Dixon1990 Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 So the dwarf puffer tank is in a cupboard under a comunity tank, the tank above is around 28 usually, today at 32, i couldnt do anything to lower it, all hardy fish, neons, female bettas, plecos etc. But the puffers are quite sensitve, they too got up to 30, so ive decided i need to setup a automated fan or something. Would a fan on a thermostat work? Ifso what kind of thermostat would be appropriate? the tank needs to be at 25ish. Im also buying a quality heater for the tank to keep the temp right, any recommended brands? ThankInAdvance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Don't bother with a thermostat. Just put the fan on a timer set to come on in the morning and go off at night. I assume you have a heater in it? That will keep it from getting too cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 I like to use as little power as possible :lol: and its hotter up there now than 5pm :-? :lol: :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 In my view jaeger are the best heaters as they are fully submersable and able to be properly adjusted to the correct temperature. Not cheap though--but neither are fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 I like to use as little poser as possible :lol: and its hotter up there now than 5pm :-? :lol: :evil: My very large pedestal fan only uses 50w, a small desk like you would need probably only use 15w or 1/4 the power of a single light bulb. There is no reason you can't just plug it in and leave it going 24/7, the fan will only drop the temp 2-3 degree's anyway, just enough to fix your problem. Just watch the evaporation from the tank, are your puffers in brackish water? Remember only the fresh water evaporates not the salt, so you will need to add fresh to top the water level up otherwise your salinity will increase and before you know it you'll have a full salt water setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Dwarfs are complelty freshwater, No salt in this house :lol: Yet :roll: So is it best to have the fan on the glass or surface? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Blowing on the water, pointing it at the glass won't do anything at all other than using up your poser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Blowing on the water, pointing it at the glass won't do anything at all other than using up your poser. ok, so now to modify the lid :lol: And Ira, Learn to spell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlid7 Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 i have a 40cm fan going in my fishroom and its been going since last Friday non-stop :lol: :lol: :lol: it drops the temp by about 5*c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 If i cooled the area the tank is in(the space in the cabinet) would that have any affect on the tank temp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Cichlid- Did you get any puffers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 I use fans on my tanks over summer. It cools through evaporation, so yes, aim it at the water. (I use small desk fans, unscrew the base and simply sit the fan face-down on top of the tank, with a gap between the lids wide enough to hold the fan. Get an RCT switch.... The evaporation is not a constant rate. It has a greater cooling effect when: The air is dry (can't evaporate so fast when it is really humid) it is warm (washing dries faster on a hot day) However fans also blow atmospheric pollution onto the surface of the tank, quickly building up an oily slick. Use paper towels to skim this off the surface. If you have a turbulent surface (from bubbler, filter water pouring through the surface) the scum will not form, but is being dissolved into the water gross. Waterchange this out and be REALLY CAREFUL what goes into your air. Air fresheners? Fly spray? Smoke (inc incense)? It won't drop the temp much but can drop it a couple of degrees. In my experience it doesn't do much for 2ft tanks, but can have an effect on 4ft tanks. Effectiveness depends on setup/room/etc. Cooling the area would definitely have an effect. THe heat gets into the tank from the surrounding area. If the room is cold the tank is cold and vice versa. I have air conditioning for the worst parts of summer, but it costs a bucketload. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Tank is only 50cm, and there is nothing sprayed up here or any pollutant i can think of. We are a completely smokefree house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlid7 Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 it would cool it a little but over the top of the water would be best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlid7 Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Cichlid- Did you get any puffers? no i didn't in the end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 Right now my "Cold Water" tank is covered with 3 layers of artificial fleece blankets, with a bottle of Ice in the tank. Room temperature: 31°c Under blankets temp: 24°c Water temperature: 20.5°c You could always have a go at making your own chiller ;P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 oooh good trick! Oh, just remembered something from last summer. If you have the room, have more bottles of ice than your freezer can take. It freezes much quicker if you chill the bottles in the fridge before putting them in the freezer. Unfortunately with doing the ice trick you can wind up over-taxing your freezer and defrosting everything while cranking up the bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 ive yet to find an easy compact and practical chiller although there are some semiconductor chillers on ebay for smaller tanks but they are expensive maybe could diy for freshwater as jaycar sell some parts you could use there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 I've wondered how well a handful of peltiers would work. Probably put them on a big water block with lots of channels to pump the tank water through then a really big heatsink with fans on the hot side. Wouldn't be as electricity efficient at cooling as a proper chiller, but you could just flip a couple wires and turn it into a heater which it should do really well and probably at higher efficiency than a normal resistive heater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 There are peltier aquarium chillers out there. Some are quite simple and clever. Some simply stuck onto the glass, can't remember much detail. I am sure someone who understands what they are doing could make one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 Anyone with a 12v power supply and a soldering iron could make something up. At the moment I have one connected to a small electric motor so you can put an icecube on it and it will generate power to spin a fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 I'm sure there's inexpensive cooling methods out there, I used to build custom PCs, and there's plenty of DIY cooling techniques designed for cooling very hot PCs. So try peltier & heat sink in Google. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 Cooling a PC and cooling a fish tank are different. Almost all PC cooling setups are simply cooling towards ambient temperature. So a big radiator/heatsink and fans works fine. A fish tank in a case like we're discussing you're trying to cool below ambient. Pump the tank water through a radiator in that case and it would heat the water faster. That would probably work well for cooling the hot side of the peltiers. Maybe 5 of these onesshould be able to get you about 200 watts cooling for some 400 watts of power usage with a near perfect heatsink. But then you have to dissipate 600 watts total with your heatsink. Something like this one is pretty big, at 10 inches long. It's spec'd at .3°c per watt dissipated. Ideally with good fans on it it should only heat up to about 210°C to dissipate that much heat. You'd probably want something that would be able to dissipate the heat without getting any hotter than about 80°c. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 You could have the fan on when the lights come on or turn the lights on at night only when it is cooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 My lights sit directly on the glass lids. To help not have so much heat trapped and going into the aquarium I have them propped up on blocks. The fans then also help carry away a bit of the heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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