Lets talk tank cooling...

[Devaji]

I was balking at paying $500 for a chiller, then I saw Amazon had a used one with cosmetic damage for about half off retail. Got a great Arctica 1/5 hp chiller for $248. Works perfectly, and the cosmetic damage is in the back so totally out of view

oh lucky you! I'll see what I can find.

Maybe get one of those portable room AC units that don't mount in a window, the entire unit sits on the floor and has duct work connected to the window.

I was just looking in to those, or taking the window out that goes into the barn not much light or use would have to ask the land load tho...
I feel a chiller might be the safer worry free option...

 

[Jboulerice]

Maybe get one of those portable room AC units that don't mount in a window, the entire unit sits on the floor and has duct work connected to the window.

That’s what I did with a second unit as backup... my tank stays consistent even on the hotest days here... the unit we bought has WiFi connectivity so if there’s a failure I would be able to respond accordingly with the help of my apex

 

[Devaji]

@Jboulerice what temp does it keep your tank at?

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

well as summer gets closer and I am thinking about a tank restart and moving my reef over to a 40br and turn my 90 cube in to a seahorse tank I am thinking about keeping them cool tank should run around 72F

here in Wyoming the summer are pretty short and for my reef I never worry about my tank heat but for the the SH I do need to keep the tank temp down. so now I am thinking the most coast effective way to do this I only have to think about 3 months max so dropping $500 on a chiller seams like I wast of money. I would rather put that in to corals and such

the room will get up to 85 or so so wondering if a few fans would do the trick?
I thought about a window AC unit but I have windows the open out not up :/

so what do you just with no central AC do in the summer months?

If this is a home you own, remove window that pushes out, this type of window removes, in
case glass cracks, for what ever reason , (kids playing outside and break window) install a $120 window ac. Or use a standalone ac($350-$500), with hose to outside, one inexpensive way. I'm HVACR contractor. Very familiar with most window design.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

If you buy standalone ac, might as well by a chiller. Window ac 10,000btu, should be plenty .

 

[maroma]

Interesting!!!! 3 months out of Year. Chiller good investment. SH you tend to have them for more than 3 months so I think a chiller would be better.

 

[Devaji]

Interesting!!!! 3 months out of Year. Chiller good investment. SH you tend to have them for more than 3 months so I think a chiller would be better.

oh yes I hope to have them for many years to come. just trying to figure out if there is a more affordable way.

If you buy standalone ac, might as well by a chiller. Window ac 10,000btu, should be plenty .

it will be either window AC unit or chiller. the + side of the AC is us humans get to enjoy it too! I was thinking this AC unithttps://www.amazon.com/Frigidaire-FFRA0511R1-Window-Mounted-Mini-Compact-Conditioner/dp/B00W2KG92Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1528001336&sr=8-2&keywords=window+AC&dpID=51s715bDXLL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

the room is around 150SQ feet about 12x12 of course its the only room that gets hot :/

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

oh yes I hope to have them for many years to come. just trying to figure out if there is a more affordable way.



it will be either window AC unit or chiller. the + side of the AC is us humans get to enjoy it too! I was thinking this AC unithttps://www.amazon.com/Frigidaire-FFRA0511R1-Window-Mounted-Mini-Compact-Conditioner/dp/B00W2KG92Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1528001336&sr=8-2&keywords=window+AC&dpID=51s715bDXLL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

the room is around 150SQ feet about 12x12 of course its the only room that gets hot :/

That will be perfect. I've used those for personal use. Just make sure door to room stays shut most of the time. It'll get really cold. In off seasons. Turn on 20 minutes . Once a month .

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

So since it’s so short of time and you want it to be cost effective, does your fridge have an ice maker? Why can’t you just drop some ice cubes in there. sorry I had to but I do have an idea that could work.

Running a line from the fridge wouldn’t be a horrible idea, except, do you have it hooked to an rodi? I would make sure that any water from city pipes do not contain copper in them. Another idea is maybe to consider dry ice. Now you will need to handle this with caution, but in one of the labs I worked in, used a small fryer grate to place the dry ice in. With some math and your water capacity, we can figure out exactly how much dry ice you would need to cool the tank. Definitely need small amounts because too much would freeze your tank. Now I’m the labs when we placed it in the water, it did have levels of outgassing, (you do not want to breath the outgasses or Aka vaper directly, it can cause hypercapnia, but to solve the outgassing we used ventaltion hoods for the larger labs. But, the small ones we just used a large sized normal floor fan and placed it by the window. I would have to sit down and figure the math out, but it’s possible. There is a special container we placed the ice in as well. It did keep our tanks from 68-72. Depending what our experiment was we reduced or added more ice. I haven’t bought dry ice in awhile (that’s a good thing), but it should be fairly cheap.

 

[Devaji]

in the past on hot days with others tank I had a one gallon jug frozen I added that did cooled the tank off. but with a seahorse tank I need stable temp anything over 74 the bacteria multiplies faster and every degree its get worse. SH are very prone to bacteria infections much more than fish as fish as scales and SH do not.

so you can see my dilemma here...I do want stable temp below 74, 72 id perfect but will only need the chiller or other cooling device for maybe 4 months tops more like 3.

 

[ca1ore]

The mini fridge approach doesn't really work - at least not with most of the available units. They simply don't have enough BTU capacity. They're not designed to keep a constantly 'refreshed' volume of water cooled. Small chillers are regularly available used - that's a much better way to go.

 

[cracker]

I'm having heat issues this summer also but not last year . I have to keep the house cool to 76/77 to keep thank below 80. That's with doors open & fan blowing during the day. I can turn off the central over night.I open the house up in the morn for some fresh air then button up later .
I really need a more accurate thermometer though. Don't trust the Walmart floaters.

