Australian Summer again...

Ah okay, but luckily for me, I work at a lighting shop, where we sells loads of 12 volt transformers for downlights, I can get one really cheap. Okay, I think I'll buy them and then bring them into work and see if anyone is wizz-y enough to know which wires go where. Thanks!

A question? Would it be more effective to have one fan facing in, one facing out, or two fans facing in?
 
I still have a case fan from my old PC case laying around (I got a new one a month and a half ago for my birthday) and I can tell you that it runs on 12DC. Note that it is a fan using a molex so you're quite safe if you get a case fan using those too. It also makes it very easy to hook multiple up to each other without having to fiddle around with soldering or junctions.
 
I think you get the best effect if you can have a fan blowing down and in at an angle across the surface of your water.

If you are using a hood then having another one blowing out to extract the warmer moist air. If no hood then you don't need one blowing out to extract the warmer air and 2 blowing down will be better.

EDIT - have a read of this article http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cooling.shtml
 
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Bren I bought the same chiller from them and absolutly love it! The piece of mind is wonderful knowing I don't have to stress out about Sunny being hot at all. Well worth the save!
 
I baught one of those aqaurium cooling fans from eBay for my axolotl tank, that and I switched from fluorescent lighting to a LED lamp, which of course runs completely cool, and of course adds zero heat to the water. The only drawback is that the old lighting was bult int the hood of the aquarium so my tank now has no lid, but im noticing that is helping a great deal too with air circulation. Since having made these changes I have not seen any temperatures over 19 degrees, and having a working air conditioner running in the house on the warmer days helps even more.

I Have also dropped the water level slightly because I have heard stories of axolotls jumping out of the tank, but I somehow don't believe them, and having one of those Hang on the back cascate filters helps a little with he surface agitation, but does not create a great deal of current, and he sound of the tricking water relaxes me.
 
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Im having the same problem, experiencing a New Zealand summer.
I'm just a student so anything fancy is also out of the question, at the moment I just have a stand-up fan blowing against the tank which is just about keeping the water at 22, using ice cubes a little too but I'm worried that the temperature change will be too fast if I use too many ice cubes.
If I could hook up some kind of computer fan powered cooling I would, but where does one even start with a project like that?
I'm starting to think theres no cheap quick fix to this problem, when I get some money i'm going to look into cheap chillers. :mad:
 
GuyM said:
If I could hook up some kind of computer fan powered cooling I would, but where does one even start with a project like that?:mad:
Click to expand...

attached is a picture of my cooling setup, the fan cost me $16 from ebay, it has a built in clip so it attaches right onto the side of the aquarium, and using led lighting would help a great deal without adding any heat to the water.

the only drawback with the fan is it is somewhat noisy, and it evaporates the water quickly, but I suppose that is how it cools the water so well.

sorry for the picture quality, I took it on my iSight camera.
 

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Does a fan like that work well? I had a look on Ebay and was kind of sceptical.


If it works well it would definitely be something I'd consider buying.
How much would you estimate it lowers your water temperature by?
 
it lowers the temperature by about 3 or so degrees, and pair that with ice, or in my case, I have a 5L bottle of treated water in the fridge ready to go in when water evaporates, or when I do a water change, and the temperature difference is quite noticeable.

its easier to keep a cool tank cool than cool a hot tank down.
 
I guess I had better jump onto Ebay then :lick:
Thanks for the info iChris
 
Hey all...
Just to set the cat among the pigeons....
My lovely tank is currently at 23.1, but I did a test last night and the temp stabilised at 24.9... (don't worry, the axies are hanging out in an esky atm until I get a few things straight, but are quite vehement about going home...)

Still, frustrated, went up to the reptile/aquarium warehouse to get some more bloodworms for my darlings, and the guy (Who's been in the business for twenty years and counting) suggested that the problem with high temps and axies is that the ox saturation in the water is waaaay too low...

So what about increasing the level of aeration? If i turn EVERYTHING on, I've got bubbles every few feet over the surface (and yes, just over the strata is calm enough that the axies are happy)...

