How are people cooling their tanks?

[Aluco]

So, it's warming up where I live and my roommates are a bit cheap when it comes to utilities and running a/c. My tank which normally runs at 79°f is above 81° and its just gonna get warmer. I can't afford a 500 dollar chiller and have been looking at cooling fans but with the lid on aquarium idk how I'd attach fans.. can they be put on the sump? How are you guys keeping your tanks from boiling? Ty

 

[vtecintegra]

I run the AC at 76F and use DC pumps. No chiller needed.

 

[Gtinnel]

I don’t need to cool my tank either but putting the fan on the sump will still help.

 

[ryanjohn1]

You can point fan at sump. Or I’ve done Rodi ice cubes in sump too

 

[Aluco]

My roommates won't run a/c.. I'm really concerned for my wrasse I have in qt, the tanks smaller near a window. Just ordered an ice machine to make rodi cubes. Blah

 

[WestMI-Reefer]

I run a small fan in my sump cabinet pointed straight down over the water. Mounted with zip ties. Im not fighting the heat like you are but like the aeration/gas exchange in an otherwise stagnant sump area. That might help drop your temp!

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Offer Up...
Also cooling fans will give you a few degrees. Eliminating the lid and going with a screen top and having good surface movement will also give you a few degrees. Be sure your ATO is up to task because evaporation is going to be significant.

 

[Aluco]

Having roommates with fish tank is annoying sometimes. I had got a 30g brute for pumping water and my roommate basically said he didn't like it and ended up tossing it.

 

[n2585722]

I have cooling fans on my sump, but make sure you get IP67 rated fans to do it. I made a bracket for them and the sump for my 42 gallon hex tank.

 

[Aluco]

Dude won't even let me open a window at night after it cools off. Said it makes the tanks heater run causing a $2/ a day rise in utilities (it doesnt) but it's insanity. Gave him an extra $100 this week for water bill just to keep him from pouting about it. Sorry I'm kind of ranting

 

[PeterC99]

Dude won't even let me open a window at night after it cools off. Said it makes the tanks heater run causing a $2/ a day rise in utilities (it doesnt) but it's insanity. Gave him an extra $100 this week for water bill just to keep him from pouting about it. Sorry I'm kind of ranting

Time to get your own place!

 

[Aluco]

Dt water is 82f, water change water is 85f.. I haven't checked my little 9.7g tank yet but my ice cubes haven't helped much, just not enough of them. I grabbed some cold sodas from a vending machine here and stuck them in there but also not really helping. This is dumb.. maybe this is my roommates way of telling me they want me to move out. It's also super humid in there with all the evaporation. And I couldn't help but notice he has his window wide open lol. Bit there actually is a ceiling fan above my dt or else it would probably be even worse. I feel like I need to do something tonight to get it cooled down tho.

 

[JCM]

82f is fine, but I agree about finding a new roommate.

 

[gbroadbridge]

So, it's warming up where I live and my roommates are a bit cheap when it comes to utilities and running a/c. My tank which normally runs at 79°f is above 81° and its just gonna get warmer. I can't afford a 500 dollar chiller and have been looking at cooling fans but with the lid on aquarium idk how I'd attach fans.. can they be put on the sump? How are you guys keeping your tanks from boiling? Ty

 

[19Mateo83]

I’ve always wanted to try installing a reservoir in one of these with a small pump hooked up to an inkbird temperature controller that runs a cooling loop into the tank. Kinda a redneck engineered chiller.

 

[Aluco]

Ok, I think I'm going to return the ice machine and go with fans instead. I went with 6 hygger fans because they come in groups of 3 that are just daisy chained. I'm hoping that helps with fan placement because I don't have a good way to mount fans.. I'm going to assume when we start hitting triple digit heat here we will use the a/c but in the meantime will 6 fans be able to keep Temps around 80f or lower?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It isn't suitable for an apartment, but I used a cooling system based on cold tap water run through a large coil of plastic tubing in my sump, and controlled by a temperature controller and a solenoid on the tap water.

The water then ran out to my backyard pond to replace evaporation, so there was no wasted water.

 

[Rmckoy]

You can start by removing the lid and adding a small fan ( over the sump will also help but the lid will trap a lot of heat .

the best advice . Get your own place .

 

[n2585722]

Ok, I think I'm going to return the ice machine and go with fans instead. I went with 6 hygger fans because they come in groups of 3 that are just daisy chained. I'm hoping that helps with fan placement because I don't have a good way to mount fans.. I'm going to assume when we start hitting triple digit heat here we will use the a/c but in the meantime will 6 fans be able to keep Temps around 80f or lower?

The cooling fans use evaporative cooling to cool the tank. The more humidity you have the less the efficiency will be using the cooling fans. Also will will raise the evaporation from the tank considerably. So hopefully it will work enough in your current environment to keep the temp where you want it.