Tank Cooler for Australians

thats a small chiller only does up to 60 ltres, i got my chiller for $580 and it does a tank up to 250ltres and its does a great job living in cairns
 
But since my tank only holds about 60 litres, and I live in Sydney, and I don't have $600 to spend it looks ideal to me.

Almost every post I've seen on site from Australians looking for tank coolers has featured the words "costs too much" or "expensive". Plus every aquarium store I've been too in Sydney if they a cooler at all starts at about a minimum of $600 and goes into the thousands.

So I reckon this is a bargain. Plus it's quiet - peltier effect!
 
Do most coolers only cool a couple of degrees below room temperature? That one would cool my tank 4 degrees below room temperature - I live on Gold Coast and in summer the room can get into high 20s, so I don't think this cooler would help.

Denise what sort of cooler do you use - if it works in Cairns it would work anywhere!!!
 
Keiran i got my chiller on the net from a sydney pet shop for that price and depending on your tank size and the temperature you need to cool your tank too can also be a deciding factor, i know that most people say that a chiller costs too much but if you live in an area that is hot this is just something that has to be decided, lots of people have made home made cooling systems and have great success at it, i have a mobile business so i dont have the time for cooling methods so i found the chiller best suited my lifestyle. i had the same problem with every pet shop saying it would cost over $1000 to buy but i found it for almost half price
Mischa, your spot on about cairns, my tank used to be around 30 degrees but my chiller now gets the tank down to 17 degrees all year round, it was a great investment, if you have a small tank then the chiller that Keiran recommended is a good idea, after much research and asking alot of questions i bought an aqua one chiller that cools upto 250ltres email me for the website details of the place i bought mine from if you are interested
 
Thanks.

Well I bought the chiller, and it works pretty much as advertised. It's not as quiet as I thought because it uses a small fan to move air across the heat sink when it is actively cooling.

The main thing is that it keeps to temp constant to within a degree or two. Consistency is important for Axolotls, yes?

Basically it keeps the tank about 6 degrees lower than the ambient room temperature, and seems to have no trouble maintaining an even 20 degrees. On the hottest days I'm going to have to fall back to supplementing with ice bottles.

Also in order to make it work much better I need to get an external pump, the internal one generates far too much heat, and get some insulation for the water hoses so they don't pick up ambient heat.
 
I've got a hailea 150A; (or something like that)it cost me $599 - for my 4ft tank - its slightly bigger than the external Aqua One 1200 CF. Makes noise when the tank temp rises above the preset temp (I've selected 17 degrees C), but it's hardly a racket.
The important thing to remember is my room temp nowdays is around 30 degrees C, and my chiller has no problems keeping my axies nice and coooooool. Love it.

(Message edited by gaara on November 27, 2006)

(Message edited by gaara on November 27, 2006)
 
congrats Keiran, you could try an irrigation shop for an external pump

Matthew i know what you mean about room temp, my house is so very hot, they only problem i have in cairns is the humidity level, if the humidity is over 60 per cent then i get condensation on the tank all summer, usually, i have to wipe the glass to see all my axies but they never have any trouble seein me as they are always at the front glass waiting for food as soon as i turn the light on
 
haha I don't envy you all the way up in Cairns (except you live in the best state in Australia) :p If anyone needed a chiller in this country it was you!
 
just a thought. You should be able to get an old ice cream display unit from a shop for a very reasonble price. you can convert them really easily to use as a cooling system or even get a tank that fits into the unit to use during the hottest weather.
 
hey that might work....Might put that to the test for my morphed axolotl tank :D
 
I'm going to do it ready for next summer. If it works then it could save people a lot of money
happy.gif
 
Dan i thought of that too and i also considered a wine fridge and portable esky/cooler but in the end i chose the chiller just for ease of use. In cairns everything is dear and i couldnt find a small enough fridge unit but i think its is still a top idea. matthew it is such a beautiful place but it gets so so so hot, today is 37 degrees and were not even into the xmas heat yet, lets hope no cyclones either, i came home this arvo and the house was so hot and i checked my axies and there they were swimming around happily in 17 degrees, lucky buggers
 
haha yeah I've wanted to take a swim with my axies on more than one occasion lately...
 
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