[Dancing frogs]

I'm planning a new tank for my golden mantellas, and would like to incorporate a cooling device for them, as last summer I was using ice to keep their tank cool. even with the room ac on max the temp would climb to the low 80's easily. In Marc Staniszewski's excellent book on mantellas
he descibes a cooling technique using a peltier element for cooling a tank. I bought a 50 watt surplus unit and have played around with it, but in a ten gallon size tank it only dropped the temp 2-3 degrees. The tank I'm planning is a 70 gallon lizard lounge. Another idea I have is plumbing a ultrasonic humidifier into the tank, that way I would have air exchange without drying the tank out too much. I'll probably be using two 55w compact flourescents for light.
Any advice on cooling the tank would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian Sexton

 

[Guest]

Using an ultrasonic humidifier plumbed into the tank will definitely cool the tank a lot especially if you put ice in the holding tank. here is a diagram of the setup i have designed for the humidifier. i have it set up in a "frogless" tank and it works wonders on the temp.

the fan blows into the water tank to push the fog into the tank. this keeps the humidity off the electric while still maintaining a good air flow.

 

[Moe]

I use a heat-sink and fan method for cooling.

:::::

1. Get a small cpu fan
2. Get a heat sink
3. Mount the heat sink under the fan
4. Pour water into the heatsink
5. Get an adapter and plug it in.


Fan and heatsink

adapter

different view

whole thing..

One thing though..

I never actually used this during a hot day (just tested it in the winter), nor did i ever use it on my mantellas. Didnt have a chance to; so i dont know how reliable it is really. I do however use it on my lights. It does a fairly good job in maintaning temps and circulation. The one im holding probably wont change anything in terms of temperature in a terrarium. So, i'd aim for a large (i mean much larger) one in size.

Like i said, i havent tested it on a hot day. So it isnt a gurantee of being a bargain. You also have to do consistent water changes, and keep in mind it may lower humidity.

The unltrasonic humidifier mounted with pvc is your best option though, and fairly cheap.

Hope this helps.
M.N

 

[Guest]

i dunno, but having standing water that close to an uncovered electric unit would make me REALLY nervous.....

if your house catches fire, dont say i didn't tell you so =)

 

[Moe]

Unless your dumb enough to leave the wires stripped, and faced to open air, you wont have a problem. The fan is detachable, and able to be raised higher if needed. There is no wires in the heat sink. The water isnt a must have anyway, just work better imo.

M.N

 

[jhupp]

I am building a tank for golden mantellas as well and I'm planning on using a miniture version of a green house 'swamp cooler' to keep the temps down. Basicly a set of fans that blows over a paper comb with water circulating across it. The idea is that the air temprature drops as its energy is used to evaporate the water. Plus it humidifies the air. I also plan on sperating the lights from the tank via a double pained 'window', relying on the R value of the dead air space to help mediate their effects. In theory and on large scale it works, we will see how aplicable it is to a 30 gallon tank. I will post some pics when complete. It should be nice though, I am building it a restored slate bottom aquarium (very retro).