Jigsaw Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Hey everyone, after about a week of testing this out (still testing haha) I decided to go for it and make a CW pico. The problem was, I had no chiller, and no matter what I tried (styrofoam, insulation etc), nothing seemed to chill it, even when I put ice cubes on top (only worked for about 2 hours or so). So my next idea was to use the DIY chiller fridge (sort of) except with a cooler. I purchased a small pond pump at Home Depot and some 3/8 tubing (just black) and set it all up. I filled the cooler with ice and some water (the temp being around 39 degrees to start) and coiled the tubing into the mini cooler. Instead of the top it came with, I used some Styrofoam to cover the top, making holes for the tubing to come up to the tank. In around ten minutes it dropped from 70.3 F to a startling 63.2 F! I was messing around with the cooler a lot so I checked the temp in the cooler... 55 degrees or so. So I cooled it down to around 39 and set it up again, putting the tank on my dresser and the cooler on the ground. So let's see what happens... haha here's the pics of my extremely shady setup. Its next to my 1 gal pico reef woo Anyway, the specs are as follows: 2.5 AGA Aquaclear 20 HOB Filter (carbon and LR rubble maybe?) TotalPond Fountain Pump (70 gph) 3/8 Vinyl Tubing CoralLife 50/50 10W bulb w/ aga 12'' fixture "Lil Oscar" mini-cooler ...I'll add more pics in a bit because my internet is being stupid haha, lemme know what you think! -Pat Link to comment
Mynameskenny19 Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Pretty sweet Pat! How big is the cooler? Maybe you can put it inside your dresser with the lines going up behind and into your tank for a cleaner look. I'll be following you along on this thread man, good job! Also, im gonna be doing a 2.5 coldwater too, but with a different chilling idea so maybe we can share some info, huh? Talk at ya later Pat. Link to comment
jeremai Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Interesting idea. How do you plan on regulating the temperature to keep it fairly steady? Link to comment
supraeli Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 so... the plan is to keep adding ice into the cooler every few hours or so? i think its a little impractical. interesting idea, just impractical. now, figure out a way to attach an ice maker into the side of the cooler, and you got yourself a plan. best of luck Link to comment
Jigsaw Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 Interesting idea. How do you plan on regulating the temperature to keep it fairly steady? Well, I'm still working that out haha. it seems to have settled on 61.5 at the moment, but I'm sure that will change in the morning haha. I've insulated 3 sides of it with that aluminum insulation adhesive/tape in hopes it will work and there is styrofoam below the tank itself. Hopefully it keeps the cool water in along with the cooler. My other idea was to get another pump and use the cooler as an actual sump instead of just a chiller, but we'll see. so... the plan is to keep adding ice into the cooler every few hours or so? i think its a little impractical. interesting idea, just impractical. now, figure out a way to attach an ice maker into the side of the cooler, and you got yourself a plan. best of luck Well, I'm hoping that it will be more than every few hours or so, like I said today the cooler lasted pretty much the entire day at a fairly constant temp (much to my surprise). If I get a larger cooler it could end up being a lot more stable as well. The one I am using now is quite small and the coil barely fits in. Haha I wish I could use an ice maker that would make it so much easier! I'll post more pics probably tonight, like I said my internet was being goofy! Link to comment
r20crazy Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 this seems like a drunken 'bright idea' combined with a bit of redneck engineering. Link to comment
Jigsaw Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 haha I know, it does seem like it, but hey if it works that's all I care about! Link to comment
r20crazy Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 if you got some extra $$ you could always buy an iceprobe and controller. Link to comment
Jigsaw Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 Yeah, I was actually considering it, but I'm not sure how well they really work. I've gotten mixed reviews haha Link to comment
r20crazy Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 on a 2.5g.... i think it would work GREAT for a CW setup, but I have never used one, considered it Link to comment
Jigsaw Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 Yeah, I'm leaning more towards it now haha, I'll research it tomorrow or something. Though the cooler is still going strong....well its at 64 now booo Link to comment
kingwintergreen Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Yeah, I'm leaning more towards it now haha, I'll research it tomorrow or something. Though the cooler is still going strong....well its at 64 now booo Iceprobe has some pretty tight specs available, they even give separate ones for insulated and uninsulated tanks. They are listed on the box of the actual unit, so they're probably also on their website. If I remember right, it would take two units to keep a 10-gal coldwater nano cool, so a single one on your pico would probably be sufficient. Link to comment
Jigsaw Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 yeah, it says that you have to drill a hole in your tank, sump etc to put the bulkhead fitting in! Couldn't I just put the entire thing in the hob AC 20 or something? Seems crazy! Link to comment
dshnarw Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 yeah, it says that you have to drill a hole in your tank, sump etc to put the bulkhead fitting in! Couldn't I just put the entire thing in the hob AC 20 or something? Seems crazy! just cut out the hole for the iceprobe in the lid for the AC20 Link to comment
Jigsaw Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 oh that's true haha never thought of that, I never use the tops on the AC filters so that's not a bad idea! I was looking around and I thought of buying this and using it instead of a regular cooler because it would keep the ice/water cooler a heck of a lot longer than a normal insulated cooler. I might head to wal mart tonight and see if I can grab one. Link to comment
hooligan_78 Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 oh that's true haha never thought of that, I never use the tops on the AC filters so that's not a bad idea! I was looking around and I thought of buying this and using it instead of a regular cooler because it would keep the ice/water cooler a heck of a lot longer than a normal insulated cooler. I might head to wal mart tonight and see if I can grab one. That's funny you mentioned that, I was just about to say the same thing! Glad I read the whole post! Are you planning on cutting a hole in the lid and sealing it? Link to comment
Jigsaw Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 If you mean the thermoelectric cooler, yeah I think I'll drill one or two holes in it and silicon it up after I put the vinyl tubing in it. It says it never gets above 40 degrees (PERFECT) and when my regular cooler was 39-40 degrees the tank itself was around 60-63 degrees. The one I linked to is not available at my Wal Mart (one of six haha) but I'm sure I can find one like it. I figure if it doesn't work I can just take it back and say it didn't work at all haha. I'll go tonight and see what I can find Link to comment
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