# Other Aquarium Forums > Equipment and Accessories > DIY Projects >  DIY Chiller Set

## IrvineChen

Attachment 40650
Just sharing my DIY chiller using 800ml Blueice (NTUC) for my 1 feet tanks Nanotank.

Had try and tested and manage to reduce the tank water temperature to 23 degree, and lasted more than 5 hour before the temperate slowly increase. My tank is place near to my window, so during afternoon, the temperature previously is about 30 degree. With this set up, manage to hold the temperature constant at 23 degree from 11am till 4pm. 

My tower fan is set to operate at 5pm till 9am. Which will make the tank temperature around 24-25 degree.

Hence, during evening time, I just pop the Blueice back into the freezer and next day will be back for operation. 

Do feel free to contact me if there's any query.

I would to glad if you have any feedback to improve the design. 

Thanks.

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## IrvineChen

Yeah... Been re-freezing the blue ice daily.... But not a lot of work. 
The pump I using is a 5W pump, so the temperature change in the tank is very slow.... 
Plus my tank temperature in the morning is around 25 degree... So not much of drastic change in temperature... 
Had a pail of 30 Litre treated aged water, so I just scoop some water and top the tank daily.... 
Manage to decrease the death rate for my CRS to Zero since February. Hahaha....

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## limz_777

nice where you get the coil from ? self bent ?

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## IrvineChen

1/4" Stainless Steel Tubing 6metre long @ $30
Lol... I've my pend bender and I bend it myself.....

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## markus92

Wow in that case it seems to be stable and a very cost effective compared to buying a chiller for a nano tank! well though plan  :Grin:

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## IrvineChen

Save Electricity Bill..!! Hahaa...
I share this information so every hobbyist can save money....
This idea might work for 2 feet tank also... Maybe need more coil turn to increase the heat transfer...

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## limz_777

> 1/4" Stainless Steel Tubing 6metre long @ $30
> Lol... I've my pend bender and I bend it myself.....


bending machine ?

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## IrvineChen

Attachment 40678
This is the bender... A manual bender.... But actually 1/4" Stainless Steel Tubing is very thin... Hence, you could also bend it easily with your bare hand.

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## IrvineChen

I've research and thought about replace my Blueice with a Peltier or TEC, (Thermoelectric effect). 
Drop by Sim Lim Tower on Thursday, and saw a Peltier 12VDC, 60W @ $25.00 (Level 4).
Due to budget constrain, my wife display a "RED LIGHT" and stop me from purchasing it. Sad!

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## limz_777

> I've research and thought about replace my Blueice with a Peltier or TEC, (Thermoelectric effect). 
> Drop by Sim Lim Tower on Thursday, and saw a Peltier 12VDC, 60W @ $25.00 (Level 4).
> Due to budget constrain, my wife display a "RED LIGHT" and stop me from purchasing it. Sad!


peltier cooling has been discuss before , doesnt work that well , if you intend to use electricity power might as well use a chiller off the shelve

, that bender wanted to buy it last time but didnt, i thought it only meant for copper pipes, any good tips for bending ?

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## IrvineChen

My bender is for stainless steel purpose... Bought it for $85 at Able Hydraulic Pte Ltd at 50 Tuas Avenue 11. 
Tips for bending piping, is to mark the point that you wan to bend, and slot the marking into the bender and bend(Quite easy).

Peliter consume lesser electricity as it's DC... A chiller is AC input.... Laptop power input is 12VDC, 65W. I would say the electrical bill wouldn't be more than $20 a month. 

However, still pending for authorization from my wife for permission to test out my experiment... Whahaha...

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## AQMS

Is it just the Thermoelectric Cooler Peltier 12V 60W for $25 or the whole kit for $25?
If it is the whole kit,it is a good buy. Im setting up something similar like yours but due to work and limited time,
the project is on hold.

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## IrvineChen

Hehehee... Glad to heard about it.... Peltier alone onli is $25...
Heatsink $6...
Heatsink + fan $18

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## limz_777

> My bender is for stainless steel purpose... Bought it for $85 at Able Hydraulic Pte Ltd at 50 Tuas Avenue 11. 
> Tips for bending piping, is to mark the point that you wan to bend, and slot the marking into the bender and bend(Quite easy).
> 
> Peliter consume lesser electricity as it's DC... A chiller is AC input.... Laptop power input is 12VDC, 65W. I would say the electrical bill wouldn't be more than $20 a month. 
> 
> However, still pending for authorization from my wife for permission to test out my experiment... Whahaha...


guess there is no stopping you , do update on the diy section , maybe incorporate it into a used cpu casing , might look nicer

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## IrvineChen

Hahaa.... Then I come out with Buget Irvine Chiller for Nanotank..... Lol...

