How to keep water cold

[Hamletgod]

I have an axolotl in a 10G tank. I live on long island new york. I do minumum 10% water changes a day. I just got my thermometer in the mail and it read 72 so i did another water change and got it down to 68. Are there any tricks to keeping the water at 68? Do not have the money for a chiller either
Does the waterbottle full of ice work?

 

[Jazzy says yarr]

I am right there with you. The last couple of days, if we leave the window open in the room then the tank gets down to 68, but at night we've been doing frozen 1L water bottles to keep it around there. Weve got a filter with a spray bar, and that gets the water moving on the surface, and a mesh lid so weve got evaporation too. Ice bottles are alright as long as you can maintain a constant with very little flux in temperature, like 2 to 3 degrees change over a couple of hours, but my fiance and I are looking into tank top fans, and chillers on the more basic side.

The warmest our water usually gets is 70.5, but personally I think that's pushing it.
The ice bottle routine isn't a permanent fix, and isn't really ment for long term use.

Fans are relatively cheap, and people seem to have a lot of success with them. I haven't seen any in the stores around me, both local or chain, but even a desk fan has been mentioned as working just fine. We've got a 2 year old that pulls on everything, so we need something a little more secure, but you can drop your temp for cheap in general

 

[Cloppy]

Some have say that they put ice bottles in the tank and it has lowered the temperature for them. But I do not have any experience with this method.

 

[Sneakybrykilla]

I made a $100 DIY Chiller using it on my 15gal tank keeping temps at 64F.

 

[blushed]

I made a $100 DIY Chiller using it on my 15gal tank keeping temps at 64F.

I've looked into making a DIY chiller and could just never even fathom making one. Sad I'm not handy at all LOL

OP, i have a clip on desk fan that is clipped to the side of my tank on high (you can't even hear it running). My tank never gets above 70. I have a stick on thermometer and an intank magnetic thermometer.

Also as mentioned above, using a spray bar to keep the top of the water moving helps. I have 2 different style filters, both with different things to disrupt their strong flow.

Some axolotls seem to do well in various temps. Since they're captive bred I really think some are just more "sturdy" in that sense. I'd still not let my tank go above 70 for long periods of time. Stability is key, it's better to have a stable temp than shock their system with ice cold water every day just to keep a temp at the recommended temp. Just my opinion on that!

Have you tried Craigslist/offer up/let go for chillers?

Best of luck!




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