Can't afford a chiller

[tywtly]

As you may have guessed by the title, I cannot afford a chiller. I know bimacs need a cooler temp, but there is no way I'll ever affod a chiller. How else can I cool my tank, because I don't want to keep an animal in unfit conditions. I try to keep all my animals in tanks/terrariums that at least try to mimic their homes. I've found it helps them feel more secure, plus it just makes sense.

 

[Opcn]

Where do you live?

 

[tywtly]

Rural Northwest Alabama, gets pretty warm, so I'm doing my best to set it up as far away from a window as possible, as my floors will allow...some rooms have really good floors, others we're not so sure about.

 

[Nancy]

Maybe you should keep an octopus that likes warmer water, like aculeatus or mercatoris. Then you wouldn't have a struggle to keep the water cool without a chiller.

Nancy

 

[Tone1987]

Do you have a basement? My best advise is keeping all fish tanks in the basement its always cooler and the air temp. is more stable.

 

[tywtly]

No basement, just a one story house in the middle of nowhere. I keep the fan on in my room, so the temp is pretty cool in there. Ya think I could float ziploc bags full of ice in the tank?

 

[Opcn]

Fans blowing across the water can significantly lower the temp, especially in dry areas, its been a pretty dry year in Alabama this year so it could work.

 

[tywtly]

How will I set that up, though? I'm not really experienced with equipment, so, (sorry), but could you explain that?

 

[Animal Mother]

Fans blowing across the water can significantly lower the temp, especially in dry areas, its been a pretty dry year in Alabama this year so it could work.

If you have a sump, this is a good suggestion, but with an escape prone creature like an octopus, it's just not do-able for the display tank.

The bags of ice aren't a bad idea, but you'd have to replace them over and over and over and over, with frozen R/O water in case they leaked into the tank. And from what I understand, it's more effort than it's worth because it doesn't cool your tank that much.

 

[tywtly]

Well, I don't have a sump, and I have no idea how to set one up or the means to set one up, so I'll just have to hope room temp is acceptable.

 

[Paradox]

You can just have a fan blowing into the tank. However, you will have a lot of evaporation, and without sump, Im assuming you dont have a RO/DI unit that is constantly replenishing water. You will probably need to add water to the tank often.

You can use a clip on fan. There are also many options specifically made for fish tanks now such as..

http://cgi.ebay.com/JEBO-Aquarium-F...14QQihZ018QQcategoryZ3212QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Triple-Temperat...9QQihZ010QQcategoryZ20755QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-FOUR-Fish-R...1QQihZ011QQcategoryZ20755QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[DWhatley]

ty,
As much as we wanted a bimac we went with an Atlantic warm water octo because we tested our tank during the cycling phase and with two fans running on the sump and an ambient of 75 we were barely able to keep the tank at 75 degrees. Before we turned on the AC, it hit 83 one day. Fortunately, we could remove the top and used frozen water bottles to slowly cool it back down to something reasonable but we are now preparing to add a chiller even to that tank. The hatchlings and mother survived the excessive heat for the short period of time but a colder water octo may not have made it.

Before you commit to a bimac, I would suggest that you monitor your tank during cycling (be sure to seal it as you would for the octo). This will give you a very clear idea of what type of octopus you could successfully keep.

 

[tywtly]

Ok, I'll try to cool it down somehow. I'll prolly do the fan thing... somehow.

 

[Opcn]

generally if you want to hook up a fan for a closed top tank you cut a hole and glue or screw a computer case fan on, and then cut or drill a few ventalation holes on the other side of the tank.

 

[tywtly]

Tempered glass, can't drill it.