Axolotl Help - Filters, Chillers, Fans

[amy88]

Hi Everyone,

I have a 80L tank, i use sand for substrate and im still debating whether or not to have live or fake plants. I would like to know your recommendations for a filter and a chiller or fans.

I was thinking maybe a Duetto filter? But i am really not sure...
I know chillers are very expensive but i dont know how well fans would work out. Has anyone used fans to cool the tank down? Were they affective?

I am still quite new to axolotls and learning a lot along the way. Until i get things right, i've been struggling to maintain the right environment for my axolotl.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thank you,
Amy

 

[blueberlin]

Hi Amy,

I'm a fan of external filters because even though they are expensive, I find them easy to maintain. Chillers here are prohibitively expensive. Fans that you mount atop the tank seem to be effective in reducing water temps by a couple of degrees - their efficacy depends on evaporation, though, and therefore decreases as room humidity rises.

There is a good article on cooling methods among the Cadudata Culture pages: here.

On a side note, what are the dimensions of an 80 L tank?

-Eva

 

[NM Axie]

I use 2 small fans to cool my tank, I can usually keep the tempurature in the mid 60's F. I do live ina very dry climate, so that's probably why it works so well.

 

[jclee]

I live in a fairly humid (at the moment) climate, and my fans cool the tank by an average of 2-4 degrees. (I think. I haven't been too scientific with recording pre vs. post fan-on temps.) I also do not have a lid, to help with evaporation, and I have the water line far enough below the top to avoid any mishaps (i.e. axie on floor) from the odd rambunctions swim to the top.

I also use a HOB filter, but as I'm not experienced with cannister filters, I'll leave it to others who've used both to provide opinions comparing the two types.

 

[Aimee]

Just curious...what kind of fans do you use, NM Axie? And where did you get them? I've been to Target, Walmart, and some Office stores and cannot find any clip-on fans. I've seen them online, but if you have any suggestions on where I can get them without having to pay rediculous shipping costs, that'd be amazing :happy:

 

[SludgeMunkey]

Just curious...what kind of fans do you use, NM Axie? And where did you get them? I've been to Target, Walmart, and some Office stores and cannot find any clip-on fans. I've seen them online, but if you have any suggestions on where I can get them without having to pay rediculous shipping costs, that'd be amazing :happy:

Many folks use computer fans, however I personally advise against this, all that wiring involving a transformer and the like is dangerous to the untrained especially around water. (Electricians please do not take offense!)

For direct install on the tank cover:
A safer, and often cheaper option is to purchase a 110-125 volt (for USA folks...the voltage ranges vary a bit but the all work on household current) appliance fan. These are the same sizes as computer fans, and require no transformer. ) Substitute 220 volts in there for non-US folks.

The easiest method involving fans:
The simplest option, if you want to use a fan, is to buy a small cheap desk fan and just aim it at the top of your tank.

 

[jclee]

Out of sheer convenience, I'm using a small fan that I bought from a wallgreens that I hung from my wall and aimed at the tank. There are, also, aquarium fans that you can buy from petstores/pet supply companies. I'm actually worried that my $10 fan will burn out from the constant usage, so I've been eyeing a dual fan set-up that I found on a pet supply website. To be honest, though, this cheap, common fan has been running almost nonstop for over a month, and it hasn't even started making funny noises, so I'll probably just stick with it. (There's a picture of my tank, when I had first set it up, in my photo albums. You can see the type of fan I'm currently using there.)

(I do fall into the category of "not electricity savvy enough to modify a PC fan safely." I've seen it done, and it's really cool, but I'm enough of a technophobe as it is that I don't want to constantly worry about electrocuting myself of my axolotls.)

 

[NM Axie]

I just bought 2 small fans from Walmart and made a rack for them so they just blow water across the top. You can buy aquarium fans onlie but they run around $40. I think I spent about $10 for the two.

 

[Aimee]

Is your fan just screwed into the wall, jclee? Max and Artie are beautiful, by the way :happy:

 

[ntny]

Hi folks,

i used 2*12cm PC fans mounted on my tumble box 2FT cover.
this prevents escape.

1 fan blowing in 1 fan blowing out. PC cooling method.
the fans are wired to a 12V 1amp DC adaptor.
DC is safe
power consumption is 5watts only

it cools down 3 degrees
but i also have a chiller to cool further down to 22*C
the PC fans save my electric bill of the 300+ watt chiller as it kick in much less to cool the water to 22*C

Out of sheer convenience, I'm using a small fan that I bought from a wallgreens that I hung from my wall and aimed at the tank. There are, also, aquarium fans that you can buy from petstores/pet supply companies. I'm actually worried that my $10 fan will burn out from the constant usage, so I've been eyeing a dual fan set-up that I found on a pet supply website. To be honest, though, this cheap, common fan has been running almost nonstop for over a month, and it hasn't even started making funny noises, so I'll probably just stick with it. (There's a picture of my tank, when I had first set it up, in my photo albums. You can see the type of fan I'm currently using there.)

(I do fall into the category of "not electricity savvy enough to modify a PC fan safely." I've seen it done, and it's really cool, but I'm enough of a technophobe as it is that I don't want to constantly worry about electrocuting myself of my axolotls.)

 

[vagus]

It may be cheating, but I purchased a window-mount air conditioner for the same price as an aquarium chiller. My thought had been "why should the axolotls get all the fun?"

Now, when summer comes, I can keep the temperature at a range we can both enjoy.

Of course, before that, I had a small canister pump, and I placed it in an icechest with a couple of small blue-ice containers in it. Worked pretty well for the 10 gallon setup I had, but it was comparable to just using fans.