cuteios Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 Hi guys, I'm coming up again a major temp issue here. My tank is on day five of its cycling and I've noticed the highest temp so far this morning...it reached a whooping 92F. I live in the philippines and the current temp around here is about 88F which is pretty much normal. I usually just place my room fan posiitoned in front of the tank...but with the room temp pretty high it can't help much. Does anyone have a suggestion on any cheap cooling solutions I could try? I mean real shoestring stuff I can't afford much as things go. Would the CPU heatsink solution work for me in this situation? So far I haven't noticed any effect on the damsel but I did notice some white patches which look like bleeching on two of my rocks. Any help on this matter would be appreciated. Thanks in advance! Link to comment
tinyreef Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 i can't say the cpu sink will help alot. altho it'll help a little, 3F~4F is what i'm seeing but when it gets really hot 90F+ i'm using my deskfan too. in the past the deskfan could only keep my tanks (1G hex, E6, then 5.5G, and now 15H) in the low 80's during the summer. someone had posed the question of using multiple heatsinks on another thread, not sure on that. i would assume it should help more since the couple of degrees i'm currently getting is only from (1)-2"x 2" area heatsink. i've also been thinking about adhesive foam strips, a water well, letting capilliary action soak the strips and the resulting evaporative action add cooling. now that's a bit complicated and convoluted but the theory should work too. hmmm, a 2nd deskfan would be easier, wouldn't it? Link to comment
cuteios Posted June 22, 2003 Author Share Posted June 22, 2003 Thanks Tiny. I'll just see to getting another deskfan and also try out the heatsink...I think I saw a similar sink to the one you are using for about $4 at the computer store the other day. 3-4F of temp is a lot already considering it was hovering at 92F before I trned on the fan. Now if chillers didn't cost an arm and a leg I wouldn't be having so many problems. Link to comment
surfy Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 If it starts to get too bad, have a 6 pack of water bottles ready in the freezer and put one of the frozen bottles in the tank and after the water in the bottle melts take it out put another in and refreez the one you took out and so on and so forth. Just make sure to watch the temp so you don't cool the tank down too much. (take the paper lables off the bottles first) Link to comment
surfy Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 I forgot to mention, Leave the caps on the bottles and only use plastic bottles. Link to comment
cuteios Posted June 22, 2003 Author Share Posted June 22, 2003 Surly: good idea. I was already thinking of filling a couple of bottles with water from the tank, cooling it in the freezer than pouring it back into the tank when needed. I think you're suggestion might be safer though. Link to comment
tinyreef Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 cute, y'know, i did it again. (just like in the other thread) i forgot to mention you have to have the cpu fan on top of the heatsink. i'm sorry, i just assume they always go together these days. make sure you get as big a cpu fan as can fit on the heat sink and wire that up to an ac adapter. Link to comment
cuteios Posted June 22, 2003 Author Share Posted June 22, 2003 tiny, Don't worry about it...you really needen't be so specific. I know my heatsink CPU combos. To be honest I know my Computer equiptment more than my aquarium equiptment. Link to comment
Vincerama Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 I saw on another site that someone used an actual small refrigerator to cool his tank. When I was at Walmart (and also at Target) I saw some small 12V DC portable coolers, they came with AC/DC adaptors. I think the smallest one cost about $40 and the smallest one said it would cool 9 cans of soda (or whatever) to 40 degrees farenheit. Maybe you can find something similar in the Philipines and adapt it. Then you can circulate your tank water through it (you'd need to drill some holes in it...hopefully NOT through a coolant carrying part! (drill the lid, not the sides!). YOu could probably moderate the amount of cooling by changing the amount of tubing you run inside the cooler. I would put a container of water in the cooler, then run the tank water through a tube that entered the container (like a radiator/heat sink). Maybe what you could do is pump some tank water through a long length of tubing, and simply coil the tubing up in a bucket full of water (that is not being lit up and heated by your lights) YOu could run a fan over that other bucket to cool that. (or use a sump) Good luck! Vince Link to comment
katydidit Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 I know you said cheap options, but i saw this, and this is one of the cheapest chillers i have been able to find (that are made for aquariums). Just a thought, but here is the link in case you do decide to spend a few extra bucks: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...d=6&pCatId=4902 Link to comment
