Aquarium / Tank Water Chiller

[wjdw]

Curious if anyone on here is aware of what local seafood/lobster places (either low end or high end) use to keep their saltwater tanks at a constant and consistent temperature,

Myself i have a aquarium and need to retain a fixed temperature of 26c naturally else where i would just organise a chiller unit, however these sit at 25,000+ taxes, thus i would be interested in how local restaurants achieve a fixed temperature and see if such can be utilised for the aquarium before ordering a chiller unit encase locals have a viable alternative..

Air con was one route i tried however my salinity levels rose dramatically, thus looking for a flow option.

Oysters, Lobsters etc would have to keep a consistent temperature hence my reasoning.

If anyone is aware of a product, jerry rig or other please do comment beneath.

Many Thanks.

[Mark123456]

Where have you looked for chillers? I know that Seasun Aquarium in Bangkok charge well over the odds as do some other shops so you might find a better price if you keep looking. What size tank do you have and what output are you looking for chiller-wise?

I use large fans on my freshwater tanks but evaporation is of course an issue when doing that (and 28 is a more optimistic target than 26 for me). Only way to avoid the water becoming harder and harder over time is either to do lots of large water changes or top up with water from an RO unit (I'm sure you know all that already).

[DLock]

I have a chiller for my large tank and your price point is spot on. It was 26,000 baht.

Also agree with Mark, 26 degrees is very difficult to achieve, even with a chiller on 24 hours a day. 28 degrees is more realistic as I like to give my chiller a break most nights otherwise it can ice up sometimes...but 28 degrees should be fine for most fish, unless they are really fragile.

I tried air conditioner and it worked to some point to keep the tank cooler, but not as good as a chiller.

I am in Chiang Mai and I got my chiller at Shogun.

[cyberfarang]

I had an outdoor huge concrete fish tank kept under our terrace with filter pumps, air pumps, the full works. Mostly kept carp and similar fish that I found to be more hardy then the tropical type freshwater fish. At one time I had a tab tim fish that I bought from a market as a baby and had for 5 years until I found him floating upside down dead one morning and scavenger large sucker type fish that lived at the bottom. Over time I used to get attached to my fish, watching them grow and even had names for them.

But over the last few years as the weather seems to be entering the extremes it was becoming difficult to keep them alive. Last January I lost a few when it became very cold and a few weeks ago all my fish died when it become very hot. So now decided no more fish for me and have transformed the fish tank into a water storage tank. My neighbours too used to keep fish and had the same problems so they have also gave up keeping fish.

The best way to keep fish is in a proper pond with mud or sand at the bottom and plants in a natural environment so they can lay their eggs and nibble at the plants, a minimum of 2 metres deep and 3 mitres square as the large volume of water equalizes the temperatures meaning they can move around as they would in a natural pond or lake to where the water temperatures suit the fish best. I used to have a fish pond in England and over a period of 20 years, never lost a fish even during the winter months when the pond would ice over on the surface. Once a pond is established it looks after it`s self.

I tried keeping salt water fish but it became a burden, very complicated as the conditions have to be perfect, slightly tip over the balance and the fish die. I don`t recommend taking on salt water fish unless very enthusiastic and prepared for a lot of hard work. The same with keeping fish indoors in a large aquarium, the cleaning out can involve a delicate full day`s work.

[itsmylife]

[dick dasterdly]

cyberfarang - good post.

Off topic, I too feel a responsibility towards my fish, as like dogs and cats, I brought them into my home and therefore need to take care of them. Its always upsetting when a fish dies, and I've lost a couple in the past week - presumably because the hot weather has resulted in a too high water temp and dirty water. Unfortunately even the house water is 'hot',so aquarium water can only be (partially) replaced first thing in the morning...

From what I gather you're right about saltwater tanks as I was admiring one and the aquarium shop guy told me 'yes, they're beautiful - but they take one hell of a lot of work'.

Back on topic, it would probably be a good idea to have a chat with an aquarium shop owner that has a tank chiller. Somehow I'm sure that they'll be v expensive!

[cyberfarang]

cyberfarang - good post.

Off topic, I too feel a responsibility towards my fish, as like dogs and cats, I brought them into my home and therefore need to take care of them. Its always upsetting when a fish dies, and I've lost a couple in the past week - presumably because the hot weather has resulted in a too high water temp and dirty water. Unfortunately even the house water is 'hot',so aquarium water can only be (partially) replaced first thing in the morning...

From what I gather you're right about saltwater tanks as I was admiring one and the aquarium shop guy told me 'yes, they're beautiful - but they take one hell of a lot of work'.

