Effects of evaporation

[bjohanson1234]

Posted this here so maybe a person new to marine aquariums will stumble across it and save some money.

Many people are recommended chillers by their LFS to keep temps down. However, most tanks do not need a chiller. They just need a clip on fan to cause an increase of evaporation to lower it down to an acceptable range.

This video, albeit not a video of a reef aquarium, shows how the basic principle of evaporation can cool a tank and how much of a temperature difference can be had by just increasing evaporation.

Keep Your Drinks and Food Cool in the Sun with a No-Electricity-Required Zeer Pot Fridge

 

[SarahSmile]

Great advice. I remember a year ago boldly stating I was going to get a chiller and Little Fish told me that it would be dumb to do. Saved me research and aggravation for sure. Little clip on fans are the way to go for sure!

 

[yote]

How about we make that a sticky!

 

[Smitty]

Wow, that was cool...no pun intended. Makes me want to try that out myself. Good find Bj.

 

[bjohanson1234]

Wow, that was cool...no pun intended. Makes me want to try that out myself. Good find Bj.

Yeah, I think I am going to build one of those coolers for the 4th of July :mrgreen:

 

[jbrother]

I bought a Zoo Med Aquacool fan for my tank when I first set it up. In the summer my apartment never goes below 90 F. That cheap little fan keeps my tank at a safe temperature year round and never once failed. You do need to the water line though because it drops significantly faster.

Clip on fans make it possible for me to enjoy this hobby =)

 

[MitchReef]

It requires almost 8700 BTU to evaporate one gallon of water at sea level.....This is a scientific constant....

I had a 75G peninsula with a fully enclosed stand, viewable from any side...I also had a closed hood....entirely closed...The stand had a "Vintage" BlueLine 1100 pump in the stand and 2 X 250W MH and 2 T5HO actinics...I had a 120mm SileneX fan ducted properly and a little plastic 12V squirrel cage fan exhausting ftom the top of the hood and I kept a constant 80 to 81degrees in the water....using evaporation and ATO of 3 3/4G per day....

 

[Nick]

Agreed. Overheating has been a problem for me during the summer months. As for chillers, I just keep the A/C on in the room; this way, I get to stay cool too!

I did take a cooling fan from a computer and fashioned a mount which made it functional and aesthetically pleasing, but when leaving it on all the time, the evaporation rate is very high and I needed to set up a 5 gallon reservoir to keep from topping off every day.

So I incorporated a thermostat in to the setup which now allows the temperature to be monitored and the fan kicks on and off as needed. This reduced the rate of evaporation.

Nick

 

[Justin Craig]

Agreed. Overheating has been a problem for me during the summer months. As for chillers, I just keep the A/C on in the room; this way, I get to stay cool too!

I did take a cooling fan from a computer and fashioned a mount which made it functional and aesthetically pleasing, but when leaving it on all the time, the evaporation rate is very high and I needed to set up a 5 gallon reservoir to keep from topping off every day.

So I incorporated a thermostat in to the setup which now allows the temperature to be monitored and the fan kicks on and off as needed. This reduced the rate of evaporation.

Nick

Hey Nick

Can you talk more about the thermostat that you installed. Where did you get it?

Thanks,

 

[Nick]

Google: "Aquarium Temperature Controller" and a host of choices will come up.

I can't find the exact one I have as I purchased it a while ago (this is the second summer that I had it operating on the tank).
It wasn't anything fancy; it was just a thermostat which had a 110 outlet. I dropped the probe in the water, set the temp and
plugged the fan in to the 110 outlet.

When the temperature exceeded the setting, the thermostat relay tripped and sent voltage
to the outlet turning on the fan. Once the temp drops below the setting, the relay trips, cutting
power to the fan.

Have a look at this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Sockets-T...358?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41786784c6

Be sure to get the 110v version...

Hope this info helped.

 

[finestbeast]

Now that my tank is becoming normal...and the temp is rising (in general)...I notice that I have to add about a water bottel full of water every other day...tanks looking great though...

 

[finestbeast]

Today my tank had a bit of a smell...wondering is a snail died and I cannot find it...im due for a water change in 4 days anyhow (I do 10% bi-weekly)...Ill monitor it over the next 2 days...heres an updated pic

 

[Aquarian]

You need to turn your tank the water will fall out.

 

[finestbeast]

funny guy...dunno why my pics post sideways :rolleyes:

 

[Fishdude]

funny guy...dunno why my pics post sideways :rolleyes:

Give vertical pic a rotation before uploading to the way it should look

 

[Karen]

Nice tank! I really liked my octagon tank when I had it. Hubby didn't. Got a bio cube this time and we both like the square.