Or is it that hyperthermia in axolotls causes necrosis of the gills?
-Minniechild
 
Agitating the surface with more bubbles will increase the rate of evaporation and will help cool your tank down. The more bubbles the cooler. (within certain parameters, your never going to cool a 25c tank down to 17c just by more bubbles, I wouldnt have thought)
I didnt think it had much to do with oxygen saturation though, warmer water has less dissolved oxygen in it because the heat dispels the dissolved oxygen.
 
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So I was showing off my tank on Saturday to a physicist friend of mine (who was rather impressed with my axies of evil XD!) and she suggested SINKING cooler bricks so that they sit right on top of the air stone :D (I kinda facepalmed at how obvious it was...)

Bunnings currently are selling packs of 3 mini ice bricks for around $4, then get some cable ties, a few large-ish rocks (Bunnings has a 15 kilo bag of MASSIVE pebbles which work particularly nicely, not to mention are (for the most part) large enough that even the biggest axie wouldn't be able to swallow them :D) and secure a washed rock to each of the packs, then proceed as normal...
I'll try and get some comparative figures today, (vs the fish tank in the main room, which is generally a degree warmer or cooler depending on the time of day).
And thanks everyone for your suggestions!
 
This thread has been a great help to me. :)
I live in Sydney, and even on overcast days it gets pretty hot in the axie tanks.
I currently have large drinking bottles that I use to cool down and rotate, but I think I need more.. I love the idea of sinking the bricks onto an air-stone! So obvious *slaps head*
 
Banana said:
This thread has been a great help to me. :)
I live in Sydney, and even on overcast days it gets pretty hot in the axie tanks.
I currently have large drinking bottles that I use to cool down and rotate, but I think I need more.. I love the idea of sinking the bricks onto an air-stone! So obvious *slaps head*
Click to expand...

What temps have you been getting today? And which part of Sydney? I'm in the upper north, and I've peaked out at 24.7 (Majorally high, I know, but I got the bricks in to lower it rather quickly, and the last time I shifted them out, they were even more freaked out than if I'd left them in... So far, they've been a bit unimpressed, but I'm not in abject panic mode yet), and that's with 2-4 mini ice bricks sunk over the air stone, a large brick floating along with a frozen water bottle, 2 fans going (And I've got to give one back tonight-DAMN!) and 3 other points of agitation. The room itself is at 28-30C (With the blinds closed, and the skylight blocked off) and outside is around the thirty to thirty three...

As to everyone else, has anyone had an experience of major axie trauma/losing an axie thanks to heat? Any idea on what temp the poor guy(s) gave out, and what kind of aeration/filtration did you have in your tank at the time?

Oh, and one problem I've had with the little bricks (And big bricks for me at the moment, unfortuantely) is you get about 2.5-3hrs cooling. Better than the 3/4 hr I've been getting off frozen water blocks/bricks, but still a frustratingly short period of time...

So has anyone else got any thoughts of knocking off a few more degrees?
 
I'm in the Western Suburbs of Sydney. :)
Yesterday (HOT Australia Day) it was 28*C in my room.. we had the air-con on, so they came out and stayed at a nice 14*C (the air-con was blowing over the water, making it nice and chilly). :) Banana was in the fridge over night.. her tank got extra hot, but it got 6* in the morning so I took her out.
I find smaller tanks are easier to keep cool rather than my big 400L axie tank.
My Bettas/other tropical fish are happy though.. I doubt the heaters were even on (they click off when it is the right temp.).
 
today was a scorcher for perth too, got to 39 but felt hotter, probably because were I work is fully refrigerated, (I'm a butcher, and I'm used to being in the cold for hours) and I'm sure my axie would have loved to come to work with me.

my house is fully air conditioned, the highest the water temp got to today was about 22 degrees, and that was with just a fan blowing across the water's surface, but my axie seemed fine, as I also switched to lower voltage LED lights and removed the hood that came with the tank, which helps a great deal.

I think on the weekend I'll make my way down to clark rubber and get some sort of foam to insulate the sides of the tank.
 
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