Need Cooling Method

I live in Florida, where it is quite warm. I am not home sometimes for two days at a time and the indoor temperature is usually around 85F (about 30C) during the middle of the day. I am looking for a cooling system for terrestrial species that will not dry them out but will achieve a sustainable temperature around 60-68F (15-20C). I would also prefer it to cost less than 100 USD. The tank would probably be a 15 gallon tank. I looked through the cooling article on CC and didn't find anything I could do for a terrestrial salamander without needing ice because I cannot change ice daily.

Have you thought of maybe making something yourself, sort of like a water cooler setup for PC, and pumping the water into a radiator that is inside of a mini fridge?

You know that cold air settles, and hot air rises, so all you really need to do is have the cooling lines run across the top and sides of the tank and it should keep the interior of the tank cool.

Just throwing out a possible DIY option.

Something like this with a copper plate, or aluminum plate on it, that is pressed to side or bottom of tank. And pumping the fluid through an electric mini fridge, or chest fridge.

http://www.amazon.com/Hayden-Automo...346043760&sr=8-2&keywords=transmission+cooler

Looks like a great idea, thanks! This is a huge help

Adding to that, you could try using a mini fridge/freezer temperature controller to turn on/shut off the cooling process until the desired temperature is met. This makes it work regardless of how much the temperature fluctuates during the day or seasons in general.

Any idea of how much this method will cool the tank? I'll have to buy the mini fridge and want to make sure it's effective before spending the money on it. If the house is between 80 and 85, will the tank be anywhere between 50 and 70 with this method?

Hey, I only just now saw your question. As for the answer, I have no idea. I was just trying to thrown an idea out there thinking out of the box.

Generally micro fridges are based on a peltier heat exchanger. Which is basically a thermoelectric plate.

Hook electricity up to it, one side gets hot, other side gets cold. You put the cold side against the area you want cooled, and hook a heatsink like a computer uses, or radiator, etc, and a fan to draw heat away from the hot side. The cooler you can make the hot side, the colder the "cold side" will get.

They work well enough in small areas like mini fridges. Most mini fridges can usually get things at least 20 deg cooler than the ambient temperature, generally more.

Anyways, hopefully whatever solution you end up trying works out. Good luck.