I'm not complaining it's nice & cool with outside temps in the low 90's this week. Interesting to see my elect bill for this month.

 

[Devaji]

@ca1ore that is the way I am leaning. but the time I move the tank do the floors get the rest of the goodies hell the summer just might be over...
hoping to find a JBJ 1/10 chiller if anyone out there has one and dones not need it send me a PM

the window AC unit is an idea too. but I think a chiller would be the best bet . safest for sure.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hello,

So since it’s so short of time and you want it to be cost effective, does your fridge have an ice maker? Why can’t you just drop some ice cubes in there. sorry I had to but I do have an idea that could work.

Running a line from the fridge wouldn’t be a horrible idea, except, do you have it hooked to an rodi? I would make sure that any water from city pipes do not contain copper in them. Another idea is maybe to consider dry ice. Now you will need to handle this with caution, but in one of the labs I worked in, used a small fryer grate to place the dry ice in. With some math and your water capacity, we can figure out exactly how much dry ice you would need to cool the tank. Definitely need small amounts because too much would freeze your tank. Now I’m the labs when we placed it in the water, it did have levels of outgassing, (you do not want to breath the outgasses or Aka vaper directly, it can cause hypercapnia, but to solve the outgassing we used ventaltion hoods for the larger labs. But, the small ones we just used a large sized normal floor fan and placed it by the window. I would have to sit down and figure the math out, but it’s possible. There is a special container we placed the ice in as well. It did keep our tanks from 68-72. Depending what our experiment was we reduced or added more ice. I haven’t bought dry ice in awhile (that’s a good thing), but it should be fairly cheap.

IME, dry ice is a very bad idea.

It, obviously, releases a LOT of CO2 and that drops the pH like a rock. As an experiment, I put some in my sump once for fun, and then began to sweat as the sump pH dropped into the 5's.

Even if you somehow get the heat uptake from it, but keep the CO2 out of the water, you will boost the CO2 level in the room and drop the tank pH. An 8 x 10 x 15 foot room contains about 20-30 g of CO2, so if you use a piece of dry ice only 30 grams, you will double the CO2 in the room in a few minutes as it sublimes.

 

[jinmilw]

i generally keep my house between 75-80 in the summer so i just unplug my heater in the sump but if it starts to get too high i keep r/o water in ice cube trays in the freezer on stock to put in my sump

 

[Jboulerice]

@Jboulerice what temp does it keep your tank at?

I have this model: Frigidaire 12,000 Btu Cool Connect Smart Portable Air Conditioner

It keeps my living room and majority of the apartment at a cool 75 and the tank 78 but thats what my heaters are set at; the tank doesn't fluctuate a single degree with my apex and two heaters; at night its cool as low as 45 so its nice to know the ac and tank heat regulate spot on.

 

[Devaji]

I dont know guys i think I am just gonna have to pony up on the chiller a window ac is just one more think to worry about. altho I guess I could hook it up to my apex? maybe might be a bad idea? if tank temp greater than 73 turn on if under 70 turn off. just not sure the AC unit or apex would like that?

 

[Jboulerice]

I dont know guys i think I am just gonna have to pony up on the chiller a window ac is just one more think to worry about. altho I guess I could hook it up to my apex? maybe might be a bad idea? if tank temp greater than 73 turn on if under 70 turn off. just not sure the AC unit or apex would like that?

I run my ac at 74 constantly and the unit I have is wifi enabled; I’m sure you can plug in a normal unit but if the ac is off the ambient tempurature will take longer too cool than the water to heat;

I would assume this would make your temp fluctuations much greater than depending on the ac to regulate the ambient temp and also could cause issues with the ac compressor if the apex just cuts it off hot without allowing the ac to properly cycle.

I use my apex more for temp in regards to heating the tank and notifying me of any internal tank temp issues; if there’s ever an issue I’ll be able to check the status of the AC via WiFi; and in an emergency roll in the backup unit I have in our bedroom as disaster mitigation plan.

 

[lion king]

You can easily get 7-8 degree drop if not 10 degrees just by using fans, connect a fan or fans to a temp controller. You can mount the fans above the tank or use clip on types; or even across the sump if you have your stand vented, even adding fans into the stand itself. This inkbird has custom set controls to set your own variances and has alarms. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015E2UFGM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You get a room, window ac and set the thermostat to 80 and your tank temp controller to 72 and you kill 2 birds with one stone, you make the room more comfortable for humans as well. Just make sure you have an ato for evap from the fans, and your ac will serve as a dehumidifier. I really don't know how to emphasize how uncomfortable a chiller is if it is not mounted is a separate area if not outside, and much more expensive to run than cooling down the room.

 

[Devaji]

You can easily get 7-8 degree drop if not 10 degrees just by using fans, connect a fan or fans to a temp controller. You can mount the fans above the tank or use clip on types; or even across the sump if you have your stand vented, even adding fans into the stand itself. This inkbird has custom set controls to set your own variances and has alarms. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015E2UFGM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You get a room, window ac and set the thermostat to 80 and your tank temp controller to 72 and you kill 2 birds with one stone, you make the room more comfortable for humans as well. Just make sure you have an ato for evap from the fans, and your ac will serve as a dehumidifier. I really don't know how to emphasize how uncomfortable a chiller is if it is not mounted is a separate area if not outside, and much more expensive to run than cooling down the room.

I do like this idea. I do go through about 2 gal a day of ATO if I add the fans it could easily be 3. thats fine I guess more buckets of RODI up the stairs. so your saying that a chiller makes the room hot from running? i knew they did put off some heat but was not sure how much.

there is another place I could put the tank but I like the idea of it being in the living room vs a hallway up to the living room. yeah my place is wired it's a barn conversion that I did not do...