Keeping your aquarium cool WITHOUT a chiller?

Do you run a chiller on your tank?

  • YES

    Votes: 77 11.6%
  • NO

    Votes: 563 85.0%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 22 3.3%

  • Total voters
    662

Orm Embar

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I have a small $15 fan; that's able to evaporatively cool the tank to where I don't need a chiller. Someday I plan on hooking it up to my Inkbird controller, but that hasn't happened yet. :p
 

fish farmer

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The last couple of years I was using the room AC...sometimes just in dehumid mode at 79 degrees. I run a small fan above the tank and I also add a frozen water bottle in the afternoons. That seemed to keep it below 82 and we were having some hot Vermont summers, 80's for weeks.

Right now my tank is already hanging around the 81 to 83 mark the last couple of days, we are in the mid 80's. We have a cold front coming....patchy frost tomorrow night.

I did add a couple of additional T5 bulbs to my tank so I may be getting more heat from those. I may have to add a fan to blow over the sump.
 

Laith

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I wanted to avoid a chiller if at all possible. I've worked with them before and the only real way I can see myself using one is if I can place it outside the house somewhere as the ones that I have seen generate both noise and a lot of heat (the heat you remove from the water has to go somewhere).

Even though I'm in Switzerland, in the summer it does get warm, sometimes up to 30-35C (86-95F). I've been successful without a chiller (so far!) by doing the following:

- I have three six fan GHL units that the Profilux manages, two on the tank and one over the sump. At the moment the fans on the tank are placed wrongly (blowing across the width of the tank instead of down the length) because until recently I couldn't attach them differently.

- I have air con in the living room so in the summer I just set it at 25C and that makes a big difference.

- And I think what helps a lot is also that I don't obsess with trying to keep the tank water at 25C (77F). My set temperature on the Profilux (which controls the fans and the heaters) is 26.5C (79.7) all year around and I have no qualms about the temperature going up to 27.3 or even 27.5C. And the only time it really goes over 27C is in the spring before the aircon kicks in.

I'm a dive instructor (on the side) and have dove in many tropical locations all over the world. Most, if not all, the dive locations that I dove that had SPS coral (tropics) were pretty much all in waters that were between 26 and 28 or even 29C, especially in the first 10-15 meters of depth where most of the SPS thrive. Yes, in the winter the Red Sea can get down to 23-25C but in the summer it is up to 28-29.
 

Scubadoo4u

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I designed it and 3D printed it myself- it fits standard 140mm computer fans and can hold onto a variety of rim types (Eurobraced, rimless, rimmed) via adapters.
I have a 75 and would be interested in your 3D printed housing, where would you get the fan?
 

TheHarold

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I have a 75 and would be interested in your 3D printed housing, where would you get the fan?

(Highlighted text are hyperlinks to fan components):

You can get the supplies from amazon. If you plan to connect it to the Apex 24v port via DIY wiring, you need the 24v fan version, and then DC24v bare cable and fan adapter. Requires soldering.

If you are powering it from a standard wall outlet (or normal apex outlet), get the 12v version along with a 12v fan power supply. No soldering or advanced assembly needed.
 

pharazon

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I have a pedestal fan (pictured) plugged into my Apex and pointed at the side of the tank (not the surface.) Does the trick. I keep my house at 76ish.

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Peace River

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A Vornado fan is working for me until I can set up a more proper fan array.
 

schuby

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I live in Southern California and originally struggled to keep tank cool in summer months. Problem is the high humidity here, it limits how effective evaporative cooling can be. I'd use fans for about 1-2 degrees F chill, then frozen water bottles. I've since gotten central AC, and my oh my.. what an improvement.

Problem is now power outages.. All three of my cooling systems would fail with sustained power outage. And when does the power go out in California? During a HEAT WAVE, often while the WHOLE STATE IS ON FIRE. Which is our new summer reality unfortunately :(

Guess I need a generator, my battery backup only can handle the MP40... (Waterbox 130, ~96g DT)
Where do you live in Socal with high humidity? Have you ever been to Florida or Southern Texas, where there really is high humidity?
 

