thoughts on a double-paned tank

[jcb118]

Just got back from a 16 day vacation, which I prepared my taricha for by setting up a pump to exchange water through a tank inside a mini-fridge. That worked ok (dropped ~10 deg. F), but I found it much more effective when I wrapped the outside of the tank in blankets to insulate the tank sides (another ~10 deg. F).
So I got to thinking about how a single pane of glass is a sucky insulator and how windows for houses, at least here in the South, are two panes of glass with air sealed between them. I was curious if anyone has run across an aquarium designed something like this. Or perhaps someone with some aquarium tinkering experience has any suggestions how to go about constructing something of the sort.
I'm thinking of two separately constructed aquaria, one slightly smaller than the other, with the smaller one placed inside the larger and resting on a couple of foam strips so the bottoms don't touch, then somehow sealing the top of the gap between the two aquaria to keep the air between them as an insulator. It would work even better it were possible to suction most of the air out from the gap, to create a slight vacuum, but I think that's likely biting off more than I can hope to chew.
ideas?

 

[Abrahm]

I've thought about a project like this myself. If I was going to work on it I would make it so that five sides of the box are some sort of plastic. I know my local Menard's sells sheets of HDPE (I believe) which should act as a reasonably good insulator. I would have only the front wall of the aquarium be glass. You might be able to purchase a piece of double paned glass with that nice little vacuum between the pieces for this.

I was thinking of this for a terrestrial animal, but it should be adaptable for an aquatic species. I personally think it would be far cheaper and quite possibly far more successful if you try to minimize the glass. There are many cheaper products out there that are equal or better insulators.

 

[Jennewt]

Interesting idea. I think it's unlikely you could seal it well enough to get a vacuum between the plates, but the double layer of glass would certainly work.

Along the same lines, I have seen people put styrofoam panels around the sides and bottom of their tank. Ugly, but effective.

 

[Ed]

Instead of going through the trouble of using double panes of glass, you could get a soft drink cooler and cut and install glass into one or more sides. These can also be plumbed with bulkhead fittings to allow for water to circulate. The top can either be removed and replaced with a glass lid to allow sufficient light to enter or glass can be inset into the lid.

If you plumb the bottom of the cooler with a chiller unit and then seal that off from the rest of the cooler you could run chilled water through it which would mimick natural conditions much more efficiently than most other methods (it gets cooler the further you go down into the soil) (this can eb done with a regular tank as well if it is drilled and bulkhead fittings put into place). One of the major drawbacks is the condensation on the glass.

Ed

 

[newtsrfun]

I have been looking at the marine depot cataloge for a few weeks and I am wondering if anyone has seen these before or tried them:

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~chillers_coolworks_microchiller.html

for a bit more you might be able to find a regular duty chiller, but I like the ice-probe mated with the hang on back filter, very mcguyver

 

[jcb118]

Thanks for the feedback guys, the modded cooler is the most effective thermal regulation idea I've heard and I will probably do that at some point.
The reason I'm interested in the double-paned glass idea is that it preserves the tank's "look", and could be displayed as a regular tank. I like the HDPE idea, I'll have to check out what sort of glass alternatives are suitable/available for me.

 

[Ed]

If you are building one out of HDPE and don't mind drilling the bottom, you can still inset a false bottom that is chilled allowing terraria that more closely resemble natural conditions.

Ed

 

[Zapher]

Most double paned windows are filled with argon gas which doesn't transfer heat or cold. Thats what really acts as the insulation but i would have no idea how you could go about filling a pane with it. Try talking to a representative of a window company to see if you can get any information out of them.