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## greenie

> peltier cooling has been discuss before , doesnt work that well , if you intend to use electricity power might as well use a chiller off the shelve
> 
> , that bender wanted to buy it last time but didnt, i thought it only meant for copper pipes, any good tips for bending ?


Should be able to work with a nano setup with peltier temperature controller. I believe if use with a nano tank to drop by 4-5c from ambient, peltier cooling with controller is efficient enough. I will share my work once my stuffs arrives.

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## IrvineChen

Great.... Thanks Greenie! Looking forward for your information.... 
If it work, I can convince my wife with it.... 
you order the peltier through ebay?

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## greenie

> Great.... Thanks Greenie! Looking forward for your information.... 
> If it work, I can convince my wife with it.... 
> you order the peltier through ebay?


I ordered the parts all from ebay and cost me about S$80+. For the heat sink & fan, I have left over parts from my PC builds.

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## limz_777

> Should be able to work with a nano setup with peltier temperature controller. I believe if use with a nano tank to drop by 4-5c from ambient, peltier cooling with controller is efficient enough. I will share my work once my stuffs arrives.


my bad , forgot to mention its efficient enough for nano tanks only

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## greenie

> my bad , forgot to mention its efficient enough for nano tanks only


No problem, with this project, I'm learning and hope to share. But I will open my own thread, hopefully soon. As those who deal at ebay, sometimes stuff only arrive after 4 weeks.

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## AQMS

> No problem, with this project, I'm learning and hope to share. But I will open my own thread, hopefully soon. As those who deal at ebay, sometimes stuff only arrive after 4 weeks.


Dont forget to check their feedback page before making purchases,just to be safe,happened to me before when my com parts didnt arrrive,
lucky me it is a small purchase.

TS keep the thread updated im interested to know what is next. :Smile:

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## IrvineChen

> I ordered the parts all from ebay and cost me about S$80+. For the heat sink & fan, I have left over parts from my PC builds.


If dry ice is easy available and cheap... I think it will be the best..... Definitely could last whole day.... Lol.....

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## greenie

> If dry ice is easy available and cheap... I think it will be the best..... Definitely could last whole day.... Lol.....


Might work but I prefer a solution with ease to use and least amount of maintenance. Anyway how can you regulate temp with that dry ice?

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## IrvineChen

Coil rounding? The heat transfer should be quite stable.. just got to test out the number of coil needed to achieve best result.. 

Peltier sure is maintenance free.. and more stable also

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## mavryan

Hi Irvine,
I see that you using steel pipe, where do you buy them?
What about Aluminium pipe, will it be better?

Hope to hear from you.

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## IrvineChen

Aluminium will be good... The heat transfer factor is higher than stainless steel... 

However, in the market I have found Copper tubing, Carbon steel and Stainless steel. 
Copper and carbon steel is out of the topic as my tank is a shrimp tank. And heavy metal will cause uneasiness to them which cause them to stress and die.
That why I stick to Stainless steel. To play Safe and ensure my shrimp life.

I bought from Able Hydraulic at Tuas Avenue 11. They sell all kinda of adaptor, tubing, and adaptor.. 

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## IrvineChen

Hi guys.... Notice this forum below :

http://www.shine7.com/aquarium/chiller.htm

He had done the peltier chiller..... Nicely setup.....

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## mavryan

I read thru many website and they all said aluminium is bad for fishes, thus I am not sure this chiller design is good.
If the water block is stainless steel or titanium material will be perfect.

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## mavryan

Also if you surf this product called Coolworks Microchiller, you will see another innovative approach to use TEC cooling as chiller.

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## IrvineChen

I will be able to make a stainless steel material... My side got the material.... Just got to weld them together...

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## limz_777

> I read thru many website and they all said aluminium is bad for fishes, thus I am not sure this chiller design is good.
> If the water block is stainless steel or titanium material will be perfect.
> 
> Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk


was thinking , rather then running tank water into the tem system , will it work under a insulated close loop system , with a stainless steel pipe heat exchanger in the tank ? that way dont have to worry about the block corroding .

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## IrvineChen

> was thinking , rather then running tank water into the tem system , will it work under a insulated close loop system , with a stainless steel pipe heat exchanger in the tank ? that way dont have to worry about the block corroding .


My existing design is a closed loop system.... With the stainless steel coil acting as the heat transfer coil to draw the icy water temperature in the styloform box.

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## BFG

Just a heads up to the participant in this thread, this thread will be moved to the diy section soon, as the thread title implies.

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## IrvineChen

> Just a heads up to the participant in this thread, this thread will be moved to the diy section soon, as the thread title implies.


Noted with thanks... Apologize for it...

