Cooling a 400g

[smithygreen]

Hey all what are some are my cheaper options for cooling a 400g system? tank is around 29 degrees at the moment on a 26 degrees day, summer is just around the corner is Australia and it regularly gets up 30-35 degrees - the tank is built into a small room - would a big extraction fan work or would a small AC be better, they are around the same money 3-4 hundred AU each

Cheers

[reefkeeper67]

I believe a small a/c unit would work better for you than a fan. It would also help to remove alot of the humidity from the aquarium room and increase evaporation helping to cool the tank even further. I have an open top tank of the same size and the humidity can be a real problem if you don't remove it some how. I would opt for one of the larger a/c units simply because of the heat load you plan to put on it.

[mars9820]

I would go for a 1/3 hp a/c unit or even a 1/2 hp depending on how much you need to cool down in summerdays.

Outside temperature in no means have to be indoor temperature. Asking around or check with different LFS will give you a good indication what you will need.

Also check their warranty conditions. I bought a unit that died after 2 months in mid summer (35 degrees). The tank went from 26 to 32 in only 3 or 4 hours. (I was not home).

Bottles with ice cooled it down only a couple degrees (200 gallon tank). A call to the LFS guy at 11pm resulted in a new chiller the next afternoon at 4pm.

That is what I call service. All I probably lost is one colt coral however it seems he is recovering but he is in an unsure stage at the moment.

[smithygreen]

or should i just invest in a chiller if so what kind (brand) do you guys recommend?

Cheers

[chainsaw5vent]

chillers are always good.
you might look into geothermal cooling. using the earth to help keep your water cool by plumbing some pipes/sump into the earth. (like getting cold water from your house pipes.)
see o2manyfishdotcom for better info. click on "coral system" and read bottom 2 paragraphs.

[drjrose]

Originally posted by smithygreen
would a big extraction fan work

I went to eBay for 16" automotive 12 VDC fans and Best Buy for the transformer to step down from 120 VAC to 12 VDC. The Aqualogic single stage controller came from Jeff's Exotic Fish. The tank pictured is 140 gal running 440 W of VHO and 750 W of HQI. The 336 that I am setting up will use 3 fans, but I will probably have to use a chiller as well, but those fans really work well.

[reefkeeper67]

If you opt to go with a chiller I would use a 1/3 to 1/2 HP. I have always had good luck with Aquanetics chillers. I believe they changed their name to AquaLogic now. I have one that is over 12 years old and still going strong. Just remember that a chiller puts out a tremendous amount of heat when running and that heat has to be removed from your aquarium room/house somehow. I cool my 375 by running an open top with a fan blowing across the top just below the lights and relying on the evaporative cooling process to keep it cool. This way my chiller rarely if ever comes on. I also keep my house a couple of degrees cooler that I want my tank. I also go through about 25 gallons of top off a week. Just some ideas for you.

[1package]

I have about a 300g system and the room temperature seems to have the most impact on the temperature. It is starting to cool down now so I raised the room temperature up 2 degrees, the tank immediately followed. I already had an exhaust fan in the canopy and a small fan on the sump. It was getting the job done. I first added 2 additional PC style fans, little help.

I then upgraded the fan blowing across my sump to one of those Stanley directional blower fans and the temperature drop has been unbelieveable. I would have never, never thought that the higher volume fan capable of better direction could have made such a difference.