Water cooling using fans

[flanque]

Hi all,

I'm looking at smart ways to lower the temperature of my aquarium (it's typically around the 28-30C mark) and read on this forum somewhere about the affects of using such things as computer case fans. The idea I think was to have it blow on flowing water to reduce temperature.

I have the following multi-skimmer:
http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_protein_skimmers_viaaqua_multi-skimmer.asp?ast=&key=

It has two over flows back into the aquarium and I was thinking this would be an ideal area to blow air onto to help cool the water.

I am possibly also considoring adding fans to blow directly on the water surface, which is broken with bubbles and the inflow line from the canister filter.

I am also going to install two case fans into my hood to add additional air flow and help some of the "hot air" that gets caught in the hood escape.

Anyone have experience with something like this and provide some real world commentary on how effective it is?


Cheers.

 

[spinman]

I have 2 fans (120 mm) attached to a piece of plywood that straddles the top of the tank. One fan blows in and the other out. Got 'em on Ebay (Wind Wlilly). They work pretty well. I don't seem to need them now with the colder house temps., but I'll turn them back on in the summer months.

Spin

 

[BillyZ]

I have 2 fans (120 mm) attached to a piece of plywood that straddles the top of the tank. One fan blows in and the other out. Got 'em on Ebay (Wind Wlilly). They work pretty well. I don't seem to need them now with the colder house temps., but I'll turn them back on in the summer months.

Spin

just be careful with any moisture or salt build up on those. They're not designed to be exposed to moisture. Do you have a fuse inline with whatever is powering them?


flanque, a fan to blow over the water surface is a fine way to reduce tank temperatures, but at the cost of additional evaporation (because thats why the fans work) so just be prepared to top off with RO water more frequently.

There are a few DIY options for regular tank cooling if your tank constantly runs warm during the summer months. Some of these basically involve a bunch of tubing, a pump and a cooler filled with cold water.

 

[flanque]

Spinman what sort of temperature decrease did you get?

BillyZ, that's fine I don't mind topping water off. I don't use RO water. I use tap water which I treat it with Prime (link: here)

This stuff basically...

Prime™ is the complete and concentrated conditioner for both fresh and salt water. Prime™ removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. Prime™ converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank’s biofilter. Prime™ may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity. Prime™ detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them. It will also detoxify any heavy metals found in the tap water at typical concentration levels.Prime™ also promotes the production and regeneration of the natural slime coat. Prime™ is non-acidic and will not impact pH. Prime™ will not overactivate skimmers. Use at start-up and whenever adding or replacing water.

I don't buffer the top-up water with carbonates, calcium and so forth. I keep my aquarium's levels up and since I am just topping off with maybe 10L in a 180L tank I just monitor the levels on the proceeding days.

Irregular testing on samples shows zero phosphates, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

Anyways that's off-topic.

What sort of temperature reduction could I expect?

 

[jaiden]

You should not top off with tap water. Evaporation only takes out pure water, leaving impurities. Adding more impure water increases the concentration of all sorts of things that might otherwise go unnoticed.

If you must use tap, I'd be extra sure to keep up with a water change schedule.

Maybe you're lucky and have great water, I dunno.

 

[flanque]

Possibly, but I am not sure of where to RO water here. We do have good quality water here, I guess.

 

[jaiden]

I got a RODI filter on ebay for around 130 with lots of accessories. not sure what shipping to sydney would be though. We can also get distilled water in Walmart for a few cents a gallon here. This is not the same as "spring water" which is usually no better than tap

 

[flanque]

I've read at varying places not to use distilled water. I do not recall the reason but at the time I recall it being rather convincing.

 

[chris stevens]

while we're on the topic of cooling fans...can anyone recommend a tiny unit that wouldn't look too obtrusive on top of my aquarium (i'm an asthetics maniac)? i have a feeling i'm going to need a fan once i get my metal halides.

 

[flanque]

There's heaps. I usually like to go with larger blades with slower RPMs (for noise).