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Is a chiller necessary in Melbourne?

Jenbenwren

By Jenbenwren
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Jenbenwren Shrimp Lover

Jenbenwren

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Just wondering if we'd need a chiller on our Mischling and CRS tank. We are in Melbourne and in the warm weather hubby likes the air conditioners left on 20-22 all the time, but I tend to bump it up to 24-26 when he's not home so we don't freeze. All the tanks are in the coolest part of the house as well.

I'm thinking we probably don't and probably couldn't afford 2, plus I'd prefer to get an RO unit first.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance :-)

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OzShrimp Shrimp Guru

OzShrimp

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Ultimately if you are going to leave the air conditioner on when its expected to be hot then i would say no, but if there is going to be times when the shrimps tank will be exposed to high temps and force the water temp up then i would recommend a chiller.

 

You can also buy fans which blow over the top of the water and reduces the temp by a couple of degrees but when it comes to the crunch no where as good as a chiller or air con.

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ineke Shrimp Guru

ineke

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If you can afford a chiller then that is the best for overall stability but having said that I have 4 computer fans on my big tank and they keep the temperature between 22/23 . They work very well with a temp controller and that tank is against a wall in a corner which gets quite warm in the afternoon..

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newbreed Shrimp Guru

newbreed

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Posted (edited)

I have chillers on mine Jen but each chiller was around $400. For the size of your tanks it could be less.

If you are keeping aircon going, I wouldn't bother! Just be sure to check temps on 40+ days.

You can use frozen bags of water as an emergency measure. As others have mentioned, the fans can help too.

Edited by newbreed
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BlueBolts Shrimp Guru

BlueBolts

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For absolute peace of mind, and if $ aren't too much of an issue, why not .... If the room/house is air conditioned there's really no need, but if you're on hols or headed out without leaving the AC on, the 1-2 days of over temp may cause issues ...espacially if the tanks are nano's... Fluctuates more readily. I have 2 Racks, and 5 nano's I'm a air conditioned room, and they All have individual chiller units :-(, lots if & outlay, but gives me dorm serenity when I'm out and can't get to my AC....

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Sprae Shrimp Breeder

Sprae

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Yes! Yes! Yes! That's what my shrimps tells me. Every summer you'll have a week of 40+ degrees in Melbourne, which will kill off most if not all your shrimps. 

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Jenbenwren Shrimp Lover

Jenbenwren

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Thankyou for the advice everyone :-)

Sorry it's taken so long for me to reply, but my notifications didn't show that anyone had replied.

I'll definitely be looking into chillers or fans for our tanks, after I finish saving for an RO unit, and can hopefully find something before the heat waves hit.

Luckily for our Shrimp we won't be going away over summer and I'll be keeping a close eye on the temp in their tanks. Hubby likes the air con left on 24/7, even when we go out as he believes it's more economical in the long run, so the room they are in should stay around 20-24 C. Unless something goes wrong with the electricity or the air con breaks down.

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OzShrimp Shrimp Guru

OzShrimp

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Well even if something goes wrong with your electricity it wont save your chiller anyway cause it would be affected. 

I had a couple of those days back in Sydney lol

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kizshrimp Shrimp Breeder

kizshrimp

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I kept CRS in Melbourne with no AC or chiller from 2009 until this year when they all died during the summer. I was not managing the tank well at the time and the problem may have been averted if I had been, but the moral of the story is that you will need cooling of some type eventually. And a generator to keep the AC running. 

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Jenbenwren Shrimp Lover

Jenbenwren

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Thanks guys :-)

Good idea Kizshrimp. You just reminded me of the portapacks we have up at the yard and only use to jump start the trucks or cars now. Think I better bring one home when it gets warmer, and keep it charged up just in case

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