Back on topic, it would probably be a good idea to have a chat with an aquarium shop owner that has a tank chiller. Somehow I'm sure that they'll be v expensive!

There is nothing worse then nurturing fish, watching them grow into fine specimens and then suddenly one morning seeing them dead doing the breast stroke on top of the tank water. It`s really upsetting. A lot of work for nothing.

I looked into buying a water chiller but there are problems with that too. Where I live in Chiang Mai daily temperatures can fluctuate like crazy and from mornings, afternoons to evenings to nights. It means having to make a note and keeping an eye on daily temperatures then adjusting the chiller accordingly. In the cold season that seems to get colder each year the tank requires heaters. As my tank was huge it would require a very high powered heater or may be several. This is needed to keep the water temperatures at a constant temperature level all year round.

For me that`s too much bother as I just want something with the minimum of work, to enjoy and not have to think about. From my own experiences and the experiences of other fish keepers I know or knew that keeping fish in artificial environments in Thailand is rarely successful in the long term. If you get 3 or 4 years out the fish you can count yourself lucky and I`ve tried indoor and outdoor tanks with several species of fish. In England I used to breed fish and consider myself somewhat of an expert fish keeper. After 11 years of keeping fish here, I decided enough is enough and to give it up.

If anyone here has had success with keeping pet fish in tanks for several years without problems I would love to know how they do it?

Edited May 1, 2016 by cyberfarang

[wjdw]

Where have you looked for chillers? I know that Seasun Aquarium in Bangkok charge well over the odds as do some other shops so you might find a better price if you keep looking. What size tank do you have and what output are you looking for chiller-wise?

I use large fans on my freshwater tanks but evaporation is of course an issue when doing that (and 28 is a more optimistic target than 26 for me). Only way to avoid the water becoming harder and harder over time is either to do lots of large water changes or top up with water from an RO unit (I'm sure you know all that already).

Yes i've bought from them previously - Skimmer Never worked :/ few other issues...

Yes, loose roughly 1L a day.... I am a reefer though... freshwater apart from the koi sala really is not my thing..., the wife does a 5L water change daily as we have the sea basically on the BG.

I've seen these fans on Lazada (looked yesterday) apparantly they can reduce the temp by 2-4 c each, is that working out the same for you, as its currently now hitting 28 over night, and 32 with the lights on (will likely increase when i add an additional 74 watts to the tank over the next month...

[wjdw]

I have a chiller for my large tank and your price point is spot on. It was 26,000 baht.

Also agree with Mark, 26 degrees is very difficult to achieve, even with a chiller on 24 hours a day. 28 degrees is more realistic as I like to give my chiller a break most nights otherwise it can ice up sometimes...but 28 degrees should be fine for most fish, unless they are really fragile.

I tried air conditioner and it worked to some point to keep the tank cooler, but not as good as a chiller.

I am in Chiang Mai and I got my chiller at Shogun.

Thanks Dlock (and Mark), yes mine is more "reef" based, so it's kinda very important to have consistency...

You are right on the price, worse its that Chinese <deleted>, so if it breaks, no warranty either, if a western brand i would not begrudge the price, but i've seen the Chinese stuff fall apart many times, so that was my major off-put, what is Shogun , if you don't mind sharing a URL.

Thanks again...

[wjdw]

cyberfarang - good post.

Off topic, I too feel a responsibility towards my fish, as like dogs and cats, I brought them into my home and therefore need to take care of them. Its always upsetting when a fish dies, and I've lost a couple in the past week - presumably because the hot weather has resulted in a too high water temp and dirty water. Unfortunately even the house water is 'hot',so aquarium water can only be (partially) replaced first thing in the morning...

From what I gather you're right about saltwater tanks as I was admiring one and the aquarium shop guy told me 'yes, they're beautiful - but they take one hell of a lot of work'.

Back on topic, it would probably be a good idea to have a chat with an aquarium shop owner that has a tank chiller. Somehow I'm sure that they'll be v expensive!

There is nothing worse then nurturing fish, watching them grow into fine specimens and then suddenly one morning seeing them dead doing the breast stroke on top of the tank water. It`s really upsetting. A lot of work for nothing.

I looked into buying a water chiller but there are problems with that too. Where I live in Chiang Mai daily temperatures can fluctuate like crazy and from mornings, afternoons to evenings to nights. It means having to make a note and keeping an eye on daily temperatures then adjusting the chiller accordingly. In the cold season that seems to get colder each year the tank requires heaters. As my tank was huge it would require a very high powered heater or may be several. This is needed to keep the water temperatures at a constant temperature level all year round.