Ziyadneamah

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Here in Iraq it is very hot, summer temperatures reach 55. We use air conditioning in the house with fans to control the temperatures
 

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boeingn747

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Well we're already in the 90's here in the northern part of Georgia and the reef tank is warming up! I'm thankful that mine is currently in the basement where it is naturally cooler but it's still getting warm enough to warrant something to help keep it cooled. But I have no chiller and have no plans to add a chiller! So what do I do? Well for me and my situation a fan directed on the top of the sump water keeps me 3 degrees or so cooler so it works just fine. But what about you? Today let's talk about!

1. How do you keep your tank cool WITHOUT a chiller?

2. Do struggle to keep the tank temps down during the warmer months?


This is the baby that helps keep my thousands of dollars worth of livestock alive during the hottest months! PS. Plus it's great for spills! HA!

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I use the ink bird thermostat that has the heater/chiller outlets and run fans over my tanks in the summer. The fans cause more evaporation which the ato calls for more cool water witch ultimately keeps the tank at a perfect 78°
 

glb

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I live in Miami and keep the house AC at 73 which keeps the tank around 78-79 with all the equipment running. I use a heater during the winter for the few cold days we have, and also to minimize temp fluctuations. After Hurricane Irma, we were without power for 8 days. The house got to 90 degrees inside. We kept the room where the tank was in total darkness, ran air pumps, and my sweet husband froze water bottles at work and threw a few in twice a day. The tank never got above 81 and I didn’t lose any fish (it was fowlr at the time).
 

Shooter6

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Hi. My solution was to install a 110v 12k but minisplit in my fishroom. That dropped the temp from 92 to 75 in less then 30min.
Costed 400.00 but provides both heat and cooling, so it's effectively eliminated both heating and cooling.
Super efficient too and near silent.
 

josbur63

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I keep my 150 at 80 degrees year round.It stays there as long as AC is on,never spikes higher than 82 even running dual 250 watt metal halides.I run my metal halides from 12-6,my two 54 watt power compacts 8-12,and then 6-8.
 

Infern0

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I keep the Temp normaly at 25 -25.5 C , now in the Summer the Temp ramped up to 27-28 C . Should I be concerned about this or is not to high ? I am planning to buy one of GHL Propeller Breeze II with 5 Fans but I won´t spend the money if not necesary.. Thanks!
 

Laith

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I keep the Temp normaly at 25 -25.5 C , now in the Summer the Temp ramped up to 27-28 C . Should I be concerned about this or is not to high ? I am planning to buy one of GHL Propeller Breeze II with 5 Fans but I won´t spend the money if not necesary.. Thanks!

My tank temp setting on the P4 is 26.5 C. With the warmer weather, if the AC is not on in the living room, it has gotten up to 28.3 during the day.

28.5 C is probably the upper limit that I would tolerate. So far, I have seen no negative effect of the current temps of the tank. Keep in mind that when the temp hit 28.3 it was a peak and that the temp came down as the day cooled down so it wasn't at that temp all day long.

With the AC on the temps don't get near that high.

I have three of the GHL 5 fan units on the tank and they do help but for me they are more of a backup of the AC. As long as the AC is running all day long, the tank temps stay around 26.6 to 27.2 or so...

My advice is that, if you have the budget, get the GHL 5 fan unit anyway. It will help reduce any extreme temp swings during the day if you need it. But like I said before, I have been diving in tropical waters with temps of 27-28 and beautiful corals. But that is the sea and not a reef tank.

On my previous 250 liter tank I just had a table fan blowing across the surface and that did the job very well. But I didn't have five Mitras 7206s over the tank either in an enclosed "canopy". Maybe try a normal fan first?
 

powers2001

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I had a tank in a room with 3 completely closed walls and only one wall partly opened wall and the tank got hot in there. I put an oversized chiller on the tank and it took the heat out of the water and put it in the room. I’m going to setup another tank in the same room but this time put a window AC in the only little window of the room. Hopefully the tank will reach ambient air temperature as the AC takes heat out of the room, puts it outside the house, and replaces it with cooler air.
 
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