Does anyone use a chiller????

[nat86]

I've had my axolotls for a few months and i've been using frozen water bottles to keep the temp down. But ive been wanting to try something that keeps the water temp. at a constant state.
I've been told by pet shops to try a chiller using an internal pump but i'm wondering if this might cause too much movement in the water that might stress my axolotls.
If anyone has tried this way i would really appreciate your help

 

[cellowithgills]

I don't use a chiller but I use a mini fan and a glass top. The glass top makes sure that all of the air goes over the water. The tank without the fan is 74 degrees but with the fans it's around 65. Also, I've found that with my axie's that if you have plenty of hides they don't mind some current. I've got a penguin 350 on my tank, that's 150 gallons per hour. I just concentrate the flow on one side of the tank, and they can move on which ever side they want.

 

[Deano]

what do you mean by glass top? i use a fan, it works really well but evaporates the water so fast and has left water lines that i now cant get rid of does this glass top stop that?? i tried the bottle technique before with little success and I've read that to keep it a constant temp you need back up bottles to alternate between but they melted in like 5 mins so would of meant changing the bottle every 5 minutes :S

 

[dazkeirle]

The lines are because you're evaporating pure H2O but leaving behind any solids in the water.

The problem with this is that over time the water will become harder and harder as effectively you're using reverse osmosis to remove the water and your tank is acting as a giant filter. If you have sufficient filtration system it shouldn't be too much of an issue, but if thats underpowered or dirty you're gonna get lines.

If you're going to use a fan system you need to be persistent in maintaining the water level and adding fresh (dechlorinated) water each night to ensure that it remains diluted evenly and clean.

 

[Deano]

ah right cheers. yeah i do change it every few days but id best do it every day then when im using that.

 

[cellowithgills]

All Glass Aquarium Versa Tops 24"

This is the type of glass top I have. It's still evaporates the water, but because my tank is a breeder (lots of floor space and not very tall) the water level doesn't go down very fast. And another thing, I don't seem to get any water lines on my tank. I try to keep it really clean, and do about a 20% water change every 2 or 3 days.

As far as a chiller goes you could always go the mini fridge/freezer route.

 

[nat86]

I never even thought about just using a fan that sounds a lot cheaper.
I ended up getting the chiller and its working great and my 2 dont seemed bothered by any movement in the tank. It's only been 1 day though so i'll keep an eye on them to make sure they dont stress

 

[Manifest]

I eventually bought a chiller and we just run the water using the filter pump. tank-->filter-->chiller-->spray bar pointed at the wall. Very little current to disturb the axie and I don't have to worry about temps. Well worth the investment if you ask me, considering how long a healthy axolotl would live for, I wasn't interested in worrying about fluctuating temperatures for the next 10 years!

 

[tomkeogh]

A chiller is so good to have, the noise takes a while to get used to but the chiller will become more efficient after a month or so mine only works twice a day for about 4 hours in total

 

[ghogg]

Chiller is definitely a good investment, I only really notice mine when it starts up, and when it stops due to the change in noise level. After a couple of minutes I barely notice its going.

 

[morphyrichards]

I got really worried a couple of months ago during that heatwave. One weekend I went away and when I came back on the Monday to my classroom (which during the week is air conditioned, but apparently it turns off at the weekend) the tank temp was at 24 degrees C

I tried using fans, airstones etc but had the same evaporation issues as described in this post.

I looked at aquarium chillers but was put off by the massive price so I decided to try this instead ...

I ordered a mini fridge off the internet, cost about 30 quid and used some wide guage pond hose I happened to have knocking about. I then drilled 2 holes in the door of the fridge and looped as much of the hose as I could inside the fridge leaving 2 ends poking out, one through the top and one through the bottom.

I was initially going to use a water pump to pump water through the fridge where it would be chilled a bit but then I realised that as long as both ends of the tube were totally immersed in water and the tubes were also completely filled with water then convection should do the job just as well without the problem of a pump adding extra heat to the whole system (see below).

