When I put together my tank this past winter, the hot summer was a concern in the back of my mind. I have no air conditioning and when my room gets hot, so does my tank. Recently we had a 95 degree day and my tank got up to 86 -- 3 of my panda corys died that night, though my tetras, other little fish and shrimp did not seem to mind too much. The shrimp seemed a little restless, but none of them passed on. Perhaps a bigger problem than the temperature was the big fluctuation in temperature that occurred. We'll have several 100 degree days this year. I'm thinking that even the tetras won't like a 90 degree tank.

I don't know much about chillers, other than the fact that they aren't cheap! I'm thinking to buy one of the little "refrigerator" types for about $250. I looked into building my own with a real refrigerator, but that is quite a bit bigger than a chiller. I really don't have room for a DIY chiller.

If anybody has any input on type or where to buy or any other thoughts, I am open to them. I have a 50G tank in case that makes much difference -- if I can keep the temperature at 82 or below, everything will be fine.

Thanks in advance.

Why not rig up a powerhead and some tubing to draw water from the tank, pass through a cooler packed with ice and back to the tank. Closed, simple, efficient. If you only need now and then, why spend more than you need to.

WOW, they are proud of those retail units

This looks good.
DIY Saltwater Aquarium Chiller


This ones even easier, and the guy says $200 to make.
killies.com :: View topic - DIY Chiller

The fridge looks to be the expensive part. If you could find a used one then you be looking good.

Good luck.

This seems like a very workable idea, cheap and effective. Combine that with a small cooling fan blowing on the water surface and that should totally take care of it.

Thanks everyone.

jsr,

That is good thinking.

Chris,

Thanks for the links -- I had seen the first one, but not the second.

Hoppy,

Yes, I liked jsr's idea too. If a cooling fan would help, I'll pop one on my tank tomorrow.

Anyway, here's what I'm thinking right now:

I already have 2 tanks (the 50G and a 10G), and I am planning on getting either a 120G or two 60Gs (tough decision). All of these tanks will be in a little 18' x 18' room. I think the best solution would be to get a little portable air conditioner that only gets run a few times a year when it is really hot. One thing I didn't mention is that I have been traveling a lot lately. I could easily put the A/C on a timer in the afternoons while I am away to be on the safe side.

I haven't priced out the A/C yet.

Ted,

IMO, I would spend ALL my money on a good AC unit for your place. That way it will cool you AND any number of tanks you may have.

My friend heated his entire POOL by using jsr's method by running his pool water thru PVC up on his roof and back again. It worked really well, so I think his idea is a good one.

You are only cooling 50 gallons and only a couple of degrees, so should work well.

Good luck.