Ideas on cooling a outdoor aquarium without a chiller

Wolfw28 · Oct 14, 2022

I live in Florida where the temp gets quiet warm. I would like Add a couple more tanks to the one I all ready have but I’m out of room in my house. So I wanted to setup a couple on my patio. I’m looking for a more affordable way to keep the tank cooler without have to buy a chiller and then the additional electric coast. They would be in the shade but still hot. Thought about running the pipes under ground but the ground temp is generally over 78 degrees. The only thing I could think of was to spray ( atomize ) the water on the top of the tank to create a massive amount of evaporation. Open to any suggestions. Thank you. Never mind the BB gun.

Dan_P · Oct 14, 2022

Wolfw28 said:
I live in Florida where the temp gets quiet warm. I would like Add a couple more tanks to the one I all ready have but I’m out of room in my house. So I wanted to setup a couple on my patio. I’m looking for a more affordable way to keep the tank cooler without have to buy a chiller and then the additional electric coast. They would be in the shade but still hot. Thought about running the pipes under ground but the ground temp is generally over 78 degrees. The only thing I could think of was to spray ( atomize ) the water on the top of the tank to create a massive amount of evaporation. Open to any suggestions. Thank you. Never mind the BB gun.

Odd place for a rifle, no?

HB AL · Oct 14, 2022

With the parameters you set and location I don't think anything other than a chiller is gonna work. On the warmer/hot days which obviously would be often a chiller is really the only effective option with the tank outside. Good luck, following in case someone comes up with another viable option.

AlexG · Oct 14, 2022

How deep can you dig down? I would check the ground temp deeper down to see if the temp drops. Might have to go down a few feet if its not solid rock.

o2manyfish · Oct 14, 2022

I have outdoor tanks in Los Angeles. Temp this summer got as high as 117. I use fans for evaporative cooling. 2 small fans over each 180g frag tank keeps the temp stable on the system.

The fans work up to about 105 in direct sunlight. If I drop an awning over the tanks when it gets over 105 and the tanks are in the shade - but still at 110+ the temp maxs out around 80.5 or 81.

My system is 1500g 750g inside and 750g outside. On those crazy triple digit days I might evaporate out as much as 75g in a 24 hr period.

Evaporative cooling is very efficient - as long as you don't have crazy humidity. When the humidity goes up the temperature can't be wicked away from the water surface as easily.

I used geo-thermal cooling for a number of years. I buried a 400g tank in the back yard and gravity fed through it when I needed cooling. The tank was 6' down in the dirt and came about a foot above ground. That water stayed cool year round and worked great to keep the system cool. But I found that the fans were very efficient and I had 400g of less water to deal with when it came to dosing and maintaining levels.

Dave B

HB AL · Oct 14, 2022

o2manyfish said:
I have outdoor tanks in Los Angeles. Temp this summer got as high as 117. I use fans for evaporative cooling. 2 small fans over each 180g frag tank keeps the temp stable on the system.

The fans work up to about 105 in direct sunlight. If I drop an awning over the tanks when it gets over 105 and the tanks are in the shade - but still at 110+ the temp maxs out around 80.5 or 81.

My system is 1500g 750g inside and 750g outside. On those crazy triple digit days I might evaporate out as much as 75g in a 24 hr period.

Evaporative cooling is very efficient - as long as you don't have crazy humidity. When the humidity goes up the temperature can't be wicked away from the water surface as easily.

I used geo-thermal cooling for a number of years. I buried a 400g tank in the back yard and gravity fed through it when I needed cooling. The tank was 6' down in the dirt and came about a foot above ground. That water stayed cool year round and worked great to keep the system cool. But I found that the fans were very efficient and I had 400g of less water to deal with when it came to dosing and maintaining levels.

Dave B

Now that's a viable option sounds like. But dang evaporating 75 gallons in 24 hours is crazy, that's alot of water but you gave the op an option to try. And here I thought the 2 gallons a day my system evaporates from the fans was alot. Even though I have central AC the fans alone are good enough to give me a 2 degree temp drop when I dont need the ac on. Like you mentioned with higher humidities the cool down won't be as pronounced with the high humidity in Florida.

Wolfw28 · Oct 14, 2022

o2manyfish said:
I have outdoor tanks in Los Angeles. Temp this summer got as high as 117. I use fans for evaporative cooling. 2 small fans over each 180g frag tank keeps the temp stable on the system.

The fans work up to about 105 in direct sunlight. If I drop an awning over the tanks when it gets over 105 and the tanks are in the shade - but still at 110+ the temp maxs out around 80.5 or 81.

My system is 1500g 750g inside and 750g outside. On those crazy triple digit days I might evaporate out as much as 75g in a 24 hr period.

Evaporative cooling is very efficient - as long as you don't have crazy humidity. When the humidity goes up the temperature can't be wicked away from the water surface as easily.

