This setup is not at its maximum efficiency, only the part of the hose that is exposed will get cooled, meaning that this setup is probably at half efficiency. How i would do this? take a second hand freezer and 100+ ft of hose, then unpack the hoses to a mess, and put them in a bucket. Fill the bucket with water and put it in the freezer. this could be done in a fridge too, and it would be much more efficient, because water tranfers heat (or cold) 30 times faster than air. Hope this helped, not trying to be negative :)
but can a 100 ft messy hose fit into a bucket, into a fridge? it'll take up more space..either 75 ft messy hose or 100 ft rolled up hose..there's a tradeoff...also not trying to be negative
For this project, wouldn't you want a hose with *less* insulating properties? So the heat from the water can actually transfer out of the hose? I get needing insulating the bits outside the fridge, but inside I think something like a vinyl tubing would be better. I guess that would be more expensive though...
Maybe garden hose outside of the fridge, and then stainless steel. But it doesn't have to be a closed system, you can use 2 waterpumps and a bucket inside the fridge.
Guys what if we put bucket inside the refrigerator and plumb tubing directly to that bucket ? so that bucket water directly cool by refrigerator and pushes back to main tank .
That's a pretty big chiller! I wonder how the running costs compare to out-of-the-box chillers in the longhaul. I also wonder about alternatives to the garden hose, it should be interesting to see how the insulation and cost varies by material type. It's crazy how easy it is to heat a tank and how difficult it is to cool one off...
Some of these cheap garden hoses are not safe for drinking water so I would use Drinking water safe and BPA free and CSA low lead content certified. Just a note.
+Ruben I thought the same thing. You can even buy "RV" drinking water water hose at Walmart. I'm sure that the bigger plumbing supply houses have flexible drinking water approved hose as well. Whatever you buy you might want to see if It's safe for sea water (non-leaching) as well.
I wonder what kind of cooling you'd get by running straight copper lines. Would hold the cold in the mini fridge better than rubber garden hose. Should also transfer the heat/cool better too.
Copper, even in low concentrations, can be very toxic to many aquatic lifeforms. Be careful what species of fish/invertebrates/plants etc. you have in the tank if you use copper pipes.
@@ballsdeep994u It's been proven over the years that it does indeed leech enough copper to harm many invertebrates. Simply dropping a penny in the tank will do harm over time. This is why most anyone serious about reef tanks uses reverse osmosis and deionized filtered water instead of tap water. (Even humans with Wilson's disease can't drink water from copper pipes due to leeching copper into the water).
I know what my wife is gonna say but she doesn't have to know until its done lol I have a finished attic (man cave/office) that I'd love to put another tank in but in the summer it can get pretty toasty up there. This is a great idea, although I'll have to get a second mini-fridge! I just got my first aquarium about 3 weeks ago (30 gallon) and already I want another but the living room is off limits...for now! I did get 2 plecos which will hopefully outgrow the one tank and convince her we need at least another 50-60 gallon tank in a couple years! The basement will make an awesome fish room someday but it'll take alot of work and is unnecessary atm. Watching your videos certainly inspires me to fix it up though!
I have a theoretical question. If, per say, I wanted to do this with a dedicated freezer (instead of a fridge) and placed the hose in a bucket full of water, the water in the bucket would freeze, but the moving water inside the hose wouldn't freeze but it would be cold, correct? I don't know much about freezing points or thermodynamics but I'm open to suggestions. Thank you!
I agree this sounds like a great idea especially for those of us who live in hot climates, But this does nothing if it's not tried and tested. There's no results of a temperature change. I'm not going to buy anything no matter how cheap if there is no proof it works.
Clips showing it in action would be helpful. I think it could be due better with a cooler, bottles of frozen water the tubing coils around, and filling the rest of the cooler with cold water. It would mean there's a wider variability in cooling and requires more hands on maintenance, but I think it would work better
DUDE YOU ARE A GENIUS, thats such a great idea. I wonder if the pump could be hooked up to an apex controller and have it turn on when the temp gets to warm and off when reached its desired temp.
Awesome idea. Couple of minor ideas. Would also cut both ends off both hoses and connect them with a hose barb so as not to run the chance of introducing metal Contamination in saltwater setups and its about 10 gallons per 50watt for about a 10 degree drop in temp with about 100 gallons per of flow per hour or about 2 gallons per watt is optimal. if you slow the flow down too much or have too high will not work as well and you could burn out the compressor. If no sump Plumb the pump inside the fridge you already have the heat transfer from the pump if you were planning on using a submersible one anyways.
You'd probably get better heat energy transfer by submerging whatever tubing you use in water or even better, glycol. Also, the length of tubing isn't the kicker. The only thing that matters is whether your water going through it is at the temperature you want by the time it leaves the fridge, however much tubing that takes. I'd use as much as you can fit, though, since it will only add buffering capacity to your water chain. 100' of 1/2" ID hose adds about 4 gallons of water volume. I'd definitely also use the thermostat in the fridge to handle the temp control, because the fridge will last longer than if it's having the power removed from it mid-cycle. Even better is that the hose itself and possible water or glycol suspension, won't see as much of a temperature swing, I'd imagine. Seems wasteful to have to cool the hose again just to cool the water.
