sump bottled ice - Aquarium Advice

pinda · 03-18-2007, 08:15 AM

Can i use a sump and bottled ice to keep my tank cool as a cheaper alternative?

theotheragentm · 03-18-2007, 02:56 PM

There's nothing wrong with that as it's just heat exchange, but there's not a good way to know how much temperature change you will get. There's not a lot of data on the heat transfer rates on a plastic bottle I'm sure. As long as you keep an eye on it, you should be okay.

Ziggy953 · 03-18-2007, 04:41 PM

What kind of temps are you getting on your tank? What kind of tank is it? FW SW REEF FOWLR? Are you getting heat from your lighting or other sources? Do you have fans on your lighting?

**roka64** · 03-18-2007, 08:17 PM

I use a floor fan to keep mine stable. I have it blowing across the surface of my tank.

beachbumin · 03-18-2007, 09:00 PM

Interesting idea but like theother I would be a little worried about cooling down too much. I was getting too much heat from my HQI's so I decided to go with a true sump as opposed to my old hob fug. Ive only had it going for a day but so far my temp has fallen right where I wanted it. HTH

pinda · 03-19-2007, 11:10 AM

To be honest I haven't recorded any temperatures as yet but the room the tank is in gets pretty hot, bear in mind my average temperature year round is 80s since i live in a tropical country. I saw a diy article that uses a coiled tubing and has ice placed on it. I guess that way the cool down wont be too much too fast. I guess I would use various amounts of bottles and test until i get a temp around 70 or so. Our atmospheric temp hardly varies.

tecwzrd · 03-19-2007, 11:30 AM

The wild swings in temperature would be more detrimental to the fish than a steady 82-84 degrees. If you can't maintain a constant temp then I wouldn't mess with it IMO.

Beat the Heat: Aquarium Cooling Methods

theotheragentm · 03-19-2007, 12:21 PM

Metal definitely has one of the best heat transfer abilities for materials. That's why it's used in heat exchangers for domestic and industrial applications. Unless you're going to get an existing product, there wouldn't be a great way to tell how your heat transfer rate is though, so you'd have to monitor it pretty closely.

pinda · 03-19-2007, 05:41 PM

I currently dont have a sump but i plan on getting one so that i can use a thermoelectric chiller. I dont plan on drilling a hole in my tank to accomodate one either.

Ziggy953 · 03-19-2007, 10:46 PM

I would suggest getting a thermometer and finding out what temp your tank is at. Like Tecwzrd said...a constant 82-84 is better then having your temp go up and down every day!