdplayer/lamp.. for some reason prettymuch everyone always has one of these kicking around..
-plug.. im guessing you want to plug this in vs directly wiring it..
-electrical box.. plastic
-light switch
-cover plate
-timer
-follow all local codes those trump whatever i tell you to do.. and if you dont feel safe doing it dont do it 220 provides a nice kick in the pants

other than that.. nothing to it but to do it..
http://www.electrical-online.com/lightsandswitches.htm
thats some basic wiring for a light with pics.. you are doing the same thing except with a fan insted of a light.. and insted of it ending at the breaker its going to end at a plug that you will just plug into the wall/timer
Click to expand...


Thanks for the reply and electrical link, I'll also be wiring some lights so this link will be very helpful.
Are you saying 2 small computer fans will be enough to cool a 400g~500g tank?? The lid/canopy will have a feeding hatch which will be quite large and filled with some kind of mesh (so he doesn't jump out).
 
tcarswell;3082765; said:
Remember that fans can pull air out 4 times more efficiently than they can push air through. If it were me id focus on having the exhaust worked out and just have enough passive air intake with a mild air filter on it. In other words dont bother pushing air in that happens anyways. Just have enough passive air intake to feed the exhaust fans.
Click to expand...

When you say 'exhaust', are you meaning having 2 (or 4) computer fans sucking the air out of the tank?? I'm guessing this would cause a vacuum and pull air into the tank via the mesh I will have in the feeding hatch and out through the fans thus cooling the water through evaporation.

Does that make sense??
 
laxratnd, thanks for the link about the cooler. I had thought about using a cooler (and still might depending on if I can find them and the price of them in Korea).

chesterthehero;3084524; said:
hmm..

$600 for a chiller+electricity
vs
$10 for a years worth of daily topoffs+$30 worth of parts....
Click to expand...

Adding top-up water is a good way to keep fresh water going in without having to drain the tank and add fresh water every month or so!!
 
You might consider a heat exchanger(radiator)/fan..if you have a canister filter. run your return thru it. A short trip thru ebay would probably bring up a number of options..thinking..oil coolers, auto trans coolers..heck, even an old auto heater core..of course..all parts would need to be fish friendly and clean.
 
KaiserSousay;3087994; said:
You might consider a heat exchanger(radiator)/fan..if you have a canister filter. run your return thru it. A short trip thru ebay would probably bring up a number of options..thinking..oil coolers, auto trans coolers..heck, even an old auto heater core..of course..all parts would need to be fish friendly and clean.
Click to expand...


Another great idea ;)

Any more ideas??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom