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Keeping shrimp tanks cool in the summer

LondonDragon

LondonDragon

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Summer is around the corner and those keeping Crystal/Bee shrimp should be aware that they don't do well in high temps.

Two years ago I lost my entire population of CRS during the summer due to the temp in the tank reaching 30-32C.

After that I purchased this fan: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JEBO-Aquarium-Twi ... 25575a584f

This was for my 60 litre tank, during last summer when the weather was very warm again I used these fans 24/7, this kept the temps down during the summer at around 20-24C which was ideal for the CRS.

They sell larger fans for larger tanks so check the sellers listing, I am also considering this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ATC-800-Digital-T ... 2305db106a to turn on and off the fan/heater as required to maintain optimum temp and prevent it from fluctuating too much.

High grade CRS are not cheap and this is a worthy investment.
 
Cheers for the links Paulo.
I plant to invest in fans shortly (I bought my CRS last Autumn, intentionally avoiding the hot weather).

With regards to temp control...

I tend to unplug my heater during any hot spells, so that controls that :lol:
For the fans, I am toying with this (or similar):

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Timeguard-ET05-Pl ... 2eaa8c8461

Benefits - fairly cheap, out of the box solution, requires no kit inside the tank.
Disadvantages - Only checks room temperature, so will not offer precise control (but I am happy to hit a rough range).
 
I don't keep heaters in the tank anyway, but if it gets too hot the heaters are off automatically, so I don't see the advantage of turning them off.

That is a cheap alternative, what you need to work out is the tank to room temperature ration, also depends a lot where the timer is, if its hidden inside the cabinet, outside in the sun light, etc... I would rather just run it 24/7 if it gets too low the heater will kick in and will fight the fans :p if you have sensitive fish. A proper controller might be worthy of the investment if that is the case.
 
I've had the same thought processes.

My fish and shrimp have a certain min (26) and a certain max (30 for CRS I think) temp, nothing too specific.
So in theory I could have the heater set to go off at 26 (which I do) and the fans set to come on at say 29. There is enough of an overlap that they should not conflict. After buying the kit I will experiment and see...
 
Other think to remember is if the tank has a hood then you need to raise it or leave a flap open so that enough air circulates. Evaporation also increases 10 fold, on my 60 litre tank I get about 2 litres evaporation a day if the fans are on 24/7.
 
Just a thought, but is it not worth just moving the tanks to a room that stays cool? My old house used to be hellish in the summer so my tanks used to get moved onto a back room in my grandparents house which with being below ground level stayed nicely cool.
 
Garuf said:
Just a thought, but is it not worth just moving the tanks to a room that stays cool? My old house used to be hellish in the summer so my tanks used to get moved onto a back room in my grandparents house which with being below ground level stayed nicely cool.
Click to expand...
The tanks cannot be moved, they are where they are because that's the only place for them :p
 
Hmm, You could get DIY a chiller, I saw one one a reefer forum made from one of those old cube fridges they have beer promotions screen printed on. Bit more hard work but worth it with expensive shrimp I'd imagine.
 
Ahhh, from reading it I was under the impression that the fans weren't working, I'd read it as though you'd lost your shrimps because the fans didn't work.
 
Garuf said:
Ahhh, from reading it I was under the impression that the fans weren't working, I'd read it as though you'd lost your shrimps because the fans didn't work.
Click to expand...
Ah no, I purchased the fans and it worked, reason I posted the topic to share my experience ;)
 
not just useful for shrimp tanks but for others as well.
i think i might get some fans for my 4x2x2. i can decide whether to get 2 lots of 2 fans or one block of 4 fans. i dont have that many sockets going spare so i will have to do some thinking!

they are particularly useful for people with OTL's. the heat my 4x54w T5's produce is immense!

cheers for this thread LD. a good shout.
 
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