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## Lee Boon Yong

Hi, can you teach me how to set up one for a 2 feet CRS tank, temp around 23~25

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## IrvineChen

> Hi, can you teach me how to set up one for a 2 feet CRS tank, temp around 23~25


1) put bigger ice block... 
2) add more coil for heat transfer
3) pump flow rate 

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## mavryan

With that kind of temp, it's better you get a chiller. The DIY stuff is only good to make sure your tank is not too hot.


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## IrvineChen

I muz say the diy chiller work for my 1 feet nano tank...
temperature drop to 23 degree lowest, and gradually increase to 25 degree over 7-8 hr 

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## mavryan

Hi IrvineChen,
I think for 2 feet tank assume about 15~20 gallon water, the DIY method is too difficult. Temp swing within the day will most likely kill the CRS.

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## IrvineChen

True.. that why for 2 feet it will be better to use a chiller... 
my 1 feet tank only 5 gal.. That why the result is acceptable.. 

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## MCE

> I muz say the diy chiller work for my 1 feet nano tank...
> temperature drop to 23 degree lowest, and gradually increase to 25 degree over 7-8 hr 
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk


Hi IrvineChen, I like yr post on DIY.
Just wonder what is the optimal tank size (or max volume ) for the use of TEC chiller (before getting into compression type) in local climate to achieve say 23-24deg C?

Say if we would to use 30 or 40amp 12v power supply, could it not support 2 chilling Coil sets which have its own fans and have 2 sets of 8mm water piping for the tank? 

This is like tantamount to using 2 TEC chillers (each has mft spec of 40lit max) to support one larger tank, with one controller/temp probe. 2 TEC chillers still cost less than 1 Gas comp chiller. 

What's yr thought?



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## IrvineChen

> Hi IrvineChen, I like yr post on DIY.
> Just wonder what is the optimal tank size (or max volume ) for the use of TEC chiller (before getting into compression type) in local climate to achieve say 23-24deg C?
> 
> Say if we would to use 30 or 40amp 12v power supply, could it not support 2 chilling Coil sets which have its own fans and have 2 sets of 8mm water piping for the tank? 
> 
> This is like tantamount to using 2 TEC chillers (each has mft spec of 40lit max) to support one larger tank, with one controller/temp probe. 2 TEC chillers still cost less than 1 Gas comp chiller. 
> 
> What's yr thought?
> 
> ...


2 TEC chiller will cause yr electrical bill to shoot high... 

I prefer to use the DIY style for tank smaller than 1 feet, or 16 litre....
easiler to handle, and the flung in temperate is not that difficult to handle

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## MCE

Yes, the electricity bill is high, and the different of 1 degree ie between settings of 24 and 25 degree was quite a lot on the TEC chiller. 
It cost more than $10-15 per mount for 1 deg C different at total cost of approx $40(??). The lady boss notice from the monthly pub bill!


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## IrvineChen

> I read thru many website and they all said aluminium is bad for fishes, thus I am not sure this chiller design is good.
> If the water block is stainless steel or titanium material will be perfect.
> 
> Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk


I using blueice... so the electrical bill didn't affect much.. since the freezer at home is running alway... 

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## johnchor

wow i will combine blue ice method with my current TEC. hopes the TEC wont kick in so often and waste electric.
thanks bro. as i need to cool down 3 1.5ft tanks. my TEC is working very hard... lolx

btw at 23-24 water condensation is very heavy. cant see anything in the tank...lolx
at 25 seems OK.

thanks bro

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## IrvineChen

> wow i will combine blue ice method with my current TEC. hopes the TEC wont kick in so often and waste electric.
> thanks bro. as i need to cool down 3 1.5ft tanks. my TEC is working very hard... lolx
> 
> btw at 23-24 water condensation is very heavy. cant see anything in the tank...lolx
> at 25 seems OK.
> 
> thanks bro


you have install a thermostate for the TEC? What's the wattage? 1 of the TEC able to support 3 1.5 feet tank?


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## johnchor

hi bro

i ordered a external themosat with power supply and temp sensor from taobao. $16
tec is a 2nd hand 225w 3peilter Dolphin mc790 modified with 3x12cm dc fans from simlim tower $12 each.
3 heatsink remains unchanged.

i just removed the original dolphin top casing and the 3x70mm stupid weak fans.
yes it can cool down 3 1.5ft gex deskboy tanks. for 1 tank it can reach 16 degrees if running 24x7.
now it runs 10.5 hours for 3 tanks at 26-24 degrees.




> you have install a thermostate for the TEC? What's the wattage? 1 of the TEC able to support 3 1.5 feet tank?
> 
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

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## johnchor

sorry forgot 1 thing.

i have insulated all the 3 tanks with 1 inch thick styrofoam board.
bottom side back and even top. this helps to stablize cool temp for longer time.

but i wanted to save electric, so i think blue-ice can help alot if i dump one piece into by bottom tank everyday before i go work.

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