For me that`s too much bother as I just want something with the minimum of work, to enjoy and not have to think about. From my own experiences and the experiences of other fish keepers I know or knew that keeping fish in artificial environments in Thailand is rarely successful in the long term. If you get 3 or 4 years out the fish you can count yourself lucky and I`ve tried indoor and outdoor tanks with several species of fish. In England I used to breed fish and consider myself somewhat of an expert fish keeper. After 11 years of keeping fish here, I decided enough is enough and to give it up.

If anyone here has had success with keeping pet fish in tanks for several years without problems I would love to know how they do it?

I agree, its heart breaking... it appears i am not the only one having issues with temperatures... I think some sort of script based on variables directly controlling heating/chiller would be ideal in your case in the North...

[wjdw]

cyberfarang - good post.

Off topic, I too feel a responsibility towards my fish, as like dogs and cats, I brought them into my home and therefore need to take care of them. Its always upsetting when a fish dies, and I've lost a couple in the past week - presumably because the hot weather has resulted in a too high water temp and dirty water. Unfortunately even the house water is 'hot',so aquarium water can only be (partially) replaced first thing in the morning...

From what I gather you're right about saltwater tanks as I was admiring one and the aquarium shop guy told me 'yes, they're beautiful - but they take one hell of a lot of work'.

Back on topic, it would probably be a good idea to have a chat with an aquarium shop owner that has a tank chiller. Somehow I'm sure that they'll be v expensive!

Yes, they are somewhat part of the family, the wife is loving the excitement as much as myself - though, i've always had a reef apart from in Thailand.. now i have a budding one

Yes a few hours a day, well as i do nothing pretty much and am always around the beach club, it really does not affect my schedules, though the wife is getting used to grabbing 5 litres daily...

Yes, they suggest a chiller - but interested to find out if there is a thai style alternative, as its the Chinese crap only available to-date that i have come across....

[wjdw]

chiller.jpg

Er... Coooollll!!!!

How does it work? do you have fluctuations? is it manageable?... can you control it?? is it small?

thanks for sharing...

[DLock]

I have a chiller for my large tank and your price point is spot on. It was 26,000 baht.

Also agree with Mark, 26 degrees is very difficult to achieve, even with a chiller on 24 hours a day. 28 degrees is more realistic as I like to give my chiller a break most nights otherwise it can ice up sometimes...but 28 degrees should be fine for most fish, unless they are really fragile.

I tried air conditioner and it worked to some point to keep the tank cooler, but not as good as a chiller.

I am in Chiang Mai and I got my chiller at Shogun.

Thanks Dlock (and Mark), yes mine is more "reef" based, so it's kinda very important to have consistency...

You are right on the price, worse its that Chinese <deleted>, so if it breaks, no warranty either, if a western brand i would not begrudge the price, but i've seen the Chinese stuff fall apart many times, so that was my major off-put, what is Shogun , if you don't mind sharing a URL.

Thanks again...

I can't find a website for Shogun, as it keeps bouncing to their Facebook. They are one of the better fish suppliers in CM.

https://www.facebook.com/Shogun-Farm-Chiangmai-334694096559521/?fref=nf

My chiller is Chinese and the plastic connections can get quite brittle. The plastic connection to one of the hoses disintegrated and I had to modify it. What worries me is the plastic connections breaking when I am not home, so I try to run it when I am home mostly. So I agree on the quality...or lack off.

But here in CM, I was using heaters in January and early Feb, and chiller in March and April - the temperature fluctuates very quickly up here.

Good luck.

Edited May 1, 2016 by DLock

[Mark123456]

I have a chiller for my large tank and your price point is spot on. It was 26,000 baht.

Also agree with Mark, 26 degrees is very difficult to achieve, even with a chiller on 24 hours a day. 28 degrees is more realistic as I like to give my chiller a break most nights otherwise it can ice up sometimes...but 28 degrees should be fine for most fish, unless they are really fragile.

I tried air conditioner and it worked to some point to keep the tank cooler, but not as good as a chiller.

I am in Chiang Mai and I got my chiller at Shogun.

I find Shoguns prices to be quite shocking. I've seen the Hailea HC-1000A advertised for 15,000 baht online - is yours more powerful than that?

[Mark123456]

Where have you looked for chillers? I know that Seasun Aquarium in Bangkok charge well over the odds as do some other shops so you might find a better price if you keep looking. What size tank do you have and what output are you looking for chiller-wise?

