Good chiller for 10 gallon nano?

[porkbullet]

I just recently had to move my 18month established 10 gallon nano-reef to our recently finished basement. The move went great! However, in it's new home (home office with no windows and plenty of hot computer equipment) the tank is hitting 84+ degrees every day. It cools off to about 79 or 80 with lights off at night.

I am worried that this temp is just too high and the fluctuation only compounds the problem. Should I look into a chilling solution like a Microchiller (http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_chillers_coolworks_microchiller.asp?CartId=) ?

Does anyone have one of these? Or seen one in action? Are they noisy, etc.?

Is there a better solution to keep my temp under control?

Thanks

[Mikeeal]

Try fans first. You can find many, many different sizes at a computer junkyard/repair shop, and they usually give them to you for free.

If that doesn't work, you could try the CoolWorks Ice Probe, which claims to drop temp. 6-8 degrees in a 10G and can be had for around 90 bucks.

Or, you could try the new ICA mini chiller they're selling over at Nanotuners.

The one you're looking at just looks too big and bulky for my tastes, and it's a little pricey when you add in the controller.

[porkbullet]

I like the Ice Probe idea. It's cheaper and looks like it has a much smaller footprint.

Any ideas on how to mount this thing without drilling holes in my tank? I do have a DIY Aquaclear fuge on the back of my tank, maybe I could install it in there somehow?

[Mikeeal]

Yeah, I don't have any experience with them, however, I would think that drilling the AC fuge would work just fine.

[DavinD]

I had the same problem with my 12 gallon and a 4" fan mounted over the water worked great. It brought the temp down from 85 to 76. I evaporate about 1/4 gallon a day, however.

[louist]

http://www.zengalleria.com/images/aquarium/CRW_3927.jpg

http://www.zengalleria.com/images/aquarium/CRW_3932.jpg

Wiring the peltier cooler: The peltier draws 60W of power @ 12DV, which means it will need a power supply that's capable of 5A of power. I got a PSU that's designed for car and personal coolers that meets that rating. In reality, the peltier draws 4A, and the fan draws 350mA, so I am still within spec.
http://www.zengalleria.com/images/aquarium/CRW_4473.jpg

The black object on the side of the heatsink is a thermal cutout that will turn the peltier off in case the fan fails.
http://www.zengalleria.com/images/aquarium/CRW_4474.jpg

http://www.zengalleria.com/images/aquarium/CRW_4475.jpg

http://www.zengalleria.com/images/aquarium/CRW_4488.jpg

Cooling capability:
Time - Tank temp - fan/peltier on? - ambient temp - light on?
12:08PM - 28.5 - both ON - 29.0 - light OFF
12:50PM - 28.0 - both ON - 29.0 - light ON
13:20PM - 28.5 - both ON - 30.5 - light ON
14:00PM - 29.0 - both ON - 31.5 - light ON
15:35PM - 30.0 - both ON - 32.0 - light ON
16:52PM - 30.0 - both ON - 32.0 - light ON

These values where measured without +ve/-ve controls, so take as a guideline. I wasn't able to measure room humidity either, so that's a big contributing factor.

[rickh]

I used the IceProbe controller to regulate a fan on my FW tank. It keeps the temp rock solid. My main problem is room temperature from the sun, not lights. I doubt a fan alone would be enough to cool your tank with high power lights. R

[dogstar74]

Fans blowing across the top of the tank will do more than you think. I was quite surprized. They take away the heat from the lamps and they promote evaporation so the water stays cooler two ways. I would definately try this before purchasing the Ice probe. However. If I were to try to mount the iceprobe, I would simply hang a corner piece of acrylic from the top and allow the probe to dip down into the tank. Rather than drill the side. As these things don't need to be horizontally mounted. As you can see, the microchiller is simply a mod of a HOT filter allowing the positioning of the Ice Probe. Certainly not worth the 150 bucks.
good luck

[Mikeeal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7040131#post7040131 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dogstar74
Fans blowing across the top of the tank will do more than you think. I was quite surprized.


Agreed. I have two 80mm's on my 20G with a 175W halide and a closed hood, temp. stays at 79.

On my 2.5G, (closed hood) with 36W of PC's, temp. rose to 85, I installed two 40mm fans, and temp. dropped to 77.

[louist]

Fans only work well when the humidity of the room is low, else evaporation is not efficient. I use a 80mm fan with the cooler, and have a 150w MH over my tank, which is open top.

I got the iceprobe off ebay for something like $40, and just wired it myself.

[rockindacheeks]

the microchiller is nice, but pricey. I was having heat issues with my 150 HQI over my 10 gallon. it would get to about 85, so I hooked up a 3" fan and the tank never goes above 80.5 degrees.

go with a fan...

my .02

[kabal2]

I think you should go with fans, in a small tank keep the temp down with a fan is easy, the only thing you will have more evaporation, just my .02c

[dogstar74]

Talk about humidity, I lived in Des Moines IA, smack in the middle of the missouri and the mississippi river. Still dropped my tank temp 3-4 degrees. It works.

Another thing I see is that that microchiller has a PH to fill the reservoir, wouldn't that add heat to the system, thus reducing the efficacy of the ice probe? If you want the max chilling capacity, then you should put the probe directly into the water column and possibly direct flow toward the probe.

[louist]

Another thing I see is that that microchiller has a PH to fill the reservoir, wouldn't that add heat to the system, thus reducing the efficacy of the ice probe?
It doesn't. It's just a probe that's submerged in water.

Fan is always the first choice, since it's cheap and work well.

[corvica]

Does anyone know what size the aqua clear hob is for the microchiller that the iceprobe is mounted in. I have the iceprobe and thats how I wanna mount it.

[kabal2]

i dont know the series in the aqua but i know that is not the small one is the second once, sorry im not much help with that

[louist]

No idea, I did the wiring and plumbing of my iceprobe, and I have it on the top of my AC70 (aka 300). It could go smaller, won't hurt.

Look at my photos above to get an idea of relative sizes.