cuteios Posted June 23, 2003 Author Share Posted June 23, 2003 kat: Thansk for posting it...I've already looked at the Iceprobe...and well if I was still living in california maybe I could afford it. But I'm studying in the philippines and I only have $25 weekly allowance. Sounds really low right...well it's realy cheap down here and well I got my tank setup for less than one week's allowance...now all I need is to find alternative solutions valid to my situation. Link to comment
southpaw23 Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Hey cuteios.....i live in Malaysia and the tank temp is a pretty big problem for me as well....i did a lotta research on finding cooling options and frankly, the heatsink option won't work for you seeing that the ambient room temp is already so high. The heatsink will not pull the temp below the ambient room temp...it's just not possible....i've tried Funny enough, i ended up getting a four inch cooling fan...not the cpu fan types....the ones that dont require an adapter to run on 12v but on the actual 240v or 120v from the electrical outlet itself (hope you follow my drift there)...and had it positioned directly at the water surface and it seems to have worked wonders for me. i tried the room fan option but it didn't do much for the temp but the cooling fan worked great in reducing my temp down by about 5-6F. I'll try and take some pictures later today or tomorrow to give you a better idea of what i'm talking about but bottom line is try and look for a 4 inch cooling fan from an electrical shop and try that first before you go DIY a cooler etc... And if you need to cool it down some more...get 2 and have them blowing at opposite ends of the tank...it'll work great... The only big issue you'll be facing with this is the really high evap rate, which can easily be countered by an auto top up system (which i'm in the midst of putting together) And the possible problems that might be faced with putting one of these together is the float switches.....i can't seem to find anyone who knows what they are, let alone sell em but i think i may have found a place that sells em over in singapore so keepin my fingers crossed. Worse case scenario is to top up the water manually...still sure as heck cheaper than getting a cooler. Hope this helps...later...... Link to comment
katydidit Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 it was a long shot considering that you wanted something inexpensive, but i just wanted to throw something out there...southpaw seems to have a pretty good idea though, i might have to try that myself. Link to comment
cuteios Posted June 23, 2003 Author Share Posted June 23, 2003 southpaw: Cool...I'll check it out. The fans should fit into my budget somewhat. You know I was considering getting a tank just like yours...it's reasonable priced around here. But I think I'll have to pay closer attention to cooling problem first. Link to comment
southpaw23 Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Hey there guys.....by the way cuteous....the tank i've got is almost an exact replica of a Via Aqua....it's just made by a different manufacturer around these parts i guess. I like it....but if you are planning on getting on....you're gonna have to do away with the overhead trickle filter.....i got rid of mine and added a HOB...that gave me some room to add the cooler fan... well, enough talkin...here's the pics i promised. First one's a look at the cooler fan up close and sorta gives you an idea of where i've positioned it.... Link to comment
southpaw23 Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Here's a top view of the tank, you can see where the cooler fan and HOB sits...the bottom part of the pic is the hood for the lights. If you notice on the left side of the hood, there's a 3 inch CPU fan i use to keep the lights cool.... Link to comment
southpaw23 Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Last pic....a closer look at how the CPU fan is attached to the side of the hood....had to drill a hole in the hood but didn't have the right tools for it so it doesnt look pretty....but it sure as heck does the job...the hood never heats up....even with the lights on for 11 hours a day.....i have the CPU fan pulling air out of the hood and not pushing air in....seems to work great Link to comment
Vincerama Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 YOu can find float switches online at www.grainger.com do a search on "float switch". Here's one... http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/productde...emId=1611760105 costs about 13 bucks US. Hope it meets your specs. Good luck! Vince Link to comment
cuteios Posted June 23, 2003 Author Share Posted June 23, 2003 Thanks for the help guys! I'll go try out the fan and then just worry about what else to do if it fails to lower the temp to the desired level. Link to comment
southpaw23 Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Thanx for the info Vince....only problem is that those sites cater to the US and i don't think they take international orders Am checking with a cousin on it's availability in Singapore so keepin my fingers crossed...thanx again tho..... Link to comment
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