Ghetto ways of keeping tank temps

[7Enigma]

Hey all,

It's winter, and as such our house is quite cold (from 52-65F average per day). Now to maintain a tank (mine is glass so greater heat loss than acrylic) at ~78F constantly will probably require the heater to be on quite a bit. I'm looking for possible ways to maintain the temp of the tank using less electricity.

Here's some thoughts I've had:

-behind the background picture attach some non-thermal conductive material (bubble wrap, thermal wrap for a water heater), so at least 1 of the 6 sides is insulated

-I have on order an iron fish tank stand. I'm thinking of putting something underneath the tank that will prevent heat from radiating downward out the bottom (this will be now 2 sides of tank insulated)

-The top I'm somewhat perplexed on as it has a lighted top, but the top is just thin hard plastic, and it would look stupid to insulate the top (maybe a light blanket or something when I'm at work during the day, keeping it away from the water obviously)

That just leaves the sides and the front panel. These 3 I don't think I have any choice but to leave as is, although I have thought about getting some clear plastic film for the sides, so you can still see in, the fish can see out, and it doesn't drastically reduce the light level when the tank light isn't on (thought it will probably reduce the usable light for plants if I decide to get real ones later on).

Any ideas?

justin

 

[flanque]

Increasing water volume will result is slower temperature exchange.

 

[7Enigma]

Is that a subtle way of telling me to get a bigger tank! Right now a 20gallon high is my starting point...

 

[IceWind]

Dude, that little dwinky heater is MAYBE gonna add $5 to your electric bill, if even that. Your gonna go through all that to spend MORE money trying to keep a tank warm without using a heater?

Were not talking about heating a pool, were talking about a 29g tank. Mine flicks on and off ever 5 mins or so.

 

[Meredith]

I have often wondered about those emergency blankets you can buy at walmart and such. They are only around 1 dollar and they reflect heat quite well. I thought wrapping the tank might help in a power outage. I put one over my head (please dont ask why) and you can see through them.

 

[Toirtis]

-behind the background picture attach some non-thermal conductive material (bubble wrap, thermal wrap for a water heater), so at least 1 of the 6 sides is insulated

That will help, technically, but not appreciably.....and 2" foam insulation would work far better than bubblewrap.

-I have on order an iron fish tank stand. I'm thinking of putting something underneath the tank that will prevent heat from radiating downward out the bottom (this will be now 2 sides of tank insulated)

Except that so very, very little heat will be escaping downward (since heat radiates up, and the gravel insulates anyways), that this measure will have even less effect than the back insulation.

-The top I'm somewhat perplexed on as it has a lighted top, but the top is just thin hard plastic, and it would look stupid to insulate the top (maybe a light blanket or something when I'm at work during the day, keeping it away from the water obviously)

Sounds like a good way to start a housefire....lights are not meant to be covered.

Any ideas?

Yes, just leave it as is....as IceWind pointed out, the impact of your heater on your electrical bill is going to be maybe $5/month....if you want real electrical savings, switch all your houselights to spiral fluorescent screw-in bulbs....that can save you $20-$40 a month....year-round.

 

[7Enigma]

OK so I had an alterior motive for posting the question as well. I was as interested at saving $$$ as I was insulating AGAINST heat from entering the tank. Come summertime my house can get in the low to mid 90's (no central air). Because of this any heat I can avoid losing during the winter, I can avoid gaining during the summer.

As for the foam on the back, that is a better idea, I'll probably stick a cut hunk onto the back of the tank (can get that from work too). The bottom I'll probably use a piece of cardboard wrapped tightly in a black glad trashbag (to keep water from soaking in below the tank during water changes).

For the fire hazard, I don't plan on keeping the lights on the tank when I'm at work, so I don't think there is a chance of fire.

