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What Do You Use To Chill Your Water?

Zalesa

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Hello!

I just recently set up my axolotl tank to cycle and I've been keeping track of the temperatures of my water. My tank is in my room, where I usually have 2 fans in my room on at all times and the window covered up. It is summer here, currently and reaches degrees up to 90's-100's right now. My tank is staying in the mid 70's.

I was considering purchasing an aquarium fan to go over my tank. Has anyone else done this to cool their tanks down and what has your success rate been?
I don't want to purchase a chiller if I don't have to because they're so expensive.

So, what do you use to chill your water?

Thanks!
Lauryn
 

Dell

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Hi, I live in DC and it has been in the high 90's here lately. I live in a basement apt with an air conditioner running 24/7. My tank was running about 73/74 degrees. I did a bunch of research and I ended up getting a Coolworks micro chiller from marinedepot.com. Its designed for 10 gallon tanks, I think if your tank is bigger you won't get the same results. I have reef tanks as well so I just ordered from them. It's essentially an ice probe chiller that is used for drilled tanks, but this one comes already attached to a HOB filter (looks like a small Aqua Clear) It's lowered my temps to about 66/67 degrees. It was $165. I think I got free shipping. It does increase the flow in the tank and I had to get one of those turtle island floating things to break it up, but I am very happy with it. I tried fans and they worked some but not enough (only a couple of degrees) but I think lots of others have had good results with fans. I'm sure others will chime in. Good luck!

Dell
 

Zalesa

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Thank you so much for your input! I have a 29 gallon tank, and it's running about 73 degrees as well. $165 is the cheapest I've seen a chiller/cooler but I really don't want to have to pay that if I don't have to haha. If I have to though, I may look into that.

Thank you so much again!!
 

Dell

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This little chiller would do no good on a tank that size, it would be a waste of money. You would need a real chiller. Do a search on fans and cooling or the small/college fridge DIY chiller for super cheap. Essentially you just get a cheap dorm fridge off craigslist and drill a few holes in the side and run a garden hose through it with a pump and its supposed to work great. I don't know all the details but they say It's a great solution if you have the room and a bit of DIY skills.
 

allied123

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I am beyond exhausted trying to correct people about using those tiny useless things. Axolotls need a 20 gallon tank minimum and those tiny things aren't useful for more than a 10 gallon tank. They're also not cheap at $120!
 

Zalesa

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So just an update, I was researching cooling fans pretty heavily and one user left a review saying she placed one fan on one end of the tank blowing in the tank, and one fan (essentially upside down from the other one) on the other side where it sucks the air and blows out of the tank. She said this method has cooled her tank down about 10 degrees.

I took a chance, seeing as though I was going to invest in fans first anyhow, and bought 2 of them. I'm going to try this method and see how much it cools. I'll let you guys know my results!!

I'm anxious to try this little experiment out, seeing as most people report only lowering their tank temp about 3 to 4 degrees with a fan in a normal set up. And if this works like hers did, it'll be a much cheaper alternative to a chiller.
 

Dell

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I am beyond exhausted trying to correct people about using those tiny useless things. Axolotls need a 20 gallon tank minimum and those tiny things aren't useful for more than a 10 gallon tank. They're also not cheap at $120!

Yeah, my little guy is still in a 10g gallon. He/she is barely 3 inches long. I will definitely put him in a 20g or 40g breeder when he gets bigger. I see a bunch of post about people complaining about the little chillers but they put it on a 30g bigger tank. Thats not gonna work, they do work great for this tank anyway or for a 10g or smaller. I had this already for a nano reef so I just put to on my axo tank. I will upgrade when I get a bigger tank.

Lauryn - Looking forward to seeing your results from the fans.
 
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