Thermoelectric Chiller

[igoRluse]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking into a solution for cooling my 7g nano a few degrees. I can get some reasonably priced thermoelectric elements and am thinking of giving it a go. Does anyone have any experience with these? The element I am looking at is a 4A 42watt version but I can get an 8A 75watt one or even several of them if one is not enough. What do you reckon? Is this going to cool my tank?

[Trackz]

I think you may be talking about a Peltier chip. You can't put them in the water, but they do get cold. It could work if you hook it up right, but it might be more trouble than it's worth.

They are basically a really small heat pump with 2 sides. It pulls all the energy from the 'cold' side and puts it on the 'hot' side. In that sense, be careful. The 'hot' side can get really really warm. You absolutely have to have some way to cool the hot side to keep the chip working. So you are talking more equipment. A really big heatsink with a fan may do the job.

You would probably want to attach it to some sort of metal block with a tube through it, and then pump the water out of the tank, through the block, and back to the tank.

[gixxerrder1371]

I wouldnt put anything metal in contact with the tank water .. . maybe put the metal in a plastic container with tapwater then put that bucket in a larger tub that has tank water getting pumped in and out of it . . . This way your tank water would only come in contact with the plastic container . .

You might even be able to use somthing in the pail that holds the cold temperature better then water.

I'm definitly no expert . .

Also . . . i was looking at the iceprobes and they say they can lower the temp of smaller aquariums by up to 17*f . and they only cost like 100$ . . . So maybe thats a good choice for ya .

Check em out . IceProbe (http://www.marinedepot.com/a_ch_iceprobe.asp?CartId=)

Gixx.