Quarantine Tank Chiller

[cassilyn]

Hello all,

I am setting up a 10-gallon quarantine tank and need to be able to drop the temperature by about 4-6 degrees. Does anyone have experience with the nano chillers or fans? What is the best way to go? I've been looking, but there are so many options I don't know which way to go. I don't have a huge budget, but I'd like to keep it cool enough for sick ponies.

I don't have my seahorse tank yet. I'll have it in August. I just received a 2-sided 20-gallon aquarium for Mother's Day and am making one side a quarantine tank and the other side an amphipod tank to have live food for all our tanks. I've started setting up the quarantine side, but it stays at a steady 78 degrees. We live in the desert and have evaporative coolers, not A/C, so I can't get it any cooler than that without help.

Any suggestions?

Cassi

 

[Big G]

Bump

 

[Big G]

#reefsquad

 

[Flippers4pups]

Not me, sorry.

Bump

 

[ThRoewer]

Use a fan. It's what I use on all my tanks, even the display.
Evaporation chilling is quite effective and 4 to 6 °C are definitely possible.
You just need to make sure to refill the evaporated water or ideally install a simple ATO.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

A desk fan will definately work

 

[Retro Reefer]

Fans will definitely drop temps however 6 degrees may be a stretch. I would try it and see what kind of results you get,a fan with a controller such as inkbird would be a lot more economical to purchase and to operate over a chiller.

 

[nereefpat]

Try the fan.

If it doesn't work, I have a 1/14 HP chiller sitting in my garage that I would give you a smoking deal on,

 

[Flippers4pups]

@cassilyn,

Chill Solutions CSXC-1 Unboxing and Installation

I purchased the Chill Solutions CSXC-1 hydroponic chiller for my 16 gallon BioCube. Even after taking the top off the cube, high weekend temperatures in my classroom were causing a small spike in temp. I want my aquarium to consistently be at 77 degrees. There are a few videos on YouTube and...

www.reef2reef.com

Chiller for a small tank

Anyone have a recommendation for our member on a small chiller? https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/quarantine-tank-chiller.722667/

www.reef2reef.com

 

[cassilyn]

Use a fan. It's what I use on all my tanks, even the display.
Evaporation chilling is quite effective and 4 to 6 °C are definitely possible.
You just need to make sure to refill the evaporated water or ideally install a simple ATO.

Thanks so much!

 

[cassilyn]

Fans will definitely drop temps however 6 degrees may be a stretch. I would try it and see what kind of results you get,a fan with a controller such as inkbird would be a lot more economical to purchase and to operate over a chiller.

Thanks!

 

[cassilyn]

Try the fan.

If it doesn't work, I have a 1/14 HP chiller sitting in my garage that I would give you a smoking deal on,

Thank you...that would be great. I'll let you know if I need one.

 

[rayjay]

Remember please that a hospital/quarantine tank often needs to have temperature dropped to 68°F when dealing with bacterial infections and a fan is NOT going to do that for you at the temperature you have mentioned.

 

[ThRoewer]

In a dry desert climate (where she is located) evaporation chilling is very effective and relatively large temperature drops can be achieved.
Its effectiveness drops with rising air humidity but even here in coastal California it is still quite effective.
However, in extremely humid areas, like for example Florida, you will have to use a vapor compression chiller (like the ones in your refrigerator and freezer).
So what type of chiller to use also depends on where you are located and on the prevailing weather conditions.

A few tips on using evaporation chilling:
- make sure to get the moisture out of the house (or garage where I have my tanks) to not lose efficiency over the day. This is probably not an issue with a single 10 gallon tank in the whole house as long as there are no air humidifiers running.
- isolate the tank on as many panels as possible with styrofoam sheets to prevent heat uptake from the environment.
- if any possible use external, air-cooled pumps for water circulation as the waste heat from submerged pumps can be quite significant.
- cover part of the tank with a glass panel and have the fan force the air through the space between the water surface and cover plate:

 

[cassilyn]

Remember please that a hospital/quarantine tank often needs to have temperature dropped to 68°F when dealing with bacterial infections and a fan is NOT going to do that for you at the temperature you have mentioned.