I feel that finally we can buy these chillers for couple hundred bucks/quid/euros/pounds nowadays. But certainly might be a good hack if you have a spare fridge-freezer for any reason
Hey Joey, did you consider using some aluminum pipes in the fridge to exchange better? I also find those water hoses always leaving a taste in the water, and perhaps leaving bad chemicals in the water. Have you tested if the compressor gets to work all the time without rest and perhaps failing.
this has to be the DUMBEST idea. Who would use up fridge space for a large friggin coil loops, unless you have ANOTHER fridge to use?? That being the case, why not just get a chiller which is more efficient.
he attached a valve to the end of the hose where the water was sucked up, that way he could control how much water was being sucked up then he got a siphon started
I wouldn’t use a garden hose because they tend to freeze and burst easy. It would be incredibly inefficient. Those mini Refrigerators can be found cheap if not free or already one on the garage. I grabbed a used upright freezer for $25 and found stainless wort tubing (food grade) because it is a great conductor of cold versus plastic hose. Far as efficiency it matters plastic is an awful exchanger of heat. Btw All that length reduces flow significantly. 1/2” ID tubing is only good for 100ft max per direction. Plus you need a pump large enough to push through it which creates more heat. Anyways it’s something to consider for anyone building.
So if your not worried about killing snails and shrimp, You could make it handle more water with copper tubing, Not as cheap, 150 bucks for 100ft, but you wouldn't need near as much..and the more you use the more water you could handle. but its not really good for snails and shrimp.
This does not work. I have a 160 gallon tank and used 100 feet of poly hose and routed it through a chest freezer maximum cooling acquired was 1-2 degrees and the chest freezer condenser practically burned up and the freezer would not drop below 45 degrees. I scrapped this set up and retrofitted a dehumidifier dropping the evaporator coil into a cooler full of antifreeze and had the 100 feet of hose coiled around. The 160 gallon tank is now able to chill to 34 degrees with 70 degree room temps.
I wish this video came out before I bought my 1/2 hp chiller I really like your videos I actually made my sump after watching your DIY acrylic tank build very informative keep up the good work
Doesn't look like drinking water safe hose usually its white maid out of vinal like for RV potable water. & stainless coil would be better to conduct thermal activity much more proficient. 70 to 100 bucks would get you there. fridge 150 vinal back to tank. don't harm your fish being unsafe..
So I've read a bunch of comments and no one has any temperature comparisons.... To be frank, I'm amazed even the video guy hasn't bothered. Disappointing.
Garden home seems like an absolutely horrible idea. Garden hoses are made from insulative material. You're putting a barrier between the liquid you're trying to cool and the coolness. You want the opposite of a garden hose here. Get a wort chiller. Or bend your own stainless steel coil. The stainless steel has far more thermal conductivity than a garden hose and will chill the water faster with less tubing.
Tried this. You need a really powerful pump in order to force water through the 100 feet of hose. I have an 1100 gph pump and won't even pump a trickle through the hose. This is a fail !
This is great! Although I am confused as to where the ends of the hose hook up to.Also, I have an axolotl which needs really cool temperatures so would it still be necessary to have a heater?
Has anyone successfully used this long term? I was told by a few people on the aquarium diy page either it won't work or it will make my power bill shoot up??
If you are doing this with a mini frigerator and it is a brand new hisun from Walmart be careful the opposite side of the wall of the door has a free online running through it and I just shot through with my screw gun 140 bucks wasted although I got a second fridge and redid it this time it work good I'm running Airline off of a powerhead screw the refrigerator in the freezer twice one line coming in two lines going out
great heat exchanger idea and very informative. Thanks for the video Joey and I will be considering it for the summer time. I would probably add watching energy consumption and fine tweeking the heater and the fridge. I don't want to have the water heater and the mini fridge to have an epic battle over my power bill you're the king
Obviously you never but one of these. You state that you can drill a hole anywhere except the top or the back, I drilled my hole in the center of the side and hit a freon line. you should know what your talking about before you put on youitue!!
In theory, this is a great idea. But the reality is that once the warmer water runs through the hose inside the fridge, it will warm up everything inside the fridge. Even if the flow of water inside the fridge is controlled with a valve. It takes less energy to warm water than to cool it. This idea does not have enough energy to do the trick.
I would add a smart thermostat and smart plug , then when in the app of whatever brand you’re using set automation to switch pulp on or off depending the temperature
I’m trying to get this done today; I will need a mini fridge 2 things of garden hose; and a ball valve what else will I need what’s that other part on the water input side
Hello. I'm looking into doing this for my Axolotl aquarium but the part that confuses me is how do you get the water to continuously go through the hoses?
