Photo: Just set up a Fluval Edge with some TEC chilling mods... thoughts?

[lrvick]

I know some of you are going to think I am a bit insane, however I love the design of the fluval edge tank and it goes perfectly with my desk.

After running it on my desk for a couple days however the temperature settled around 26c which is of course much too hot. I do live in Florida after all. Rather than give up and move the thank, I decided to fix it.

I have done a lot of TEC cooling in the past, for computers, so I figured with a good pump and water-block setup it should not be that expensive to cool down the tank. After looking at some options like ice-probe, I opted to just build my own so It could integrate into the tank a lot better and have its own flow control.

Ordered a bunch of parts and put together a TEC water chilling system. After integrating it all into the tank it keeps it constantly steady between 18.1-18.3c.

Here are some pics:
https://plus.google.com/photos/109278148620470841006/albums/5685787719347218033

I also made sure to choose big rocks, and make a little wooden fort in the corner for now.

Before I introduce one of my two new juvenile axolotls into the mix (currently living in buckets in front of my A/C), are there any other things I should consider?

 

[alexx]

I used a fluval edge as a guppy breeding tank before, 23 litres is way too small for a fully grown axie I'm afraid.

 

[Linus]

I love what you've done with the chiller, I also think the fluval edge is sexy, but it's way too small for axies. Keep your ACFs in that or use that for Cherry shrimp or something.

 

[lrvick]

Well with some new modifications I got it down to a stable 17.4c.

As I understand it 10 gallons unfiltered and regularly changed is supposed to be enough for one adult, but then it also seems most people don't fill their tanks up either.

This is 6 gallons 100% full and /heavily/ over-filtered so I am hoping that should be enough to keep my two juveniles happy and cool for a while, and also give me time to evaluate building a cooling solution for a larger tank.

Does this sound reasonable?

 

[Mike McD]

Im really curious to how the fresh water reacts to the metal on the cpu chip... Like if it some how puts metal into the tank. Great idea though i thought about this the other day but figured it wouldnt work due to the water it was putting back into the tank.

That kit prob cost you 250 + and you can get a 50 gallon chiller for about the same

As far as noise i would think your design would be far superior, i just really question the metal contact.

Your thoughts???

 

[lrvick]

Total the parts for this cost me about $120 after shipping though I am confident had I shopped around I could of probably done it in under $100 as the heat-sync is a bit overkill for this 77 watt TEC.

Other advantages I considered of this for me is size and flexibilty. This is very compact, and as such I was able to integrate it in place of the existing filter water pump. This way I don't create double waterflow by having two pumps running (as I read axolots like minimal waterflow anyway). Most of the external water coolers are very bulky and I imagine draw a lot more power as well considering the lowest end I could find is as you say, designed for 50 gallons plus @ $290 + shipping.

As for metal contact... that is a good observation. As far as I can tell the only metal the water is coming in contact with in this setup is a small solid copper plate which is kept at near freezing temperatures so I expect extremely minimal solubility. I know small amounts of non-dissolved copper like pennies are often used to remove algae however in this configuration I doubt the waters copper levels would be raised enough to do even that well.

I will pick up some standard drinking water copper test strips just to verify there are no elevated copper levels though, just for peace of mind.

 

[lrvick]

For those wondering I picked up an API Copper (Cu) Test kit.

If there is copper in the water, it is not enough to even register on the test at all.

Clearly shows flat 0ppm cooper content, so this setup should be more than safe for any species.

 

[Mike McD]

thats sick then. Is there a shut off when it gets to a certain temp. Would you be up to sending me a cut sheet on what u bought to put this together, I have a 12tb media server that i wanted to run a liquid cooled system on. With a T virus resivour. It would be nice to add this to your setup or do you need a res in this set up. I went to comp usa and looked for a liquid cooled kit and it was upwards of 300. Let me know if you are willing to pm me on cut sheet. Thanks for all your help and extra info.

 

[Nano]

Wow! You have to write a tutorial on how to make that, it is awesome! I think that the Fluval edge is neat and a good size for axolotls and I was close to getting one but the tiny opening at the top annoyed me but I'm regretting not getting one a bit now because they are just so neat!