I use large fans on my freshwater tanks but evaporation is of course an issue when doing that (and 28 is a more optimistic target than 26 for me). Only way to avoid the water becoming harder and harder over time is either to do lots of large water changes or top up with water from an RO unit (I'm sure you know all that already).

Yes i've bought from them previously - Skimmer Never worked :/ few other issues...

Yes, loose roughly 1L a day.... I am a reefer though... freshwater apart from the koi sala really is not my thing..., the wife does a 5L water change daily as we have the sea basically on the BG.

I've seen these fans on Lazada (looked yesterday) apparantly they can reduce the temp by 2-4 c each, is that working out the same for you, as its currently now hitting 28 over night, and 32 with the lights on (will likely increase when i add an additional 74 watts to the tank over the next month...

I'm using small desk fans that are sat on the sill I have at the back of two of my tanks, I think they're a fair bit more powerful than the computer fan style ones that clip onto the side. I can keep the tanks around 26.6 degrees if people stop opening the door to let the non-existent breeze into the house. On days when that happens it gets up to 27.7 (sorry for the odd figures, I work in Fahrenheit so I'm converting as i go along). The mistake I used to make was turning them off at night. If I leave them on all night, the tanks start the day at just over 26 and then they rarely exceed 27. I have heaters in them so I imagine its a battle between the fan and the heaters some nights but at least i know it's not going to get too cold (I haven't gotten around to buying a thermostat to plug the fans into yet).

[itsmylife]

Hi , wjdw maybe you can google for reef aquarium forum you can find alot of expert there . personally i think to mantain your reef tank temp you need bigger chiller cos thailand are hotter than other parts of asia country.

[Isan Farang]

I have a chiller for my large tank and your price point is spot on. It was 26,000 baht.

Also agree with Mark, 26 degrees is very difficult to achieve, even with a chiller on 24 hours a day. 28 degrees is more realistic as I like to give my chiller a break most nights otherwise it can ice up sometimes...but 28 degrees should be fine for most fish, unless they are really fragile.

I tried air conditioner and it worked to some point to keep the tank cooler, but not as good as a chiller.

I am in Chiang Mai and I got my chiller at Shogun.

You have stated you are running a chiller for your large tank

Can you give the following information

1. What is the make and model of the chiller

2. What is the total water amount for tank and sump combined, I assume you have a salt water set up.

3. What is the LPH of the pump you are using with the chiller

[dick dasterdly]

Where have you looked for chillers? I know that Seasun Aquarium in Bangkok charge well over the odds as do some other shops so you might find a better price if you keep looking. What size tank do you have and what output are you looking for chiller-wise?

I use large fans on my freshwater tanks but evaporation is of course an issue when doing that (and 28 is a more optimistic target than 26 for me). Only way to avoid the water becoming harder and harder over time is either to do lots of large water changes or top up with water from an RO unit (I'm sure you know all that already).

Yes i've bought from them previously - Skimmer Never worked :/ few other issues...

Yes, loose roughly 1L a day.... I am a reefer though... freshwater apart from the koi sala really is not my thing..., the wife does a 5L water change daily as we have the sea basically on the BG.

I've seen these fans on Lazada (looked yesterday) apparantly they can reduce the temp by 2-4 c each, is that working out the same for you, as its currently now hitting 28 over night, and 32 with the lights on (will likely increase when i add an additional 74 watts to the tank over the next month...

I'm using small desk fans that are sat on the sill I have at the back of two of my tanks, I think they're a fair bit more powerful than the computer fan style ones that clip onto the side. I can keep the tanks around 26.6 degrees if people stop opening the door to let the non-existent breeze into the house. On days when that happens it gets up to 27.7 (sorry for the odd figures, I work in Fahrenheit so I'm converting as i go along). The mistake I used to make was turning them off at night. If I leave them on all night, the tanks start the day at just over 26 and then they rarely exceed 27. I have heaters in them so I imagine its a battle between the fan and the heaters some nights but at least i know it's not going to get too cold (I haven't gotten around to buying a thermostat to plug the fans into yet).

Off topic, but lucky you! I have an aquarium heater for Discus fish set at 30.1C - it hasn't been activated for a couple of months?

Fortunately the Discus seem quite happy, even though the water temp must be a lot higher than 31C.

But I have had to throw ice cubes in the outdoor aquarium as it gets some sun during the day and I've had a death in both the outdoor aquarium and pond (that doesn't get any sun).

[maxtwo]

I had thoughts about using a pub beer chiller.

