Do you use a fan on your tank?

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I always used a fan on my sump that would turn off and on based on tank temp. IMO you never need a chiller for a regular reef tank nowadays since most tanks are running LED lights.

 

[TheHarold]

Any pictures of it before you put it in place? I wouldn't mind seeing more angles.

Here you go. The split view here should let you see how the halves come together and provide a duct for the air to blow across the tank. I can see air causing ripples across all 4 feet of the tank when the pumps are off! There is also a picture showing one with and without a fan installed.

 

[codenfx]

They have an aquarium version

Yeah just picked up one for Prime day deal

 

[Dom]

Here you go. The split view here should let you see how the halves come together and provide a duct for the air to blow across the tank. I can see air causing ripples across all 4 feet of the tank when the pumps are off! There is also a picture showing one with and without a fan installed.

I think this is a sweet idea.

 

[vinvinaa]

I have a fan blowing directly onto the water in the sump, but it doesn't work in my opinion. It reaches 32 degrees in recent days. Should I put a fan on top of DT instead?

 

[TheHarold]

I have a fan blowing directly onto the water in the sump, but it doesn't work in my opinion. It reaches 32 degrees in recent days. Should I put a fan on top of DT instead?

Blowing across the surface is much more effective than hitting it perpendicularly and causing turbulence. You’ll see better results that way, especially since the display is a larger surface area and doesn’t have baffles that interrupt air flow.

 

[jelazar]

Yup, my fan almost broke my tank too lol.

If i could post a video here, i’d show my 10” fan falling 3 feet from the ceiling onto my radion mounted on a kessil a arm on my reefer 170g2. After a year of it hanging up, it completely broke off it’s mount and fell directly onto the light.

Happened this past friday morning.
Didn’t break the tank or light somehow someway.

This is danger to the livestock too. A contractor was working in our house and knocked a Walmart cooling fan into my 40 gal basement frag tank, but he didn't notice. The live current made the copper components dissolve quickly and wiped out everything.

 

[Zeeth]

I followed all of Harold's advice on making this fan, but I modified the housing slightly in Blendr to fit my Eurobrace and it works like a charm. Check out my temp before and after fan install (I have fan set to turn on based on the seasonal table):

 

[TheHarold]

I followed all of Harold's advice on making this fan, but I modified the housing slightly in Blendr to fit my Eurobrace and it works like a charm. Check out my temp before and after fan install (I have fan set to turn on based on the seasonal table):

Looks great! So effective.

I also made an ‘extended snout version to get over the 3” acrylic trim of a mesh lid.

 

[bcarl77]

@TheHarold How can we get one of the housings and which fans work? This is a great idea!

 

[BeanAnimal]

Looks great! So effective.

I also made an ‘extended snout version to get over the 3” acrylic trim of a mesh lid.

You want the airflow moving over the water surface, not pointing at it. Evaporation is driven by gas exchange at the surface. The goal with the fan is driving evaporative cooling, not convective.

 

[TheHarold]

@TheHarold How can we get one of the housings and which fans work? This is a great idea!

I make them, and they are best compatible with 140mm Noctua fans. They make a really nice industrial IP67 (waterproof) fan in both 12v & 24v.