Telperion

I have a related issue to lighting with an enclosure in that I feel that I need a chiller for my tank. It gets really hot where I am at and the air does not circulate as well with an enclosure on top as an open tank. What I cannot find is information on how to install a non-drop-in chiller -- all i keep reading is that with the regular ones "plumbing is necessary" -- well what type of plumbing? How difficult is it? The difference in price is huge between some drop-ins and regular chillers. Does anyone have a chiller? With a drop -in, how long is the "arm" -- I read that I need to keep the chiller away from the stand with at least 1 foot of space surrounding it - but the arm looks pretty short (with drop in). It's a pretty big expenditure so I want to make sure it will work.

turbomkt

The plumbed chillers will either use a powerhead or existing external filter as the pump source. It's then hooked up with the typical filter tubing. Consider it like an external filter without its own pump.

247Plants

I have an interesting situation like yours however I dont have a hood....

I do already have a small refrigerator that Im thinking of drilling two holes in and running a coil of tube in it powered by a powerhead to try to drop it by a few degrees....Im gonna wait till my tank hits the mid 80's before I do that tho...

Telperion

I think I'm breaking down and buying one. I just can't keep running the a/c for my tank! lol no one is home but some very cool fish and plants!

barnettdave

I tried the coil of tube run through a refrigerator idea recently as my 75g would top 80f when its warm. I used thin 1/4" bore aluminium tube 50 feet and got a really poor flow rate, not so good but you'd expect a decent drop in temp with that but my little beer fridge just didnt have the required coldness. I gave up with that and just closed the room my aquarium is in and leave the window shaker on at 75f and turn off my heater cable.
I think to effctively use the fridge idea it would need to have an internal fan otherwise the heat transfer from water to air through metal tube is poor (air is very bad heat conductor). I did however think about using a motorbike radiator as an alternative to the tube but decided to save my money for the forthcoming electric bill.

Regards Davey Bee
Let me know if you have any success?

turbomkt

Davey,
Did you have the aluminum tubing just running through air in the fridge? If so, you should consider running it in a bucket of water. The water will give you better heat transfer.

barnettdave

Mike

I did think about that retrospectively but the way I had my coil, wound like a light bulb filament with holes drilled top and bottom in the fridge didn't allow me to try it. I think if I pursue this, see how my electric bills develop with the window shaker, I will cut the fridge casing away (v carefully of course) from the compressor and heat exchanger and place the cooling plate in a cool box completely immersed in water and then back to the aluminium tube etc. Therefore completely removing the air from the heat transfer circuit.
I was also considering how I could integrate a thermostat to this and came up with using a household central heating/cooling thermostat inside the cool box to tell the fridge when to turn on but would need a relay for the power, and I'm not sure where to source such an item.

All I set out to do was save myself $500ish on a chiller.......lol

Davey Bee

5380

With the refrigerator idea, did you try the coiled tubing in a water bath?

turbomkt

That's the idea. For me...I wanted to be able to keep sodas in the fridge, too

I think most people that go this route actually just use dueling chiller and heater.

I've seen some in the $300-400 range that would more than suit my needs. I only need to drop 3-5° F or so on the 50g to be happy. The fridge setup was actually going to be for 2 10g's which should handle things just fine, even if I need a bigger drop.

I've also considered wrapping the entire tank in styrofoam insulation (The same stuff I already use to make DIY insulated boxes). On the one hand, this will reduce the amount of heat the tank absorbs. On the other, it will reduce the amount of heat it gives loses at night.

barnettdave

Mike

So my original construct with my little fridge managed to to give me a drop of about 2f at the output but it just didnt quite cut it with my 75g, just absorbs heat too fast from the lighting I think. This did mean that the inside of the fridge is way too warm for chilling soda, unless a refreshing 78/79f is good for you? lol....

Now for something completely different, last summer my cooling system entailed routing the filter intake from the tank via my basement which is coolish and with a hearty room fan blowing upwards sucking the cool air off the concrete floor and blowing onto a coil of plastic tubing fixed to the front of the fan cage. This method was more effective giving about a 5f drop and maintained the 75g at 78f pretty consistently. I think it would be better with metal rather than plastic tubing though.

Dave