Cheap Chiller for the small tanks

[Matthewdmueller]

I just made a chiller for my tank and it only cost me about $45. I made it out of a car powered ice chest that I bought on Ebay for $30 and then I had to get a power converter that would run it off 100VAC, $15. The only part that might be expensive is a temp control unit but I already have a rig for that to run a pump that pump warm water into the cooler and thenback out into the sump. One of the nice things about it too is that its cheap to run at only 45Watts, well I guess 55Watts if you include the powerhead but that only runs every once in a while. The way that I have it set up is the powerhead works on a temp control switch which pumps water from my sump into the cooler. In the cooler I have 4 sepatate loops of 25' a peice airline tubeing all crammed into the cooler that is full of RO/DI water. The cooler water stays at about 44degrees but so far I have seen it go up to 60, but that still cools the water! From there the water just goes into a collector manifold and then back out into the sump. Works like a charm and now I dont have to use the AC to keep my house at 65 all summer to keep the tank cool! I'm useing a small powerhead that I think its about 150g/h so it gives the water that is running through it more time to cool off. I think that I might have some more room for some more tubing and that will help with the heat transfer even more. Another nice thing is that this unit is super small and quiet and can be put just about anywhere. I know that it is only spring but its doing a good job of keeping my tank at 78 right now and the pump seems to be running about 15-25min out of an hour. The only thing that I can see to be a problem is how long the chiller unit in the ice chest will last, but I am looking into spare parts from the manufacturer right now. Hope that this might give someone some ideas or maybe some help to anyone that might need it.:rolleyes:

[brody98]

Wow that's cool. I’ve read of others doing something very similar and always wondered if it really worked. You will have to keep us updated on how it handles the summer heat.

[ChrisC]

I was thinking about doing something like that, those chillers are expensive, but i was thinking of getting one.

[brody98]

I had a regular drop in chiller when my tank was upstairs and it worked great but I didnt like noise, heat or the price tag. $700.00 ouch.. It was nice to be able to put it on ebay when I mover the tank down stairs.

[Matthewdmueller]

Yeah, the chiller that I made didn't last to long and it was a little bit loud too. Right now I'm finding that if I just keep the A/C on in the house my temp seems to stay between 77-80. Thats good enough for me.

[ChrisC]

I have a 46gallon bow front for my tropical fish, i have to turn the a/c on because the tempature goes up over 80 degrees.

I think im going to need a chiller for the new 90 gallon marine tank i am starting to work on.

[Matthewdmueller]

I keep the AC on in my house right around 76 that seems to get my temp down to 77 when the lights are off and then the temp maxes out about 80 when the lights are on. Its not so bad, I like my house kinid of cool anyway, but it costs about $60 a month during the summer months which is April through October here in Florida. I figure about half of the heat that I am getting rid of in my house is from the fish tank and even if you have a chiller that heat has to go somewhere. Unless the chiller is outside of course. If its not then the heat from the tank just gets pumped into your house and then the AC has to get rid of it anyway so its like getting rid of the heat twice. With the little chiller that I had I had the AC turned up to 80 most of the time but since I got rid of itand turned the AC to 76 my electric bill has not changed. Those ground loops that I have been reading about sound kind of cool. If you have a yard and equipment and dont have to worry about freezing levels in the ground it should work out real nice. Maintenance free once you get it set up too. Just a thought.

[brody98]

I keep my ac at 78 and it keeps the basement at 74 and it works out just about perfect.