DIY Chiller Idea : Would it Work

[MeMyFishandI]

It only gets hot here for about two weeks out of the year so I really don't want to invest in a chiller. But I had a light bulb moment. I remembered watching a show where they made an "air conditioner" by running a fan over a block of ice.

What if I got a canister filter, insulated it, loaded it with ice and run the aquarium water through that, would it work? I understand I would have to change out the ice regularly but I think that should be okay. I really only need to bring the temp down by two degrees during the day.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bryknicks]

Have you tried a fan first?

In theory that sounds like it will work provided you have enough flow through the canister. IMO I think you would be changing the ice at least once an hour though which doesn't sound like an ideal situation to me.

 

[Crustaceon]

You would want to put the canister in a cooler or similar container and surround it with ice. Also, you’ll need a way to shut the canister filter on and off based on tank temperature. That being said...

Unless your tank isn’t hitting 84 degrees, I wouldn’t bother or at the most, I would just point a fan at the tank’s surface and use evaporative cooling. It’s MUCH easier to add rodi to compensate or even better, have an ato system do it for you.

 

[MeMyFishandI]

You would want to put the canister in a cooler or similar container and surround it with ice. Also, you’ll need a way to shut the canister filter on and off based on tank temperature. That being said...

Unless your tank isn’t hitting 84 degrees, I wouldn’t bother or at the most, I would just point a fan at the tank’s surface and use evaporative cooling. It’s MUCH easier to add rodi to compensate or even better, have an ato system do it for you.

The fan idea is a good one. I'll try that first. Thanks!

 

[jd371]

I have the same problem with my tank in my workshop. The workshop has only one window and not much air circulates through there so the ambient temp gets pretty high. I contemplated getting a chiller but couldn't justify the cost for only a few days out of the year. I live in the NE and we get a few heat waves now and then. We are going through one right now, the temp yesterday was 95 degrees with a feel like temp of 105 because of the humidity.
I added a fan array over the tank to kick on when the temp in the tank reaches 82 and that has worked well but the temp still would reach over 84 on really hot days. This year (tank has been running since last January) I added a desk fan over the sump to help as well and it has kept the temp from going over 84 degrees, it topped off at 83.8 degrees yesterday.
There was one day last year were the temp in the tank got close to 86 degrees and I thought for sure I'd have some deaths but everything was fine.
I remember reading somewhere that temps on the reefs could get as high as 86 degrees.

This is my 20g workshop tank.

 

[MeMyFishandI]

I have the same problem with my tank in my workshop. The workshop has only one window and not much air circulates through there so the ambient temp gets pretty high. I contemplated getting a chiller but couldn't justify the cost for only a few days out of the year. I live in the NE and we get a few heat waves now and then. We are going through one right now, the temp yesterday was 95 degrees with a feel like temp of 105 because of the humidity.
I added a fan array over the tank to kick on when the temp in the tank reaches 82 and that has worked well but the temp still would reach over 84 on really hot days. This year (tank has been running since last January) I added a desk fan over the sump to help as well and it has kept the temp from going over 84 degrees, it topped off at 83.8 degrees yesterday.
There was one day last year were the temp in the tank got close to 86 degrees and I thought for sure I'd have some deaths but everything was fine.
I remember reading somewhere that temps on the reefs could get as high as 86 degrees.

This is my 20g workshop tank.

That is a lovely tank.

I've only had a reef tank for a year and a half now and I still baby it. Last summer it was fine, as the tank was on a lower floor with a fair amount of shade. This year we are in a second floor condo and the morning sun beams in on us.

I fret over the saltwater tank. Meanwhile, my freshwater tank, which has been running for eight years, I hardly think about because I know they're going to be okay. I guess it is new mom syndrome!

 

[r20crazy]

if you are around to watch it, just freeze 5-6 small water bottles ( I would fill with ro/di [but not necessary] just in case one decides to leak a little).... and float in tank/sump 1 at a time. remove/replace/refreeze as needed. but if its just a few degrees as stated a fan blowing across surface works great, just evaps water a little faster. if you have a aquarium controller with a temp probe its easy to setup fan to auto turn on/off, or with like an inkbird heater/cooling controller.

 

[TheStrangler]

Assuming 100% efficiency (not realistically possible), each kilogram of ice has an available ~334,000 joules of energy that it could take from your display tank before melting. I don't know what size your tank is, but for every 10 gallons of tank water (about 38kg) you'd need to take out 159,600 joules to drop your tank temp about 2 degrees. Realistically, I don't see you getting more than 20-30% efficiency, so in a real world situation you'll need about 1.5Kg of ice per 10 gallons of tank water to drop your tank by 2 degrees using DIY ice cooling. How much ice you'd need to keep it down those 2 degrees depends on the temperature outside your tank. Thats a rough estimate.

 

[laverda]

That is a lovely tank.

I've only had a reef tank for a year and a half now and I still baby it. Last summer it was fine, as the tank was on a lower floor with a fair amount of shade. This year we are in a second floor condo and the morning sun beams in on us.

I fret over the saltwater tank. Meanwhile, my freshwater tank, which has been running for eight years, I hardly think about because I know they're going to be okay. I guess it is new mom syndrome!

I put up a 2 roll down sun shades from Home Depot outside 2 years ago as the room my tank is in would get supper hot in the afternoons when the sun would shine directly in. It was well worth it. The whole house is noticeably cooler. Our AC is way undersized. Before our AC would run all day and not cool most of the house below 85. Now it keeps the house at 78 and only runs a few minutes at a time. I added 2 more this year for up stairs rooms.

 

[MeMyFishandI]

The fan worked great. Thanks everybody for your input!

 

[MeMyFishandI]

I put up a 2 roll down sun shades from Home Depot outside 2 years ago as the room my tank is in would get supper hot in the afternoons when the sun would shine directly in. It was well worth it. The whole house is noticeably cooler. Our AC is way undersized. Before our AC would run all day and not cool most of the house below 85. Now it keeps the house at 78 and only runs a few minutes at a time. I added 2 more this year for up stairs rooms.

We just put up some black out drapes to keep the sun out. I am hoping they're worth it! We have a small AC too and it wasn't able to keep up.