ccapasso Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 I currently have a 24x24x14 Custom AIO tank made with 3/4" Acrylica that is housing my Peacock Mantis Shrimp. I'm afraid that he may not last too much longer due to shell rot. That being said, I may very well convert it to a coldwater tank. However, I have no idea what I would need to cool it down to 55-60. The tank is housed in my office and we keep the temp around 70-72. However, when I'm not here and the office is closed, it can heat up quite a bit due to the windows. I live in Ohio so there is no logical random pattern . Any thoughts/suggestions? Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 With it being 3/4" acrylic you have a LOT of wiggle room because of the insulation. I would look for a compressor based chiller since its a larger water volume, but you should be totally fine with a 1/10 HP chiller on a system that size. Link to comment
ccapasso Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 Thanks! Looks like I was wrong though It is not 3/4" it is 3/8" Acrylic instead. How does that change/impact if any ? Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 It means you have less of a thermal barrier between the outside room temp and the temp you run your tank at. The chiller will come on a little bit more and your dew point will be slightly higher for condensation. But overall you should be just fine running it as a coldwater tank. The Micro-Reefs 6.2gallon Temperate AIO is made of 3/8 material and it does just fine, even when we had it in a huge expo at Reefapalooza it still didnt develop condensation and held its temp at 55F the whole weekend. Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Stu is right we were so impressed with our tanks during the expo.... Our 6.2 gallon is 3/8 inch all over and so is your 2 gallon you purchased through us. What is also key to keeping 55 f degrees is a cover top Just as a cooler keeps itself insulated. We use cover tops of 3/8 inch material as well. Do you have a cover top gforcyour larger tank? Link to comment
fullmonti Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 I'll be following to see what you do & how it works for you. I have a similar size tank with 1/2" acrylic that may end up being a cold water tank some day. Keep us posted please. Link to comment
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