I didn't notice that until you pointed it out.

Hmmmm, one does wonder what was going on? :encouragement:

Haha I don't know where i got that word from.

dont forget today is the last day to get your entries in for this comp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheap DIY shrimp tank fans

The Summer months can be particularly harsh and fatal for your shrimps. The temperatures reaching up to the 40 degrees mark depending on where you reside can spell impending doom for your shrimp. During these hot days you can see shrimp keepers around the world posting threads such as "Help shrimp dying!" and "why are my shrimp not active and pale"? The higher temperatures are an invitation for nasty bacteria and diseases, another factor is the shortage of oxygen in the water on those hot summer days.

This article will show how to make a simple, cheap but effective way to help with the hot temperatures during summer, of course this is in no way meant to take the place of a chiller as chillers are always the best way to maintain a stable temperature during summer but this DIY fan should be used only as a means to lower the temperature 2-4 degrees ambient temperature, especially for those of us who reside in areas where the temperature does not get that extreme and can not afford a chiller as yet. Also an excellent cooling solution for Nano tanks! However for larger tanks I can not stress enough that when you can afford a chiller please do get one.

So lets get started, firstly I will explain what parts are needed.

1. Wire Nuts x 2


2. Laptop Portable Fans x2


3. 240v to DC 5v 2A switching power supply


4. Wire Snips


Now that we have the parts let's get to the DIY part

1. Snip off the USB parts from both of the fans, snip the jack off the power supply and expose wires with the wires snips



2. The fans will have 2 red wires and 2 black wires each (1 red and black wire for the blue LED's and the other for the fan motor), just join all red to red wires and black to black wires as they will all need to be joined to the power supply.


3. Now join the exposed positive wire on the power supply to the red wires on the fans and negative wires on the power supply to the black wires of the fans.
(You can tell which is positive and negative by reading the back of power supply).




4. Screw wire nuts onto the exposed joined wires


We are done! Now to test! (Note if it does not work then unscrew the wire taps and reverse the positive and negative wires)




On my tests the original temperature of the water was 26 deg on my 40l tank, after approximately 40 minutes it had gone down to 23 deg and was at 22 deg after an hour 15 minutes.

All parts purchased in this DIY was from eBay

Portable Fans - $3 each, $6 for two.
Power Supply - $3.10
Wire Nuts (50 pcs) - $1.50
Wire Snips - Free (had them already)

Making a grand total of $10.60 for an excellent cooling solution!

This is a very easy and cheap DIY, the result is a fan that will lower the temperature of the water by 2-4 degrees.

Edited May 14, 201412 yr by NoGi

I have similar I am playing with but using full on CPU fans that are splash proof... I will be putting it all together over the week end and it has cost a bit more than what you have done but I am trying it on a 240 litre tank... I will be testing on sunday so I will post a thread with what happens... willing to try these things...

I have similar I am playing with but using full on CPU fans that are splash proof... I will be putting it all together over the week end and it has cost a bit more than what you have done but I am trying it on a 240 litre tank... I will be testing on sunday so I will post a thread with what happens... willing to try these things...

I have been using this for over a week now on my smaller tanks and it is doing a nice job for what it is. I reckon this is a great solution for nano tanks especially if you are a cheapo like me. It does the same job as those overly priced fans at a fraction of the cost, also gives of a nice little moonlighting! But as mentioned it won't do a proper job cooling a larger tank, I just think there is just too much water for it to deal with. If the temperatures are going to be over the 30 deg mark then forget it. Chillers will always be the way to go for the bigger tanks.

I have been using this for over a week now on my smaller tanks and it is doing a nice job for what it is. I reckon this is a great solution for nano tanks especially if you are a cheapo like me. It does the same job as those overly priced fans at a fraction of the cost' date=' also gives of a nice little moonlighting! But as mentioned it won't do a proper job cooling a larger tank, I just think there is just too much water for it to deal with. If the temperatures are going to be over the 30 deg mark then forget it. Chillers will always be the way to go for the bigger tanks.[/quote']

I do agree with over 30... I have a 220 litre with a house fan on it and it works a dream keeps it at 22-23 and only have it on when the lights come on... Being in qld i am trying the cheap option first before buying the chiller... So i will test on sunday to see what happens and do different thing during the week with leaving it on 24 hours and when the lights are only on and see what happens... being a lot more water it takes a lot more to cool and to warm up so my thoughts are along the lines of just getting rid of the heat from the lights out of the hood and holding a cooler temp...

Have you guys thought about putting a couple of fans in either end of the hood on the sides to create a cross flow, this would both cool the lights & create evaporative cooling in the tank too, just a thought :encouragement:

Thanks to everyone who entered this comp. i will do up a new post with a pole for voting soon :)