Cooling tank with water cooler

Example 7: Water cooler
A water cooler can be used to cool aquarium water. If an aquarium pump is used to push water directly into the water bottle, the flow rate is too fast and the bottle could overflow. Instead, the water from the pump goes into a reservoir inside the tank (excess water can simply overflow within the tank). The water from the reservoir moves by simple gravity (siphon flow) into the water bottle, and then back into the tank.

Wow 10 degrees is a lot, I think you do need a chiller,
I have not put this idea into practice but to get a 10 degree drop I would think you would need massive water flow...too much for your axolotl.

I was looking into this idea at work, basically from what I can see there is no way to make this a full proof system, you have to rely on syphons, as long as you can keep the water levels at a constant height and ensure the total amount of water in both systems does not exceed the capacity of the tank you should avoid any major disaster.

However, like I say I have looked into this system with an old beat up water cooler at work, although I said you will need to pump through masses of water to achieve a 10 degree drop, this is not actually possible, the actual reservoir is very small(about half a gallon in the water cooler I have) so you have to pump water slowly to give the cooler a chance to cool it.

So to conclude, My belief is this idea is so complex, fragile and space consuming that it is simply not worth it. I do not like any system that relies on syphon's a lot can go wrong. Especially for your needs this will not give you a 10degree drop.

I am currently testing two home made chillers costing £40 and £70, one uses a household mini fridge and one using a 10bottle wine chiller, although I am only hoping for a 2-3degree and 4-6degree drop respectively I will let you know if either work.

Perhaps my assumptions are wrong and the water cooler will work for you. Allow a couple more members to pop up with there ideas.

Edit:I also worry a water cooler would not appreciate constantly cooling water it is designed to cool a small amont and maintain it until used

Yeh I tend to agree with tomkeogh - it seems like a lot of effort for something that's so bulky and I don't think I would ever trust it to work all the time. But I've never tried so someone with a bit of experience might say otherwise.

As for how the thing actually works I'm pretty sure there was a thread where the maker of the contraption explained it with pics. Maybe try a search for 'water cooler'?

And $500 for chiller? I know they can get that expensive (and much more!) but every week or two a chiller pops up on ebay and goes for $100 - $200 (Aus Dollar). I even saw a cheap one go through for AU$80! I think I'm getting one if I see another cheapy. They're all second hand of course, but seemed to be in good condition. Unless there are dodgy brands around?

So my advice - check out ebay and try get a cheap second chiller. Also look into other easy things to do to cool your tank. 10C is a lot. Things like, little fans blowing on the water, getting the tank to the coolest room in the house (down low), removing the tank lid or any internal filters.

ramble...ramble...sorry

Max

My home maid chiller uses a water cooler and pumps water slowly through a close loop (I didn't want my tank water touching anything inside the cooler...aluminum, cooper whatever)..... from my Repticlear 350 out of the tank in thin walled 1/2" vinyl tubing, into the cooler thank where it makes 4 loops, and them back into the tank through the remaining tubing that has been insulated with 1/2" self sealing foam pipe insulation, back onto the tank where the tubing end is covered by the foam element from a Zoo Med 501.
No siphons, no leaks, no current. Vinyl is not a good temperature conductor, but the systems drops the temp in my full 55 gallon tank by 2.5° to 3° F.
Most mini fridges are thermoelectric, too small, and can't handle the cooling load. You can use a small dorm fridge if it has an small freezer/icemaker by removing the ice tray shield and allowing the freezer air to flow right into the fridge. If anyone opens the door however, it takes too long to return the interior of the fridge to it's coldest possible temp.

Here is a DYI example of a chiller using a small fridge.
DIY Do It Yourself Aquarium Chiller - DIY Do It Yourself Aquarium Chiller

I have been wanting to make one of these for a long time.

Yes cynth that is what I am trying now. I do not think it is going to work on my 60litre aquarium, the filter is too weak to pump enough water to get through the amount of tubing required, however my larger 150litre aquarium has an external filter and I am running this through a larger wine chiller it has been running 24 hours with a slight temp drop, I messed up my tube measurements so I have to re-do it but I am going to leave for a week to see if it works, I am hoping to achieve a drop of at least 4degree