FYI: HOT HOT IN QLD - Anyone tried doing this?

[jcj57]

Found this little gem, going home tonight and trying it. It was 36c at my place yesterday, left home this morning putting frozen drink bottles in the tank, they are predicting a week of this here. Howard is swimming near the bottle to keep cool and has some white patches appearing, guess heat stress. Bernie seems to be coping better.



Has anyone tried doing this.
How to make a homemade EMERGENCY aquarium chiller

If you need a quick emergency remedy for your over-heated aquarium while putting a more durable construction together or waiting for a ready-made one to arrive, you can try this emergency chiller.

What you’ll need

A small canister filter with the motor on top
A bucket
Plenty of ice

What you’ll do

Fill the bucket with ice.
Immerse the lower half of the canister filter in the ice.
Use the filter as you would use a normal aquarium filter.
Replace the ice continuously.

As mentioned above, this is just a quick emergency solution– not something that you can relay on in the long run. You have to monitor the temperature in the aquarium closely because this type of emergency aquarium chiller can easily cause dangerous fluctuations in water temperature. DO NOT unplug your heater.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/Aquarium-chillers/
www.aquaticcommunity.comEverything you ever need to know about about aquarium chillers, including how to build a DIY chiller and an emergency chiller.

 

[shells]

I struggled with the summer last year, so much so that I bit the bullet and invested in a chiller from Guppy’s Aquarium Products Online (they were the cheapest around) and am so grateful I did. I would come home each day to change my ice bottles over to find my poor little darlings struggling. While I know this is financially viable for everyone it really IS worth the investment, for your little treasures and your own sanity :happy:

 

[jcj57]

Thinking of getting one myself but until I do this may be the best option, I guess in you put some dry ice under the ice in the bucket it could make it last longer, or put the whole lot in an esky or polystyrene box.
Never had to keep them cool before my old house was much cooler.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Maybe you could adapt this to a large insulated picnic box rather than a bucket.

P.s You shouldn't need a heater at all in your tank.

 

[jcj57]

The ice did the trick but not long enough, especially when at work. Today I've picked up a Teco chiller (2nd hand), so my little guys should be cool as cucumbers by tomorrow night.

 

[Jake]

DO NOT unplug your heater.

It all made sense until this?

 

[jcj57]

It all made sense until this?

They suggest you leave a heater plugged in in case the water gets too cold so you would set it at the temp you would like your tank to be at all the time and if it happens to cool it too well the heater would adjust the temp.

Ice melts too fast out my way to be worried about the temp getting too low.

I now have a chiller on my tank.