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Question: About Chillers...

Horser01

New member
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Aug 25, 2015
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Alberta, Canada
First of all, thanks for reading this. Second of all, please (and thank you for) be patient with me. I do not have any experience with keeping tanks. I've had goldfish all my life, but they were kept in bowls until recently (no filters, etc). I now have a 29 gallon tank that has the filter that came with the "starter kit". So please talk to me like I'm stupid. I have been wanting axolotls for a couple years now, and have been doing research for about one year as I actually started planning to get some.

As mentioned, I have a 29 gallon tank for my goldfish. It hovers between 73 - 78 degrees farenheight (on avg). The lowest recorded is 70, while the highest is 80. Not good ranges for axolotls.

The tank I'm thinking of getting for the axolotls is a 40 gallon. (36"x18"x16") It will have a slate tile substrate, and I'm hoping to add a few java ferns, moss balls, and duck weed.

According to my research, adding a screen top instead of the hood will reduce the temp by about 2 degrees. Adding a cooling fan will reduce it between 4 - 8 degrees. That still makes it 74 degrees on a bad day and an avg of 67 - 72 degrees on the regular days. The high ends are still not acceptable, and the avg is barely.

SO, I decided I'd need a chiller. Problem is, newbie that I am, I don't have a CLUE about chillers. I've done some research, and it seems that a drop in chiller would be more practical. But I can't find any sold in Canada. The ones I've found in the states run $800+ US funds, plus shipping. I found an in-line filter for $750 in CAD, plus $5 shipping. Which is better? For pricing as well as quality / practicality / whatever?

This is the inline I was looking at: https://www.amazon.ca/Cl-Coralife-C...=UTF8&qid=1465264091&sr=1-29&keywords=chiller

As I understand it, you also need additional things to run these. Ie: Pumps, tubing, etc. I don't have a clue what I need. Googling how chillers work gives me the technical part, but not a "You will also need to purchase".

If anyone could spare a few minutes to give me the pros and cons to "drop in" and "in line", a review of the brand I linked to, some of the ins and outs, or even just "You'd need this for this and that for that", I'd REALLY appreciate it...

P.S. - Is there anything else cheap / free / tips I could use to further reduce the temp? Like the screen top, fan, plants, insulating the tank, putting the tank closer to the floor. Would certain set ups help? Would slate help or hurt? Would a different substrate be better for cooling? Could I drop ice cubes into the filter a few times a day?
 
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