A few more preparations. Chilling

[Tommyflashlight]

Hello all.
As the day draws nearer that i will order my bigMac, or rather Bimac, a question comes to mind that i have avoided before. I can keep my tank steady around 75 during the winter and spring, but once summer comes around i know that the water will rise into the high 80s at least. A chiller is definately not an option, I have not got the money. The mini-fridge method is probably my best bet, but I am very cheap, cheap. Like the Canary. If i froze my makeup water every day, do you think it would thaw slow enough? or does anyone have any other ideas? I will use the fridge if necessary but if there are any other methods out there i would like to give them a try.
Thanks

[cephalopoder]

A bimac won't last long in the 80s. They come from cool water on the pacific side of the USA. I would not go much over 75. In the summer I blow a fan over my tank and use evaporative cooling. This keeps me at 7O. You just have to add more top off water in the summer when you do this. I can't say if you will be able to keep the same temp where you live.

[Rudiger]

Hey chris i was just about to ask you what to do with the octo tank in the summer. I started my tank just at the end of last summer, so I do not know what temp it will hit this summer. Since you are in my area you are the perfect person to ask, but you just said what you do, you use a fan.

Now I have some more questions. Do you have the top of the tank completly opened, or just a section? How big of a fan? A little clip on fan, or a big beast of a fan? Do you run it day and night? My tank is only 40gallon, so the surface on top is not as large as your tank (im guessing its more than 40g) so do you think I will be able to get enough evaporation going to cool the tank? So many questions...

pat

[Rudiger]

also what do you think is the temp of the room the tank is in during the summer? My room can hit 85 degrees.

[schmunkel98]

I have 4 computer fans that I got from an electonic store that cool off my 135 gallon tank. I also have a DIY chiller(a.k.a. dorm fridge) that I'm starting to think hasn't helped nearly as much as it should have. If you want to cool off your tank I suggest the fans first, then some sort of small freezer instead of the small dorm fridge. It is a little extra money, but you would get a lot more cooling out of it. The fans alone on my 135 gallon cool it down another 2 or 3 degrees. The DIY chiller knocks it down another 1 to 2 degrees. I have succesfully kept my aquarium at 72 to 73 degrees in 100+ degrees weather here in Texas. Another big factor is where your aquarium is placed in your house/apartment. If it's on an outside wall it will get more heat or cooling form that wall depending on the season. Your thermostat is also your friend when it comes to cooling a glass aquarium. If you can keep your house at about 73 to 74 degrees it will help cool off your aquarium more. If all else fails, get a small chiller. They are pricey, but help a ton and don't take up near the space of the cheaper options.

Mike

www.schmunkel.0catch.com

[cephalopoder]

Pat
I use a normal room fan that rotates. I just point it at the tank from about 6 feet away and let it blow over the tank.
I have AC in all but the octo room. The fan dose keep the tank a lot cooler than the room. I am not sure how much cooling you will get with a room temp of 85 but the fan will definately help if you have it blowing over the top of the tank. My tank is completely open. I just have eggcrate that the light sits ontop. With a O.bimaculoides you will need to seperate the light from the water with a piece glass. Bimacs are squirters and can blow your lights.

[OctoMonkey]

i wish that just once it got to 85 deg F here in scotland!