Heat Wave Problem

[vega]

Right now, M'sia been hit by heat wave, n accordingly to yesterday newspaper this will end only in Sept. :

My room temp for the past 1 week been around 92-94F(day), 89-91F (nite).

Despict with recently installed 3 x 3" fans blowing my tank, the tank temp still around 82-84F.

The fish is ok but the heat start to affecting on my plants.

Been asking around lfs but it seems the tank chiller is way too expensive for me to buy n run.

I want to try the Ice Probe Micro Chiller or attach a heatsink with fan behind the tank but i just wonder will it works as the room temp is so much different.

My understanding is the room heat will try to equilibrium with tank's water so the Micro Chiller might increase my tank temp. Totally forgot the thermodynamic stuff i learned in college. hehehe

Pls advise

TIA

 

[Mr Burns]

you have my sympathies, friend. it's getting hot here in cincinnati, but nothing like what you are experiencing. my room temp for most of yesterday was about 84F, which i can tolerate with a few good fans.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=4948

i don't know if you've seen that or not, but it is a very cheap, effective way to bring down the tank temp. if there was ever a problem with my tank getting to warm due to our air conditioning going out like it did last summer, this is the article i would follow.

best of luck. hopefully you will catch a break in the heat soon!

 

[vega]

I have seen the DYI cooler but i am concern about the maintainance part as the water inside the ice box will need to remove manually.

I probabily will reconsider it again as i am really annoying with the temp problem.

As the water is vapourising approx 2cm a day, i forgot to topup the water yesterday n yesterday the room temp reach 95F and the tank was 86F as the water surface was too far from the fans. :x

 

[Mr Burns]

you might be able to put a drain into the side of the cooler, like on many of the large Igloo coolers. i would put it as low as possible along one of the side walls, then seal it inside and out with some silicone. the chiller does not need to be underneath your cabinet either. if you have a table or a tall bar stool chair, you could put the cooler next to the tank and have the pump run that way. it would be a lot easier to change if it was outside of the cabinet and around waist or chest height. then again, if you are buying the large 5 or 10 pound bags of ice, you shouldn't even need to take the ice out of the bag. simply coiling the hose around the bag should be enough contact time to bring the temp down some. hth

 

[vega]

just brought a China made 3L unknown brand car's thermoeletric cooler for US$12.
Will make a DYI cooler out of it. Will post the pic once complete this weekend.

 

[Mr Burns]

pictures would be great because i have no idea what you're talking about.....

 

[vega]

 

[madasafish]

In order to avoid this problem (it will be a big problem here in NYC in about a month), I've kept most of my tanks at 82 degrees. The fish are fine, and all of my plants are still doing well. I have a feeling that the temp will rise to 84 or so in the tanks, but I know that most fish can survive 86-88 (I raised the tank's temp to this once to combat ich).

 

[vega]

After observe throughout the weekend, i notice the tank temp hit 90F for few hours every 1-3pm even with topup water n all 3x 3" fan switch on.

i am in process of building a DYI chiller out of those portable cooler use in car.

 

[TankGirl]

I am very interested in how your project works out. Is a room air conditioner (window type or otherwise) out of the question?

Also, if there are local aquarium clubs you might find that folks have figured out how to beat this very issue, since I have no doubt that this is not the first heatwave experienced in Malaysia!

 

[vega]

From recent visit to few lfs, i learned that every one who can afford a chiller are getting one right now. Other then that, the only other available method is to use the fan to blow the surface.

As i am moving out in few month, installing the room ac is out of question. Also as my tank is in living room, i need at least a 3hp ac which way out of my budget for me to buy n to run right now.

Now i am cutting the down the light from 12 hours to 9 hours by switching off the light (between 1-3pm) when the temp is peak so less heat will generate over the tank.

Hair algae start to move in n there is 3 dead fish last 2 weeks.

 

[Mr Burns]

the styrofoam/ice chiller definitely needs to be reconsidered if your fish are dying. the most expensive part would be the pump, and those aren't even that much...

 

[vega]

i brought a electric car cooler similar size to the DYI styrofoam/ice box in previous DYI link for usd$12. in process of converting it to something similar as shown in the Dyi cooler pic.

 

[vega]

The pic. I ll post the detail once complete.

 

[Sparky]

I have HOB filters for my tank. I went out and bought a half dozen of these Ice Packs for coolers. They are about 6 by 8 inches. I made a nylon "sling" to hold them right where the water discharges back into the tank. They last me about 3-4 hours before I have to refreeze them. I put 3 of them into the tank at a time and it has helped keep my temp down to managable numbers. I am going to purchase 3 more in case I have to swap them out more often. Right now I am OK....I haven't turned the AC on yet and that may take care of it anyway.

I just thought I would pass this on because it is very cheap and it works (short-term) pretty good. I am using them in a 125 gal tank so it takes a while for the temp to come down a couple of degrees, but on the other hand it alsoo takes more time for it to rise.

HTH,

Mike

 

[vega]

I did that during weekend using ice. On norm working day it just impossible for me to practice that.

Even with styrofoam/ice DYI cooler method also difficult for me as my work require me away from my house for long hours (8 hours to be exact, hehehe) n also i have to travel time to time not mentioning the tedious maintainance routine that it require everyday to remove the ice water n replacing the ice.

So far the testing when good with the DYI electric cooler shown above. It manage to reduce 3-4 F using 12V 5A power source. I going to use 12V 10A for the actual setup to further decrease the temp.

 

[betowess]

You win the AA juryrig award Vega! Sounds cool, no pun intended. Is that the power source to the right of the orange/yellow tub with water? Betowess

 

[vega]

Can i have a chiller for the prize? hehehe no pun intended too.

 

[TankGirl]

I, too, am very impressed with your willingness to jump in and try something like that, and post back to us with the results, Vega. If I had a chiller, I would certainly send it your way!

 

[vega]

Btw, betowess that is one of many power source i tried. I ll post detail once i finished the testing.

i work in Engineering field so i can borrow various power source from others.

FYI, insufficient electric current (A) will cause the power source to heat up so lots of testing. :? The cooler origin specification will not work in this case as with constant water flow through the cooler, it require different power rating.

TankG, i spent last 2 weeks constantly reminding my girlfriend the important of right temp for tank n she finally convince (or sort of fed up) n let me buy the new car cooler.