Frozen water bottle cooling

J

JoshBA

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What is the best way to incorporate this into a terrestrial tank? I only worry that if I did it my Tiger Salamanders would crawl all over it and hurt themselves from the massive temperature change. I thought maybe burying it under the soil but would this diminish its effectiveness? If I insulated the tank with either cardboard or Styrofoam would this increase its effectiveness? thanks
 
I had to cool a tank at a show once. I put ice cubes in a ziploc and placed it over her hide. It was an effective short term solution.

I think burying it would be fine, but it probably won't keep tigers away from it.

You could try suspending them from the lid somehow? Some string around the top maybe. Then they're hanging, and cooling the air without actually touching the tank (and subsequently, salamanders).
 
My parents (heat haters that they are) have a fan system with two ice bricks which slide in front of the fan- the longest side is perpendicular to the air flow, and it drastically drops the temperature and stays cool throughout the night. You could quite probably do something similar with a number of small bricks and a medium sized desk fan (the kind where there isn't a stand to raise it off the desk) and a bit of wire to create a holding frame. This could then be directed down into the vivarium to drop the temperature consistiently. The only issue I can forsee is you will have to time how long it takes for the ice brick to thaw, and then time your swap overs so you can avoid any temperature swings.
Hope this helps!
 
I've actually thinking about a fan set up just like this to keep my diacamptodon cool over the summer(kind of like a mini swamp cooler) I was gunna try to use a water bottle cage from a bicycle and zip tie it to the cage on a desk fan, then just keep a couple bottles in the freezer and rotate them out. Putting the bottle perpendicular to the fan is a great idea I hadn't thought of that one.


Minniechild said:
My parents (heat haters that they are) have a fan system with two ice bricks which slide in front of the fan- the longest side is perpendicular to the air flow, and it drastically drops the temperature and stays cool throughout the night. You could quite probably do something similar with a number of small bricks and a medium sized desk fan (the kind where there isn't a stand to raise it off the desk) and a bit of wire to create a holding frame. This could then be directed down into the vivarium to drop the temperature consistiently. The only issue I can forsee is you will have to time how long it takes for the ice brick to thaw, and then time your swap overs so you can avoid any temperature swings.
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
 
Okay thanks! I'll have to try that fan w/ ice cooling method. Luckily now its springtime and I have time to discover the best cooling method. Just put a large jug full of ice in the tank under the substrate; i'll see how it works.
 
Be careful with fans and terrestrial setups. They can easily dry out a terrestrial salamander.
 
JoshBA said:
Okay thanks! I'll have to try that fan w/ ice cooling method. Luckily now its springtime and I have time to discover the best cooling method. Just put a large jug full of ice in the tank under the substrate; i'll see how it works.
Click to expand...

Make sure the ice is made from dechlorinated water :eek:



<3 >o_o< <3
 
Mister would probably help but I would think it would take some experimenting to figure out the frequency of misting, or an automated setup with a humidity sensor. Splashy waterfall might be better because its constant, if it doesn't ruin you substrate.
 
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