Thank you. I did not know that, so I'll keep looking at chillers over fans.

 

[cassilyn]

In a dry desert climate (where she is located) evaporation chilling is very effective and relatively large temperature drops can be achieved.
Its effectiveness drops with rising air humidity but even here in coastal California it is still quite effective.
However, in extremely humid areas, like for example Florida, you will have to use a vapor compression chiller (like the ones in your refrigerator and freezer).
So what type of chiller to use also depends on where you are located and on the prevailing weather conditions.

A few tips on using evaporation chilling:
- make sure to get the moisture out of the house (or garage where I have my tanks) to not lose efficiency over the day. This is probably not an issue with a single 10 gallon tank in the whole house as long as there are no air humidifiers running.
- isolate the tank on as many panels as possible with styrofoam sheets to prevent heat uptake from the environment.
- if any possible use external, air-cooled pumps for water circulation as the waste heat from submerged pumps can be quite significant.
- cover part of the tank with a glass panel and have the fan force the air through the space between the water surface and cover plate:

Wow! This is great. Do you think I could get the really low temps I need for a quarantine/medical tank? My temp stays at about 76 degrees with the ambient room temperature staying its normal temperature. If I need to get to about 68 degrees as suggested below, will this method work do you think? Is it worth trying since it would save quite a bit of money, but money isn't my only concern, even though it is a big one. If I include additional fans in the back to cool the equipment, will that help too?

 

[nereefpat]

Remember please that a hospital/quarantine tank often needs to have temperature dropped to 68°F when dealing with bacterial infections

I have never heard of this situation. Anyone else had to do this?

 

[ThRoewer]

Wow! This is great. Do you think I could get the really low temps I need for a quarantine/medical tank? My temp stays at about 76 degrees with the ambient room temperature staying its normal temperature. If I need to get to about 68 degrees as suggested below, will this method work do you think? Is it worth trying since it would save quite a bit of money, but money isn't my only concern, even though it is a big one. If I include additional fans in the back to cool the equipment, will that help too?

The more airflow you provide the stronger the wind-chill effect. I'm actually cooling my 100-gallon display tank (total system volume 200 gallon) this way and just use a single ultra high power computer fan that can deliver 250 CFM. The downside of that fan is that it sounds like a jet engine but the tank is in the garage so I don't care. It actually manages to keep the system at 27 °C even if the garage is 33 °C hot.
You can get a higher temperature difference if you Isolate the tank on bottom, back, sides, and front well with styrofoam sheets.

 

[ThRoewer]

I have never heard of this situation. Anyone else had to do this?

No. I keep my pipefish at cozy temperatures and they don't seem to mind it. My pipefish would be close to death at 20 °C (68 °F), their lower temperature limit is 22 °C (~72 °F).
Before going that low with a tropical species I would make sure that they can actually survive it.

 

[rayjay]

I have never heard of this situation. Anyone else had to do this?

If you've never hear of this, you haven't had to ask of others how to solve a bacterial infection on seahorses, or, you haven't been in the hobby long enough and on the right place for information.
Bacterial infections are the number one cause of wounds and deaths in seahorses, especially in temperatures above 74°F.
Once an infection occurs, the treatment prescribed is to place it in a hospital tank, treat with Furan II and tri-sulpha, and slowly drop the temperature to 68°F. The reason for doing this is that the nasty bacteria we are concerned about multiply EXPONENTIALLY with EACH rising degree, but the curve goes upwards dramatically when you get above 74°F.
In treatment then, by reducing the temperature to 68°F you limit the ability of the bacteria to grow, especially at the time they are under treatment. Thus you are aiding the effects of the antibiotics.