Martin88
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- Jun 5, 2010
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Hi Guys,
As you all know me and my partner forum name (munchbunny) had some problems with the temp in our axie aquarium, the tank was 60L and temps were climbing to 28ish on the really bad days. Although it didnt seem to worry our axie it certainly worried us.
We tried fans and ice bottles and neither made a major change which worried us so we ended up moving our axie into an 170L aquarium which now hold the temp at a steady 19, not ideal but alot better off.
I have since had a brainwave for a home made cooler very cheaply and here is the method.It works fantastically and anyone can put it together,
First you will need a mini fridge, these things are highly in-expensive and can be bought for around 10 pounds. You will also need a coffee jar, alot of airline and a small water pump, total cost is less then 30 pounds !! thats 10 times cheaper than a cooler from the store.
1) Take your mini fridge and drill 2 holes in the top wide enough for some airline and space them out abit taking care as to not drill down the sides.
2) Find a small pot or jar which fits snugly in the fridge allowing the door to close, coffee jars work well. Poke 2 holes in the lide of the jar to accept the air line.
3) At your local aquatics pick up around 20M of airline and a small water pump which has adjustable flow, my local aquatics store did one for 11.99. Attach 1 end of the airline to the water pump and place in your aquarium where desired.
4) take the other end of the airline and run it through the hole in your fridge and then through the hole in the jar lid.
5) Coil up your airline in the jar making sure you pack in as much airline into the jar as possible, once your happy with the airline in the jar run the end through the lid and replace the lid. Run the end of your airline through the roof of your fridge insert your jar snuggly and close the door of the fridge,
6) lead the airline back to your aquarium and afix it inside so that it wont come lose.
And now you have your cooler, The pump pushes the water through the airline which is coiled up inside the fridge and back to your aquarium thus cooling the water. The slower the flow of the pump the more time the water is inside the fridge and therefore is colder, the faster the flow the less chilled the water, giving you an element of control. For best results i suggest you seriously coil up that airline for maximum time inside the fridge.
This method eliminates the use of bottles and ice which dont allow much control, they provide a neat little water cooler at minimum cost. Alot of these fridges have warm and cold setting meaning you could use it in reverse in the winter to bring the temp up if needed, The fridges are very low power consumption and the water used is water from your tank i.e already treated.
You can leave the cooler running 24/7 once you have the flow rate set up to keep your aquarium at the right temp giving you peace of mind regarding the temp. I admit in the beginning its trial and error regarding how fast/slow to run the pump but once its set it works great.
I have made up a quick diagram on paint for anyone wanting to give it a go =)
I hope this is beneficial to someone on here =)
As you all know me and my partner forum name (munchbunny) had some problems with the temp in our axie aquarium, the tank was 60L and temps were climbing to 28ish on the really bad days. Although it didnt seem to worry our axie it certainly worried us.
We tried fans and ice bottles and neither made a major change which worried us so we ended up moving our axie into an 170L aquarium which now hold the temp at a steady 19, not ideal but alot better off.
I have since had a brainwave for a home made cooler very cheaply and here is the method.It works fantastically and anyone can put it together,
First you will need a mini fridge, these things are highly in-expensive and can be bought for around 10 pounds. You will also need a coffee jar, alot of airline and a small water pump, total cost is less then 30 pounds !! thats 10 times cheaper than a cooler from the store.
1) Take your mini fridge and drill 2 holes in the top wide enough for some airline and space them out abit taking care as to not drill down the sides.
2) Find a small pot or jar which fits snugly in the fridge allowing the door to close, coffee jars work well. Poke 2 holes in the lide of the jar to accept the air line.
3) At your local aquatics pick up around 20M of airline and a small water pump which has adjustable flow, my local aquatics store did one for 11.99. Attach 1 end of the airline to the water pump and place in your aquarium where desired.
4) take the other end of the airline and run it through the hole in your fridge and then through the hole in the jar lid.
5) Coil up your airline in the jar making sure you pack in as much airline into the jar as possible, once your happy with the airline in the jar run the end through the lid and replace the lid. Run the end of your airline through the roof of your fridge insert your jar snuggly and close the door of the fridge,
6) lead the airline back to your aquarium and afix it inside so that it wont come lose.
And now you have your cooler, The pump pushes the water through the airline which is coiled up inside the fridge and back to your aquarium thus cooling the water. The slower the flow of the pump the more time the water is inside the fridge and therefore is colder, the faster the flow the less chilled the water, giving you an element of control. For best results i suggest you seriously coil up that airline for maximum time inside the fridge.
This method eliminates the use of bottles and ice which dont allow much control, they provide a neat little water cooler at minimum cost. Alot of these fridges have warm and cold setting meaning you could use it in reverse in the winter to bring the temp up if needed, The fridges are very low power consumption and the water used is water from your tank i.e already treated.
You can leave the cooler running 24/7 once you have the flow rate set up to keep your aquarium at the right temp giving you peace of mind regarding the temp. I admit in the beginning its trial and error regarding how fast/slow to run the pump but once its set it works great.
I have made up a quick diagram on paint for anyone wanting to give it a go =)
I hope this is beneficial to someone on here =)