I haven't scientifically tested the whole system but a couple of things seemed encouraging. The water temp right next to the OUT was about 3 degrees C colder than near the top of the tank and after another similarly hot weekend when I came back the tank temp was at 22 degrees C not 24 degrees C....

Obviously the whole setup needs more testing and proper chillers are much much more effective but this potentially could be a life saver next time a heat wave strikes, if used alongside other 'budget' aquarium chilling such as air stones and fans.

 

[Beate88]

Does the water to this chiller work purely on water moving on it's own? Or do you have a pumping system for water movement?

 

[tmorgan]

Does anyone know where I can buy a mini fridge here? They have some on amazon, but they say they have to be unplugged for an hour every 48 hours and I don't think it would be able to keep up with the water. I am in the process of getting my tank set up for some new axies and it is almost 100 degrees here. So I will definitely need a chiller because I don't have air conditioning at the moment. I'm one of those people who likes hot weather and gets cold easy so for me it works.

Thank you!

 

[tomkeogh]

With that system you will just have to luck out in getting a fridge good enough, most will burn out quickly or make no change in water temperature

 

[tmorgan]

I have a 55 gallon tank. If I were to get a chiller how much would one cost for one this size and what size of chiller would I need?

 

[Gaius317]

I have a 55 gallon tank. If I were to get a chiller how much would one cost for one this size and what size of chiller would I need?

I have been looking into getting a chiller for my 55 gallon. You would need one that is 1/10HP. The prices on ebay range from $320-400. $400 is the retail for new.

 

[morphyrichards]

Does the water to this chiller work purely on water moving on it's own? Or do you have a pumping system for water movement?

As long as the tube is completely full of water and both ends are completely immersed convection does the job and no motor is required.

 

[morphyrichards]

With that system you will just have to luck out in getting a fridge good enough, most will burn out quickly or make no change in water temperature

With that system you will just have to luck out in getting a fridge good enough, most will burn out quickly or make no change in water temperature

Yeah, this definitely is not a dramatic system. It will absolutely not bring down temperatures more than a degree or two C at best. (That's in a 90L tank)

To be absolutely sure how effective this system is I would need 2 identical tanks in the same room, one with and one without the "cheapo chiller".

Also, I intended this only for helping to cushion the effects of the occasional heatwaves we get here in the UK. At other times it's not even connected.

If I lived in a permanently hot place I would either look into getting a proper aquarium chiller or I might consider experimenting a bit further with this setup.... A stainless steel tubing system (if it so happens you can easily and cheaply get some) inside the fridge itself would increase the cooling effect and instead of using a cheap peltzier driven fridge I might look for a proper heat pump / kitchen fridge which could conceivably be easily and cheaply gotten hold of.... All in the interest of boding and DIY that it, otherwise I would bite the bullet and buy a proper chiller.

The main point I'm trying to make here is if you do go down this road then it's not necessary to use a water pump, you can just use convection instead which is more simple and cuts out unnecessary extra heat!

 

[mitcg]

I have a chiller, just got it about a month ago. Its great, I hated the ice pack technique. The reason I bought it is, one of my axolotls, my very first one(female) died, it was too hot, couldn't keep the temperature stable. My temperature was around 80-82 degrees, most days in the middle of the afternoon.
I got a 1/10 horse power, its was around 400$ shipping was free. Very reliable, its never been a degree over what i want the temperature to be standard. I didn't read everybody else's reply,sorry. Just wanted to give you my 2 cents.

 

[Gaius317]

I have a chiller, just got it about a month ago. Its great, I hated the ice pack technique. The reason I bought it is, one of my axolotls, my very first one(female) died, it was too hot, couldn't keep the temperature stable. My temperature was around 80-82 degrees, most days in the middle of the afternoon.
I got a 1/10 horse power, its was around 400$ shipping was free. Very reliable, its never been a degree over what i want the temperature to be standard. I didn't read everybody else's reply,sorry. Just wanted to give you my 2 cents.

To summarize: A chiller does everything that you want it to, but It costs a lot.

I plan to get my chiller this week with my upcoming paycheck.