Do I need a chiller?

[Frosty]

I have recently purchased a 10 gallon tank and the place it’s going isn’t in direct sunlight but the room will get up to 32 degrees during the summer. Do I need a chiller?

[jayc]

Can you cool the room down with an air con?

Buying a chiller is a big investment. Unless you are going to be serious about shrimp keeping, I would suggest trying on summer without it. If you plan on keeping lots of expensive shrimp in Aus, like Taiwan bees and maybe CRS, CBS, than a chiller will be a good long term investment.

[Frosty]

I can only have aircon on occasionally it’s old and has a high power consumption. What about fans? Or maybe a small portable aircon would that work?

[Frosty]

1 hour ago, jayc said:

Buying a chiller is a big investment.

How expensive for a 10 Gallon?

[jayc]

1 minute ago, Blazepelt said:

How expensive for a 10 Gallon?

Chillers start from A$500+ for the smallest unit.

Cheap ebay phase change units start from A$100+ to A$130. 

Fan chillers from A$20 to A$40. 

Performance from best to worst. Chillers, then phase change units, and finally fans.

 

[Frosty]

What about the fans how well do they work? I only need them to lower the tank temp by a few degrees also my tank is only 10 gallons so that might work. I am also just keeping guppies for the summer so it doesn’t need to be that cold.

[sdlTBfanUK]

I would probably do as JayC says and see how it goes, but top marks for thinking ahead!

If it gets to 32 degrees on the odd day you probably won't need to worry. We had a couple of days of that temperature and my tanks were fine, they tend to take longer to warm up than the ambient temperature especially with the water circulating through the filter and keeping it moving - the days were 32 degrees but thee tank topped at 30 degrees very briefly on each day. My tanks are 30L and yours is a bit bigger so that temperature will increase slower as well. If you have consecutive days of 32 degrees (and similar nights) that will likely be different though! 

There are these available here (I plan to get one) which are fans basically and so there are probably the same type available to you (or similar) in your country (the linked ones won't be any good for you as our plugs/electricity is different so this link is just for illustrative reference).

https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/87-aquarium-coolers

My cherry shrimps were fine to 30 degrees and you are mainly looking at fish to start with, so they MAY be less fragile anyway??

Simon

 

[Frosty]

the room that the fish are in has a tin roof and will get as hot as outside possibly hotter but thanks for the links to fans i think that's what i'm going to do because chillers are EXPENSIVE! 

Apparently guppies can handle 33 degrees for hours at a time so it should be enough with fans.

[sdlTBfanUK]

Thats what I plan to do as well.

IF you get a really extreme day I froze a few plastic bottles full of water and then floated them in the tank as giant ice cubes and that worked well. It takes some preparation to freeze the water bottles (you need at least 2 so one can be freezing whilst the other is defrosting in the tank etc) and it uses up valuable freezer space but it is a useful tip for the occasional freaky hot day if needed!  

Simon

[Frosty]

Thanks for the tip summer can get really hot and I want to be prepared. ? 

[jayc]

2 hours ago, Blazepelt said:

I am also just keeping guppies for the summer

If it's only guppies, than the fan will do. Shrimps won't survive in that temperature for long, but fish handle it much better.

[Frosty]

Yeah it’s just guppies for the summer. Thanks for your help.