Habitat - Indoor :: Cooling water

[jimmyfrack]

I have 2 Small RES in a 40gal Breeder tank a little more than half full of water. There is a Fluval FX5 filter on the tank and it does a wonderful job keeping the tank clean even with plans and other things in the tank. We've had a hot day or 2 now and I'm worried about the summer and my apt getting hot. I was thinking of running the air conditioner but wondering if maybe a chiller would be cheaper in the long run. Can anyone give me any advice?

Thanks in advance

Jim
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[Lantic]

Chillers are pretty expensive even i looked at them.. A way you could cool a tank is buy freezing a water bottle and just let it sit at the top. What temperatures are you getting?

[BullDog]

I've got a couple of larger tanks (75 and 90 gallon), and the temp was creeping in the low 80's last summer. What I started doing was freezing a 2L milk jug, and putting that in each of the tanks. It cooled it by a degree or two. With the smaller tank, you could use pop bottles.
The other thing I did was replaced the closed glass tops on my tanks with an old fridge rack. This allows for more evaporation.
I also took the heaters right out of the tank. I'm not sure if they were coming on or not, but I figured they didn't need to be in there.

You can also have a fan blowing accross the surface of the water (make sure it's not aiming at the basking area), and this can also help cool it by evaporation.

As Lantic said, chillers are a pretty big investment. You might want to try a few of the above suggestions before purchasing a chiller.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

As long as the water doesnt go above 90 you will be okay. Normal water temps in nature in the sumer reach high 80s around here

[papoopeepoo]

My water is at 82.5F right now, and the heaters are off. In Philadelphia we've had a couple days in a row over 85 degrees.

The turtles should be fine, they're just a little more active than normal. I wouldn't worry about it unless the numbers get in the upper 80s or 90s.

[BullDog]

The thing with higher temps is that it speeds up their metabolism, so they feel hungrier. It also encourages excess shedding. You'd be able to get away with maybe 82, but the warmer it is, the more they shed.

[Rosepruner]

ok, so what you're saying is that when we hit 110 degrees I need to find a way to cool the tank off? I'm worried about the water temp reaching easily into the 90's.

[Caphits]

Go with the frozen water bottles. It is relatively cheap, and easy. Make sure you dont just throw used bottles in the freezer though. They *might* have salmonella/other bacteria on them. Give them a quick washing first.

[jimmyfrack]

Thanks for the replies the water has reached 85 the past two days because we've had a couple of hot days in New Jersey. At night the water has been cooling down to about 77 and when I get home from work the water is usually around 81 or so its was only over the weekend that it reached 85.

[kraezeeace]

Wouldn't frozen water bottles melt relatively quickly and require somebody to change the bottle every few hours or so?

[papoopeepoo]

Wouldn't frozen water bottles melt relatively quickly and require somebody to change the bottle every few hours or so?

not if you only have to lower the temp a few degrees. if you put it a few hours before the hottest part of the day, then it should be fine to lead into the night.