Oh, and heat radiates 360 degrees from the source point. While its true you will feel higher temperature out of the top due to heat coming off the sides and bottom and traveling up, there is some benefit to insulating the bottom (especially come summertime when the heat will be rising against the base of the tank).

justin

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Actually, the top is where you will lose 75% of your heat through evaporation, putting a tighter fitting glasstop is a start, keeping that glasstop cool is good too (forces condensation of escaping water and reenters the tank by precipitation, always best to fish in the rain).. so get the lights 1-2" off the glasstops to prevent the glass from warming by the light.

Those are a couple, now for keeping the tank cool, this is something computer geeks have been working on for quite a while (water cooled Computers)...

Option 1: Pump the water through a radiator, put a 120mm fan on said radiator, cools the water in a similar fashion to a car's cooling system, it is possible to keep it just slightly below the room temperature. Installing the rad in a fridge would yeild a chiller, far too cold..

Option 2: A relatively newer design, often implemented in wanting to cool massive amounts of water, also results in huge losses of water due to evaporation. It's essentially a waterfall, with a fan blowing directly at the water, similar concept to the rad but you have no thermal resistance due to the metal in the rad.

Both options will not keep your tank a constant temperature so you are pretty limited to putting the tank in the basement or putting an AC in your window.

 

[7Enigma]

Good call on the evaporation heat loss. I had read about that but didn't attribute it being so great until i see that something like 580 calories of heat are lost per....bah I can't remember now. A cup? gallon? Either way, I'll try to get a snugger fit on my top and limit the space at the back where the HOB filter is located. Thanks!

Oh and my other hobby is building and OC'ing computers...

 

[flanque]

Actually, the top is where you will lose 75% of your heat through evaporation, putting a tighter fitting glasstop is a start, keeping that glasstop cool is good too (forces condensation of escaping water and reenters the tank by precipitation, always best to fish in the rain).. so get the lights 1-2" off the glasstops to prevent the glass from warming by the light.

Those are a couple, now for keeping the tank cool, this is something computer geeks have been working on for quite a while (water cooled Computers)...

Option 1: Pump the water through a radiator, put a 120mm fan on said radiator, cools the water in a similar fashion to a car's cooling system, it is possible to keep it just slightly below the room temperature. Installing the rad in a fridge would yeild a chiller, far too cold..

Option 2: A relatively newer design, often implemented in wanting to cool massive amounts of water, also results in huge losses of water due to evaporation. It's essentially a waterfall, with a fan blowing directly at the water, similar concept to the rad but you have no thermal resistance due to the metal in the rad.

Both options will not keep your tank a constant temperature so you are pretty limited to putting the tank in the basement or putting an AC in your window.

Nice ideas, but both sound like a funky way to more trouble than they are worth? I guess the water cooling from computers would be okay if you could get it to work? There are also chillers.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

It's not hard to do, you put the rad inline with the output of your filter, or for option 2, you have the filter output a bit higher then your tank in a PVC Y pipe and use a fan to blow down the opposite leg of the Y, but both ways are too inconsistant and the latter could cause all kinds of new problems (and benefits since the water would be very well oxygenated).

I didn't want to get into peltiers and such, they generate too much heat and consume too much electricity (200w or more), plus you'ld need a temperature controller (an AC is cheaper)..

I gave up modding my computers when they became prefabs, I recently removed my blue cold cathode (lightning) and put it in the tank canopy I made, looks like moonlight twinkling on the surface of the water at night, and it was a lot cheaper then a single 3/4w moonlight (*cough* ripoff *cough*).

similar to this one.. fish don't even notice that I can see them, and continue about their normal nocturnal activities.

 

[Toirtis]

For the fire hazard, I don't plan on keeping the lights on the tank when I'm at work,

But that will simply mess-up proper, natural photoperiods for your fish and/or plants.

 

[flanque]

Agreed. If you fear a fire hazard when you're not around then it doesn't sound like the correct set up to be using.

 

[malkore]

A simple 4" fan (or even smaller in your case) blowing across the water will easily cool the tank in the summer. I run one on my SW tank on a timer, on 2 hours, off an hour. Drops my temp from 86 to 78, and isn't a permanent fixture either.

 

[flanque]

Do you think that would apply for open tops and blowing across the water in the tank itself?