I used geo-thermal cooling for a number of years. I buried a 400g tank in the back yard and gravity fed through it when I needed cooling. The tank was 6' down in the dirt and came about a foot above ground. That water stayed cool year round and worked great to keep the system cool. But I found that the fans were very efficient and I had 400g of less water to deal with when it came to dosing and maintaining levels.

Dave B

75 to 90 % humidity here that you for taking the time to respond.

TangerineSpeedo · Oct 14, 2022

I wouldn't think Evap fans would work well in Florida. The humidity is just too high. And as far as running a cooling underground, six inches underground is solid limestone/coral. Misting also relies on evaporation for a cooling affect.

AlexG · Oct 14, 2022

o2manyfish said:
I have outdoor tanks in Los Angeles. Temp this summer got as high as 117. I use fans for evaporative cooling. 2 small fans over each 180g frag tank keeps the temp stable on the system.

The fans work up to about 105 in direct sunlight. If I drop an awning over the tanks when it gets over 105 and the tanks are in the shade - but still at 110+ the temp maxs out around 80.5 or 81.

My system is 1500g 750g inside and 750g outside. On those crazy triple digit days I might evaporate out as much as 75g in a 24 hr period.

Evaporative cooling is very efficient - as long as you don't have crazy humidity. When the humidity goes up the temperature can't be wicked away from the water surface as easily.

I used geo-thermal cooling for a number of years. I buried a 400g tank in the back yard and gravity fed through it when I needed cooling. The tank was 6' down in the dirt and came about a foot above ground. That water stayed cool year round and worked great to keep the system cool. But I found that the fans were very efficient and I had 400g of less water to deal with when it came to dosing and maintaining levels.

Dave B

Another idea similar to this would be to use an underground tank with a separate water supply from the aquarium and then use a pex coil as a heat exchanger with a temp controller and a pump. When the aquarium gets too hot it could turn on the pump to run cooler water through the pex coil to transfer the heat out of the aquarium system. Same method I use to heat my aquarium with a pex coil and my hot water heater using a temp controller with a pump. This would eliminate the need to fill a tank like this with system water if you don't want more water volume in the system.

Lowell Lemon · Oct 14, 2022

You could use the pex coil in an old refrigerator to keep the water cool. One time Kentucky hillbilly here just giving a cheap idea.

Wolfw28 · Oct 14, 2022

TangerineSpeedo said:
I wouldn't think Evap fans would work well in Florida. The humidity is just too high. And as far as running a cooling underground, six inches underground is solid limestone/coral. Misting also relies on evaporation for a cooling affect.

In south Florida yes you dig a few feet and hit limestone. Where I live in Manatee county just south of Tampa you have to dig a lot deeper than six feet. My pond is is 20ft deep and still no limestone.

Wolfw28 · Oct 14, 2022

That’s one thing I forgot I do have a pond in my backyard not spring so the volume goes up and down but may be able to use it as a heat transfer.

BaliReefBox · Oct 15, 2022

A heap of locals here use computer fans to keep their tanks at a stable temp as the cost of a chiller is prohibitve for them. I also ran 2 fans on a fresh water tank and it dropped the temp by 4 degrees. I am also pretty sure our humidity is higher than floridas..The fan are only a few dollrs each get some and try em out

Wolfw28 · Oct 15, 2022

BaliReefBox said:
A heap of locals here use computer fans to keep their tanks at a stable temp as the cost of a chiller is prohibitve for them. I also ran 2 fans on a fresh water tank and it dropped the temp by 4 degrees. I am also pretty sure our humidity is higher than floridas..The fan are only a few dollrs each get some and try em out

Where those tank outside or inside in an AC environment. Thank you don’t know what the humidity is in Bali but here it’s currently 91% at night and not a rain in the sky. We run between 75% to 100% here.

workhz · Oct 15, 2022

Very large sump inside the (cooled) house, connected to outside tank with very high turnover? Plus fans outside and inside.

no clue if that would work but if we’re thinking out loud ....

HB AL · Oct 15, 2022

Question, why is a chiller not an option, since it would work for sure?

Wolfw28 · Oct 15, 2022

HB AL said:
Question, why is a chiller not an option, since it would work for sure?

Yes it would but not everyone can afford one or the additional electric bill. You buying? I’m on a fixed income.

BaliReefBox · Oct 15, 2022

Wolfw28 said:
Where those tank outside or inside in an AC environment. Thank you don’t know what the humidity is in Bali but here it’s currently 91% at night and not a rain in the sky. We run between 75% to 100% here.

i would say very similar to here, dry season around 75% wet season 100%, hot and sticky. All of the local guys tanks I have seen are indoors with no AC, That being said alot of them dont have window glass either. The only problem with the fans is a high evap rate so the ato needs to be on its game..