Chiller needed or anything else that will cool my tank

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Lemar

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Hey

Ok, so after really hoping that the temp in lichtenburg won't affect the temp in my tank, i've realized after this weekend, I was wrong.
Sunday at 10 in the morning my temp was already sitting at 28C and went up to 30.
Last night at 10pm, it was sitting at 28.2
And it's only november. So obviously i will need to invest in a chiller.

Can anyone tell me whether any of the DIY projects on constructing chillers worked sucessfully?
And secondly, if not, and i have to buy a chiller, what should i go for? (Display tank probably around 430 litres and sump 100l)
My funds are really depleted, I started up about 12 weeks ago. I just can't believe that i have to spent another R4 to R5k? I'm starting to doubt this hobby, but there is no turning back now, after investing so much $$ and time and effort!

My parameters are fine, fish are doing well. My nemmie doesn't look to great, but that's probably because of the heat??
Any advice will be much appreciated!!
 
Hi Lemar - just use some fans to blow across or onto the water in your sump. This will cause evaporation which will cool your tank's water down at least 3 to 4 degrees...

Just remember that this will mean that you will have to increase your RO water addition to the tank, to keep the salinity within a narrow range....
 
my 2c worth

My tank was getting dangerously close to 30 degs for the last 2 weeks, and I was also contemplating the purchase of a chiller... Instead i decided to try the fan option... i bought a 220v cheap bathroom extractor fan from builders warehouse for R215, built a stand out of some spare wood, and connected it up on saturday. Since then, despite the heat over the weekend my tank did not get above 26.2 degrees.

It looks like my fan dropped the temp by 4 to 5 degrees and cost me a whole lot less than a chiller ......:thumbup:
 
Neil H said:
my 2c worth

My tank was getting dangerously close to 30 degs for the last 2 weeks, and I was also contemplating the purchase of a chiller... Instead i decided to try the fan option... i bought a 220v cheap bathroom extractor fan from builders warehouse for R215, built a stand out of some spare wood, and connected it up on saturday. Since then, despite the heat over the weekend my tank did not get above 26.2 degrees.

It looks like my fan dropped the temp by 4 to 5 degrees and cost me a whole lot less than a chiller ......:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Thanks jacques and neil. I'm going to try the fans and hopefully that will work. i wiil keep you updated!
 
also try this lemar....where normally your lights turn on from say eight in the morning till eight at night now let a few turn on at say ten or eleven till around eleven at night with full out lighting only from about twelve...this way more heat is added during the night when the tank will loose heat at a quicker rate...this should help.
 
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Temp dropping

Lemar said:
Thanks jacques and neil. I'm going to try the fans and hopefully that will work. i wiil keep you updated!
Click to expand...

Just an update, for now i just put a normal house fan infront of the sump, and within 1 hour, the temp dropped from 29,5 to 27. after about another 2 hours it dropped to 26.2, and it was steady througout the night at 26.2-5.
It's now sitting at 25.7.
For what temp should I aim, as the "perfect" temp?
 
25-26 is a good temp, the most important is to keep it stable. Fish and especially invertabrates don't like big temp fluctuations. If the fan cools the water down too much your heater should compensate for that. Just remember to top up with pure RO water constantly to avoid changes in the salinity ;)
 
very important thing to keep in mind is that the temp is not as much the problem but rather the time span at which it rises and lowers.. consistency is the key if a fan is going to keep it stable then the fan it is.. chiller are good for keeping the temp constant at a lower temperature.. beware of temp swigs as your water chemistry is governed by temp...
 
True, also the warmer the water the less oxygen ;)
 
Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it.
My 150W MH switches on at 10 until 14h, which is also contributing to the heat.
From 10 until now, the temp was steady at 26.7. So it seems that there is a flucuation between 25.7 and 26.7.
My R/O water is on a auto-top up so hopefull the salinity will not be a problem.

O and ps: nemmie looks fantastic today. opened up in full, and are enjoying the MH, it seems.
 
Lemar said:
Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it.
My 150W MH switches on at 10 until 14h, which is also contributing to the heat.
From 10 until now, the temp was steady at 26.7. So it seems that there is a flucuation between 25.7 and 26.7.
My R/O water is on a auto-top up so hopefull the salinity will not be a problem.

O and ps: nemmie looks fantastic today. opened up in full, and are enjoying the MH, it seems.
Click to expand...

Sounds good, good sign if nemmie opens full. Temp difference of one degree is OK because it drops and raises gradually over night and day. What do you feed your nemmie?
 
Tobes said:
Sounds good, good sign if nemmie opens full. Temp difference of one degree is OK because it drops and raises gradually over night and day. What do you feed your nemmie?
Click to expand...

I've only had the nemmie for 3 days. Bought small frozen fish from LPS. (can't remember what they are called). According to them, the nemmie eats 1 a week.
Tried to feed him sunday, but he was not interested. Was probably in shock from the heat. today is the first day that he opened in full, so will attempt a fish again tonight.

Is if fine to feed anemone shrimp? (you know the kind you buy at P&P to make prawn cocktail from - it's not cooked)
 
I just took at photo of the nemmie. How do I post it onto a thread?
 
I had the same problem. A fan worked for me. If you have a tank cover, which I do, it will trap a lot of heat from the lights. Just open it slightly so that the heat can escape and then add a fan.

All i'm gonna do now is add a timer to the fan so it switches on when the lights go on.

Looking forward to those pics!
 
Lemar said:
I've only had the nemmie for 3 days. Bought small frozen fish from LPS. (can't remember what they are called). According to them, the nemmie eats 1 a week.
Tried to feed him sunday, but he was not interested. Was probably in shock from the heat. today is the first day that he opened in full, so will attempt a fish again tonight.

Is if fine to feed anemone shrimp? (you know the kind you buy at P&P to make prawn cocktail from - it's not cooked)
Click to expand...

I don't see a problem feeding him shrimp. Just remember not to defrost the frozen food in your tank water. Take a bit of RO water in a glass and defrost it in there, then you can put the food in the tank and throw the juice/RO mix away. Juice from defrosting food fuels nuisance algae and can raise your nitrates ;)
 
Quinton said:
I feed mine raw calamari - they love it. I'm pretty sure that frozen shrimp will also be good, provided no additives, and that it's not been refrozen.

Q
Click to expand...

Cool, i will get some calamari and try that!

Photobucket is giving me error message, doesn't want to upload photo's will try something else
 
Photo of my new nemmie. Bought him on Saturday
 
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