DIY Aquarium Chiller

[FishBeast]

I have had a concept in mind for some time now and am surprised that I have never seen anyone do it so I thought that I would run it past you guys to see what you think.

 

I am thinking an old air conditioner pumping into the shrimp room and a small aluminium radiator like a motorcycle one placed in front of the air outlet of the air conditioner. All you would have to do is have a small submersible pump running water through the radiator and back into your tank/sump linked to a thermostat to stop/start it at the desired temp. 

 

Food for thought?

[newbreed]

Sounds good, just unsure if the radiator would add/leach any contaminants to the water? Could be a good option.

Edited June 14, 2014 by newbreed

[fishmosy]

Would be pretty fiddly to get right. For example the pump would need to pass enough water through the radiator to lower the temp. but only by one or two degrees. Otherwise you would get really cold water going back to your tank and we all know shrimp don't like fast changes in temperature.

If you have the air con unit, its probably best just to heat/cool the shrimp room to adjust the temp in your tanks.

[BlueBolts]

I agree with fishmosy, AC's are getting so much cheaper these days, that installing a AC in a room is better economically, and financially

[petfish]

I agree with fishmosy, AC's are getting so much cheaper these days, that installing a AC in a room is better economically, and financially

me to, just run a/c to keep room at the right temp.

[inverted]

I think a commercial chiller would be the most economical option unless you have many tanks in your room .....aircon is expensive to run around the clock.

Check this out on youtube...  king of diy chiller. If like me you have a beer fridge near tanks might be an option.  

Edited June 14, 2014 by inverted

[jayc]

I am thinking an old air conditioner pumping into the shrimp room and a small aluminium radiator like a motorcycle one placed in front of the air outlet of the air conditioner. All you would have to do is have a small submersible pump running water through the radiator and back into your tank/sump linked to a thermostat to stop/start it at the desired temp. 

 

I think it's not done before because motor vehicle radiators are either:-

a) made of copper - risking copper contamination

b) aluminium - risking corrosion longer term in pH below 7.0

 

If you could overcome these with stainless steel, then it could be do-able.

What is commercial chillers made of?

 

But if you already have a/c in the same room, then just running the a/c to keep the room at the correct temp is sufficient and less unsightly.