Maintaining water temps for Nano

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Hi Guys

Anybody got some advise on maintaining temp of 24 - 26 on 24 gallon Nano tank.

I am struggling to keep temp down here in Gauteng. My tank is averaging at 29.3 without the floresent lights on.

I am looking at getting a chiller to bring temp down in summer and have a heater for winter.

Any suggestions on which chiller I can use (how much and where can I get)

Started my tank about 10 days ago and would like to get temp right before I put livestock in.

Tx
 
Peanut,

Your cheapest bet is to install fans in your canopy. You can use the fans that are used for PC Power supplies. They are pretty cheap. Got mine for approx R 50 each.
Just bear in mind that with the fans your evaporation rate increases and you will need to keep a close eye on topping up your tank.

Insofar a chiller is concerned, there are numerous options available. The Hailea range of chillers start at approx. R 2500-R3500 for a chiller capable of cooling 50-400 L of water.

Have a look at the sponsor's pages for more details on the chillers.
 
i would not recommend pc fans i installed 10 pc fans it helped with temp yes but they all failed 2 weeks later dew to salt and evaporation so plz guys stop recommending them they a waist of money if u ask me
 
I read on another site that one can freeze some sea water in a bottle and submerge in tank with cap off.

This apparently helps with water top up and assists in cooling tank.

Only thing is that bottle must not touch liverock or corals.

Anybody tried this yet?

Thoughts if this would work or not?
 
Mhhm, haven't heard of such a way to cool the water.
But in theory, I can't see why it wouldn't work.

Just a note : Remember that your tank is topped up with RO water and not salt water. It's only the water that evaporates . The salt stays. By adding a frozen column of salt water you will be topping up your water level, but also increasing your salinity.
 
Just a note : Remember that your tank is topped up with RO water and not salt water. It's only the water that evaporates . The salt stays. By adding a frozen column of salt water you will be topping up your water level, but also increasing your salinity.

Please define RO water?

What I understand from salt water is the mix that I get from the pet shop (they make their own water for marine tanks).

Tx
 
Peanut,

RO = Reverse Osmosis. A process used to purify water and hence remove harmful phosphates , chlorine , iron etc.

Normally you would buy a RO unit commercially available from most of the sponsors or alternatively places like Builders Warehouse , Game etc.

It's fine to use the salt water mix you buy from the LFS( They should also be using RO water), but for topping up purposes, you need to ensure that the water you use is as pure as possible and free from phosphates , chlorine and any heavy metals. IMO only a RO process can guarantee water of good quality and purity required for marine tanks.

Again , IMO there are no "quick fix" chemical mixes or solutions that will purify tap water to the same standard as a RO process.
 
Peanut,

I've given you a quick brief explanation of what a RO unit does.
If you need a more detailed explanation, I'll gladly post some additional data and technical specs for you.

In short all of this means the following to you: When doing a water change your local LFS's salt mix will do fine.
When topping up water lost to evaporation , use RO water.
You will save yourself endless troubles with nuisance algea , and to correct water quality is a lot more difficult to do than starting off with a good base .
 
Doesnt ur nano have any std fans in the hood already? I also struggle with temp issues.

I sum times leave my hood open during a hot day and it helps a lil...plus the lighting doesnt decrease by that much.
 
i would not recommend pc fans i installed 10 pc fans it helped with temp yes but they all failed 2 weeks later dew to salt and evaporation so plz guys stop recommending them they a waist of money if u ask me

I had a fan on my tank that was running for about 4 years. I recently replaced it with another fan just because I was changing the look of the hood etc and it's still fine. I have my fan blowing "inwards" so it should be "fresh" air only going through it. Never had a problem with salt creep or anything, except when the fan is off the lights get wet.
 
hi gemini, i hear alot of guys have very good results with pc fans, warr for example has usede them very well for a long while. i looked at getting some for hood temp more than water temp as I have a chiller in there.

peanut i see you only have a few post in here so if you are new, welcome to MASA. RO water for top up is very important as apollo has said, using salt mix will increase your salinity rapidly. especially in a small vollume tank like a nano.

but i wouldnt look at them frozen block idea, thats a temp sollution in an extreme emergency i should think. Look at a chiller or pc fans.

how long has your tank been going?
 
I got a much better fan than a pc fan from Obi Wan. It's called a Tsurami and really works well. As was mentioned it does significantly increase evaporation.
 
Doesnt ur nano have any std fans in the hood already? I also struggle with temp issues.

I sum times leave my hood open during a hot day and it helps a lil...plus the lighting doesnt decrease by that much.


Wetty,

Yes, my nano already has two built in fans.

I use two PC fans however for my other tank which is also approx 50 liters. This is a tropical tank and not marine, but the tank seems to struggle with temp. issues. I have found the PC fans to offer a fairly cheap but effective solution. One drawback however, is that you will get some condensation on the fan blades ( As Gemini9241 stated previously). Up till now however , I have not had any failures.

If your budget allows , go for the Chiller.
 
peanut i see you only have a few post in here so if you are new, welcome to MASA. RO water for top up is very important as apollo has said, using salt mix will increase your salinity rapidly. especially in a small vollume tank like a nano.

but i wouldnt look at them frozen block idea, thats a temp sollution in an extreme emergency i should think. Look at a chiller or pc fans.

how long has your tank been going?

Tank has been running now for two weeks.

I enquired about a chiller this week0end, but the LFS guy said it would be a mission installing it in the Nano-cube design I got.

See pic below

1_Upload_6.JPG
 
I have had some success this week, with maintaining the temp.

Put a piece of foamalite between lid and tank to create small gap.

This seems to have helped.

Will monitor and see.
 
i am just saying what happen to me the salt rusted the bearings that they seized i would recommend bath room extractor fans they can deal with high humidity and condensation or shop around for a second hand chiller i bought a hailea hc-300a for r1200 6months old so shop around and keep an eye out u can get lucky like i did as i know that was a bargain
 
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