I was wondering how many of you use chillers on your tanks? My new tank will 140g and it will be located in my wash room with my hot water heater and my washing machine and dryer which tend to put off some heat. It gets really hot here in TX so I'm thinking I will have to have one. What works and what doesn't? I'm open to suggestions. If I can narrow it down I can start bargain shopping. Thanks.
How many people out there use chillers?
- Thread starter Scatcat
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malkore
Aquarium Advice Addict
Well, you could start with a fan blowing across the water's surface. it'll help cool the water via evaporation, so you'll need more frequent top-offs.
Could also switch your lighting schedule to run at night when it's cooler.
These are the steps I've taken to avoid a $300 chiller. Just making sure you've explored options before deciding on an expensive, but effective, chiller.
Could also switch your lighting schedule to run at night when it's cooler.
These are the steps I've taken to avoid a $300 chiller. Just making sure you've explored options before deciding on an expensive, but effective, chiller.
ellisz
Aquarium Advice Addict
Depending on how big the room is, evaporation might be a big deal. A sump in an enclosed room will cause humidity issues. A dryer willm ake that worse. Can you put a vent fan to blow to the outside? Putting a fan on the sump works but it increases evaporation which will increase humidtiy in the room.
I vent fan to blow to the outside of the room of one blowing in the room? I haven't measured the room yet I'm sure I can put a fan blowing out the window but my tank isn't going to be located near this window. This would also let in hot air. I may just go with a chiller.
ellisz
Aquarium Advice Addict
I use a 4" duct fan and the vent looks just like your dryer vent on the outside of the house. It does not let air in. It is not air prrof but it is not like have a box fan in the window. Some people use bathroom exhaust fans for this.
My previous sump was in a 4'x20' room and it got very humid and made the tank temp hard to keep stable. I used the vent fan(cost $20 or so) and ran 4" dryer vent mixed with some PVC to vent it outside. I had to run it about 30 ft as well. Worked very well for as simple as it was. You caould always put a humidistat on it so it only comes on at certain humidity levels.
Also keep in mind that chiller create heat. If your sump and chiller are in the same enclosed room, you could cool the water only to heat the room thus making it harder to cool the water.
The bigger the sump room the better of course. Is your tank and sump going to be in a different rooms? I moved my sump to the basement so it acts like a chiller
HTH
My previous sump was in a 4'x20' room and it got very humid and made the tank temp hard to keep stable. I used the vent fan(cost $20 or so) and ran 4" dryer vent mixed with some PVC to vent it outside. I had to run it about 30 ft as well. Worked very well for as simple as it was. You caould always put a humidistat on it so it only comes on at certain humidity levels.
Also keep in mind that chiller create heat. If your sump and chiller are in the same enclosed room, you could cool the water only to heat the room thus making it harder to cool the water.
The bigger the sump room the better of course. Is your tank and sump going to be in a different rooms? I moved my sump to the basement so it acts like a chiller
HTH
