FYI: My alternative to water chillers.

[CalumR]

*WARNING DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK*

I know that in the UK we don't have the hottest temperature in the world, but last summer the water in my tank reached 26'c I managed to cool it using loots of bottles of ice. This year I have prepared, not by buying a chiller, but by incorporating water cooling parts from computers.

I bought a small radiator and connected in-line with the output flow with a computer fan bolted to it. the fan is wired to a 240v AC - 2.5-12V DC converter which gives me speed settings. I had to cut a hole in the side of the cabinate to allow the fan to draw cool air from out side through the radiator. In total this has cost me little over £40, and takes up allot less room then a chiller.

Aquarium Cooling.wmv - YouTube

Any questions on the set up please ask.

 

[Jennewt]

I'm not sure if I understand from the video... the fan just ventilates the space in the cabinet under the tank? How will this cool the tank water?

 

[CalumR]

The water is being pumped through a radiator, the fan is drawing cold air through the radiator cooling the water inside. Therefore the water coming out of the outlet pipe from the filter should be colder. I have been running it now for 30mins and the water temp has dropped by .5'c.
Im not saying this will work in countries like America or Australia, but it should help for those countries that experience short weeks of hot days.