[Mark123456]

Where have you looked for chillers? I know that Seasun Aquarium in Bangkok charge well over the odds as do some other shops so you might find a better price if you keep looking. What size tank do you have and what output are you looking for chiller-wise?

I use large fans on my freshwater tanks but evaporation is of course an issue when doing that (and 28 is a more optimistic target than 26 for me). Only way to avoid the water becoming harder and harder over time is either to do lots of large water changes or top up with water from an RO unit (I'm sure you know all that already).

Yes i've bought from them previously - Skimmer Never worked :/ few other issues...

Yes, loose roughly 1L a day.... I am a reefer though... freshwater apart from the koi sala really is not my thing..., the wife does a 5L water change daily as we have the sea basically on the BG.

I've seen these fans on Lazada (looked yesterday) apparantly they can reduce the temp by 2-4 c each, is that working out the same for you, as its currently now hitting 28 over night, and 32 with the lights on (will likely increase when i add an additional 74 watts to the tank over the next month...

I'm using small desk fans that are sat on the sill I have at the back of two of my tanks, I think they're a fair bit more powerful than the computer fan style ones that clip onto the side. I can keep the tanks around 26.6 degrees if people stop opening the door to let the non-existent breeze into the house. On days when that happens it gets up to 27.7 (sorry for the odd figures, I work in Fahrenheit so I'm converting as i go along). The mistake I used to make was turning them off at night. If I leave them on all night, the tanks start the day at just over 26 and then they rarely exceed 27. I have heaters in them so I imagine its a battle between the fan and the heaters some nights but at least i know it's not going to get too cold (I haven't gotten around to buying a thermostat to plug the fans into yet).

Off topic, but lucky you! I have an aquarium heater for Discus fish set at 30.1C - it hasn't been activated for a couple of months?

Fortunately the Discus seem quite happy, even though the water temp must be a lot higher than 31C.

But I have had to throw ice cubes in the outdoor aquarium as it gets some sun during the day and I've had a death in both the outdoor aquarium and pond (that doesn't get any sun).

I have a tank with rams and cardinals in and the heater is set to keep the temperature at 29 degrees. It never goes above that when the fan is on. I think that bigger fans are the answer really, although my long-term plan is to put glass walls up and just use air con to keep the 'fish room' temp at about 28. I didn't really understand the OP's salinity issues. If you top up with fresh water, to counteract the evaporation, salinity shouldn't be a problem? Still, it's been years since I had a reef tank and that was back in England where this was only a problem for about 2 weeks out of 5 years.

31 degrees Celsius is nearly 88 Fahrenheit....my tanks never get anywhere near that with the fans on. I should point out that I live in Chiang Mai and not Bangkok but even when the outside temperature was over 40 Celsius recently, I had no problems. My house isn't particularly well-designed to cope with the heat and I don't use air-con to excess so I can only assume it's down to the fact I use larger fans that I don't have any problems.

Edited May 2, 2016 by Mark123456

[wjdw]

I had thoughts about using a pub beer chiller.

Any links to what / how they work and are?

thanks

[maxtwo]

In pub they run a line of pipes for each beer bundled together in the bundle they run lines from from chiller unit.So you could put a line in tank or rap a coils round a pipe carrying water to a filter.I was thinking of making a unit with a uv light incorporated in it.

[wjdw]

Any images would be great thanks Maxtwo

[Mark123456]

I've just remembered: I did see a DIY chiller project, on YouTube a while ago I think. What the guy had done was to run a large amount of hosing through an ordinary domestic fridge. Apart from making a couple of holes in the fridge, it looked like a very easy project although I guess you would have to experiment with the flow rate and length of hosing to get the desired chill effect. I do remember that the hosing was coiled inside the fridge, to ensure the water spent enough time inside it to drop in temperature.

I'm not a very practical person so I'm not sure how you could control the temperature automatically with such a setup but given the price of fridges compared to aquarium chillers it's tempting to try this project. I guess you could have some kind of y-junction in the hosing with a solenoid that opened or closed one of two pipes, linked to a thermometer in the tank. What I mean is, if the temperature drops to 25.8, the water could be routed to a length of hose outside the fridge and if it went over 26.2, the water could be directed to the hose that was inside the fridge.

Not sure how practical all that is but thought I'd mention it as i just remembered it. Actually, rather than the two hose solution, I guess the fridge could just be plugged into a thermostat that turned it on and off according to the water temperature.

Edited May 3, 2016 by Mark123456

[Mark123456]

Sounds like good advice but I'd be a little wary of using copper piping in an aquarium application.