ways to cool a tank (cheaply)

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franlovera

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2009
162
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Argentina
Hi, I'm seriously thinking of getting an axolotl tank (30 gallons). I was looking for ways to lower the temperature other than the ice bottle every hour thing. In the summer it gets max to 85ish f. In my home it gets max to 78-80 degrees. In the winter it gets close to freezing, so i would have to have the cooler on for summer only and lower the temperature about 5-10ish degrees.

Anyone have any ideas on how to build a cooler for the tank?? Looking for the simplest and cheapest solution.

I have made a temperature controller for a CPU fan, that turns on at a certain temperature and turns off when its cool. Blowing cold wind at the top of the water won't cool the water, right?

Thanks everybody, and sorry for my spelling mistakes.
 
You can aim a fan at the tank, that tends to work fairly well. Most d-i-y chillers end up being either inefficient or will raise your electricity. You can always buy one, for a 30g tank, I can't imagine it would be too expensive.
 
Yeah, do you think it will lower the temperature significantly if I aim a fan directly at the tank?
I could connect the fan to a cable that runs into the tank that senses the temperature and if its too high, it turns on the fan, and turns it to a lower speed as the temperature lowers.

About buying a cooler, for a 20-30 gallon tank, how big are the coolers? Because i live in Argentina and the coolers here are huge and expensive. If i buy one it would be when i go visit the US, and would bring one back on the plane so it would have to be small.
 
franlovera;4044948; said:
Yeah, do you think it will lower the temperature significantly if I aim a fan directly at the tank?
I could connect the fan to a cable that runs into the tank that senses the temperature and if its too high, it turns on the fan, and turns it to a lower speed as the temperature lowers.

About buying a cooler, for a 20-30 gallon tank, how big are the coolers? Because i live in Argentina and the coolers here are huge and expensive. If i buy one it would be when i go visit the US, and would bring one back on the plane so it would have to be small.
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you need to point at the tank water.
 
nes999;4044954; said:
you need to point at the tank water.
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this, and i would keep it on 24/7 or at least during the day. i imagine you could connect it to a thermostat but i have no idea how you would do that :ROFL:
 
great, I'll lower the water level some, and attach about 3 or 4 small computer fans to the top glass, connect these to a temperature sensor, which would allow the fans to turn on when the temperature is too high automaticaly. I'm quite sure that it won't consume that much electricity since I'll use 4 12volts fans which use 0.15 amperts, so it won't change the electricity bill that much.

Sound good?
 
franlovera;4045848; said:
great, I'll lower the water level some, and attach about 3 or 4 small computer fans to the top glass, connect these to a temperature sensor, which would allow the fans to turn on when the temperature is too high automaticaly. I'm quite sure that it won't consume that much electricity since I'll use 4 12volts fans which use 0.15 amperts, so it won't change the electricity bill that much.

Sound good?
Click to expand...

sounds good... just make sure the fan doesnt get wet and electrocute alll you fish ;)
 
and the costs would be:
6 pesos for each fan (24 total, 6 dollars)
Temp sensor 3 pesos total (75 cents)
thing to solder on 5 pesos (1.25 bucks)
and some cable and a plug maybe 3 more bucks.
Mosfet and potentiometer 3 dollars total.

so only about 14 dollars. When i finish creating it, I'll post pictures. Just hope a fan doesn't fall and electrify the water. heheh
 
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