It’s really sweltering here at the Reefkeepingtoday Office. It feels like summer has truly arrived. Temperatures will remain high over the next few days. That’s causing quite a few headaches for many aquarists: how do you keep that aquarium cool? We’ve put together a few tips to help.
A saltwater aquarium has an ideal temperature of around 25.5 degrees. Opinions vary on this, but we can say that 25.5°C is a good guideline. The most important thing, however—as always in this hobby—is stability. Fortunately, there are many ways to keep the temperature stable.
1. An automatic cooler
If you want to go all out right away, you can purchase a chiller. This device works like a refrigerator and circulates water through a set of tubes filled with coolant. The coolant extracts heat from the water and dissipates it, resulting in an aquarium at the perfect temperature.
There are quite a few brands and models to choose from. Just last week, Teco launched another new drop-in cooler. However, it’s more important to consider the cooling capacity. After all, for a large aquarium, this will need to be higher.
The drawbacks of this cooling method are, on the one hand, the price—which can easily exceed 300 EUR—and the noise. After all, when the unit starts up, a compressor kicks in to convert the hot coolant into a gas.
2. Fans
A simple method that requires far less expense and installation work than a cooler. Here, too, various brands and models are available. What’s more, they can be found at very low prices: you can get a small fan with two blades starting at 15 euros.
The disadvantage of this method is that it has limited capabilities. The fans can only cool the water by a few degrees. Furthermore, evaporation will occur at a rapid rate (since that is the mechanism by which the water cools), which requires a great deal of demineralized water. Furthermore, once the fan is turned on, it will stay on. After all, it has no way of knowing when the water has reached the desired temperature unless a temperature sensor is connected to it.
3. Air Conditioning
A cool house usually means a cool aquarium, too. That’s why installing air conditioning in your home can make a real difference. Bonus: you’ll be able to enjoy a comfortable temperature as well.
Prices vary, but portable air conditioning units are available starting at 400 EUR.
4. Turn off non-essential equipment
All those technical gadgets in the aquarium are nice to have, but they also generate heat. Turn off any unnecessary pumps during the hottest part of the day, and dim the lights. Just make sure there’s enough oxygen in the water.
Taking these two steps can make a big difference in temperature, especially if the aquarium has a sealed lid.
5. Hold an open house
Open the sump cabinet door wide. Additional airflow can help increase evaporation, and thus provide more cooling. Combine an open cabinet with an extra fan above the sump. This way, you’ll make the most of the available cooling surface area.
6. Make Your Own Cooler
Building a real cooler might be beyond our technical capabilities, but fitting a container of ice between the aquarium and an external filter should just work. Here’s how it works: install an external canister filter with its accompanying pump, and make sure the hoses are long enough to run through a cooler filled with ice.
The water flows through a cool zone, which will draw heat out of it. It then flows back into the aquarium through the filter. Voilà: a simple cooler. Another option is to repurpose an old computer fan. Just be careful not to cool the water too much.
