Iceprobe

[illumnae]

Anyone have any idea why suppliers stopped bringing Iceprobe into the local market? I'm looking for one for my Ocean Free Nano, but am unable to find one locally. if I ship in from the US, is there a concern about power supply (i.e. do I need to buy a 240v - 110v transformer?) or do they supply universal power supply like most modern appliances?

[MarcoVan]

You can invest in a fan and an auto top up to help with the evaporation.

[peacemaker]

How big is your tank? An Ice-Probe can barely cool down a 1ft cube, so anything bigger will be a challenge.

Another choice is the CSXC-1 Aquarium Chiller from Chill Solutions. It uses the same thermalelectric cooling technology, and it comes with temperature controller.

[Guest]

How big is your tank? An Ice-Probe can barely cool down a 1ft cube, so anything bigger will be a challenge.

Another choice is the CSXC-1 Aquarium Chiller from Chill Solutions. It uses the same thermalelectric cooling technology, and it comes with temperature controller.

i agree with peacmaker, i tried the Ice-probe and it can barely chill down a nano tank in our Hot weather here which maybe the reason why local supplier stop bringing it in anymore.

I saw a small resun chiller make for nano tank in Qian Hu and Aquarium Artist showroom which maybe you can tried checking it out as well. Alternatively, since it is a nano tank you can use a fan to chill the water and top up with freshwater daily.

[illumnae]

i agree with peacmaker, i tried the Ice-probe and it can barely chill down a nano tank in our Hot weather here which maybe the reason why local supplier stop bringing it in anymore.

I saw a small resun chiller make for nano tank in Qian Hu and Aquarium Artist showroom which maybe you can tried checking it out as well. Alternatively, since it is a nano tank you can use a fan to chill the water and top up with freshwater daily.

How big is your tank? An Ice-Probe can barely cool down a 1ft cube, so anything bigger will be a challenge.

Another choice is the CSXC-1 Aquarium Chiller from Chill Solutions. It uses the same thermalelectric cooling technology, and it comes with temperature controller.

Thanks for the advice. My tank is the Ocean Free 34L Nano, which is just slightly larger than a 1 ft cube. I did read reviews about the ice probe being useless above 10 gallons volume, but I figured my tank is just below 10 gallons so the ice probe would work fine.

Reason I chose the ice probe is that the tank is located on my office desk, thus making space a huge constraint especially since I already have a HOB skimmer and ATO on the tank. The Resun mini chiller and the linked CSXC ones both require a pump and an external place to put the chiller, vs just using eggcrate to mount the ice probe onto one of the IOS compartments. Price of the CSXC is also similar to the ice probe + temperature controller.

My office is air conditioned (but temp not set to very cold la), with the air con switched off during the weekends, but as the place is enclosed and my desk not near the window, the temp doesn't go up as much, so the ice probe won't have as much issue lowering the temperature as compared to a tank in a normal room near a window. I guess my only other option is to use a fan, but I'm not really sure which fan would be good enough to lower the temperature by 2-3 degrees in my tank. I have an ATO so topping up water isn't that troublesome.

[peacemaker]

I would recommend Sunon. You can get it at Petmart.

[Gouldian]

In this part of the world where by our ambient temperature is 28 degree without heat load from pumps and lights. Thermo-Electric cooling is not efficient and realistic.

The only common TE cooling appliances found locally are mini fridges and mini wine cellars, this is because both appliances are insulated and once the internal temperature is reached, it takes several hours before the temperature equilibrate with the external temperature. Also because this does not have a heat load like a fish tank.

An aquarium is not insulated, is open and also have heat load thus TE cooling is not suitable. Because you will consume more electricity and yet cannot reach the desired temperature that a compressor chiller can.

Evaporative cooling (i.e. to use fan to blow across the water surface) works best in dry environment such as desert. Evaporation are humidity dependent. So if you room humidity starts to climbs, less evaporation will take place and therefore less heat remove. Evaporative cooling will also not work when there is limited air circulation.

For offices whereby aircon switches off after office hours, TE and Evaporative Cooling will not work efficiently. Your best bet is still compressor chillers.

If compressor cooling is not an option, you can use evaporative cooling and at the same time look into ways to increase air circulation within your office after aircon switches off and also stock livestocks that are able to handle larger margins of temperature fluctuation.

Hope that helps.

Ref:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler

[illumnae]

Thanks for your expert advice everyone! Unfortunately compressor cooling won't be an option for me. I note most of the mini chillers available are already as big as my tank! I can't fit that into my office. I also am afraid of the risk of external hoses accidentally disconnecting and flooding the office.

I'll try the Sunon fan recommended by bro peacemaker for now.

[Evolutionz]

Sunon fan are very noisy.. Get the dymax vortex fan. Smaller in size and very quiet

[illumnae]

The bigger model? I tried out the smaller model at JZX and it barely had any wind!

[Evolutionz]

I bought the bigger model from ah beng. Quite strong leh.. Can chill my 34l well.. Also note that bigger fan will only mean higher evaporation.. A big sunon over that and you'll have to top up alot..

[reef garden]

i agree with peacmaker, i tried the Ice-probe and it can barely chill down a nano tank in our Hot weather here which maybe the reason why local supplier stop bringing it in anymore.

I saw a small resun chiller make for nano tank in Qian Hu and Aquarium Artist showroom which maybe you can tried checking it out as well. Alternatively, since it is a nano tank you can use a fan to chill the water and top up with freshwater daily.

I was at Qian Hu at Jalan Lekar today but they didn't have any resun chiller. They only have the TECO chiller.

[peacemaker]

I dun think noise is a problem, since you are not going to be in the office to listen to it during the weekends. Set it on a digital timer and you are good to go. You can always ask the staff to test the equipment, and if the noise is unbearable, then you can make other choices.