Shylynn Wolfgang you create a suction, similar to how a siphon works 👍🏻 I’m doing the same thing for my Axolotl! Once you get the siphon started, it should be good as long as the water isn’t halted by accident!
Seeing the finished product on a fish tank would have been useful. no idea how to link this up to my water filter. Any examples someone have made? thanks!! :)
Small chunk of advice for anyone doing this type of chiller. Add a water vessel to submerge your coil in. A high salt solution works well to transfer heat and provide a buffer from temp changes when opening the door preserving the duel use of the mini fridge.
Hey I seen you on the local news tonight and I could not help myself but checking out your page ,, Love supporting local talent ,, love what your doing
I'm very new to this but have always been intrigued with the plumbing etc. My question is I noticed that heaters are used alot so when would someone actually want or need a cooler and would you recommend one for a 50 gallon tank or less? Ps I cant stop watching your videos. So many cool and smart ideas to watch. Thanks for everything!
You could also use an addition coil in your sump for the heat/cold transfer and if it is a closed system, you could use a freezer and have an antifreeze solution in the hose and bucket in the freezer. This would allow a much colder exchange range and may not require as much tubing. This also would prevent an toxins from cheap hoses entering your tank and killing off your expensive fish or corals.
I tried this. Exactly the way you did but i tried 200' of hose. Tried a small power head like yours but wouldn't flow through. tried 2 other larger power heads and still won't flow through. I then tried 1 of the 100' hoses and still won't flow through. The larger powerhead is usually used to pump water from my garage 40-50' to my tank on water change days its a Rio 2100 that pushes 2630 LPH or about 700 GPH. do you have any idea what the problem could be???
+Corey Grogan make input in the top and output in the bottom and make the hose spiral downwards and use gravity to move the water. This can however be an issue if you want to pump directly from here into a higher point. But that is my plan when i will build this for garden pond, and just make the water circle/drop back into my pump system. Anyway, letting it spiral downwards, and use gravity as help could put less stress on the pump no matter what, because if you put them inside as he does in this video, you are going to need a pump with high head output, because you need to lift the water a lot.
Could try using stainless steel or aluminium tubing inside the fridge, it'll be more expensive but it'll be much more efficient. Or try putting a bucket of water inside the fridge and put the hose in there. Water has a higher heat capacity so it can remove heat more efficiently, plus water also conducts heat better than air.
I had thought about doing this some 20+ years ago when I was planning a reef tank with metal halide and florescent fixtures for lighting. Things happened and I never did built that tank (in fact, I left the hobby altogether). I had envisioned however submerging the tubing in bucket of water while in the fridge. As water is changes temp less quickly than air, (conducts heat better too) the extra liquid mass would help regulate the temp inside the fridge which would allow it to cycle less often thereby saving on energy bills.
+sdj9776 By putting the hose in a bucket of water, you could probably get away with using less hose which would mean less work for your pump or powerhead since there would be less resistance and less water mass that it would need to push through the hose.
***** Great idea! I have a question for you though; have you ever found that you've had condensation on the glass from the water temp level being lower than the room temp? Thanks!
Hello joey...nice video. I read the comments and i just wanna add something. Someone asked u if u could fit more hose...would u do it? and u said yes the more the better. Well..ur ideea is brilliant but this could be improved by replacig the hose inside with half the lenght (or less) of some coiled copper pipe!!! U can do the same chiller with a smaller fridge and double if not even triple the efficiency. Heat transfer is 10 times better thru copper coil. And half of that lenght of copper pipe is a little bit more expensive but the results improve dramatically. I hope this helps...keep up the good work... keep inspiring. Peace!
Just replied to this on another comment. copper is poisonous to many forms of aquatic life. Especially Invertebrates, and some plants. You are better off using inert materials unless you are sure the copper will not effect what you have in the aquarium.
I would seal those holes and maybe some spray foam in the hole. If cold air leaks the fridge will sweat and overwork the compressor pump, and cause premature failure. I know this because my friend made a kegerator out of an old fridge, and he pump motor burned out. :(
Interesting DIY project, just a suggestion: you could give us a quick look of the finished project and put the "how it works" at the beginning of the video. I did not understand what you were doing until half way of the video, I was confused before that and after I realized what you are doing I was thinking backwards while watching the video. So it's better to show what you've done AND THEN how you did it. Also you could show your project actually running with a tank, if you bought everything and put them together already, why not show us the result? Not everyone is as creative as you and some people would like to see the end result for a better understanding of the project.
You just gave me an idea a 3 and 1 on how to create a coiled fan to cool a room.The only problem I would be facing is the condensation. Maybe transfer it it to the plants they wouldn't mined a little copper..The question I have how cold can the refrigerator get without the cover removed from the freezer department?
In the fridge you would want to expose the water more than shielding it thus the insulation inside the fridge doesn't seem as if it would be beneficial
Living in the UK, cooling aquarium water is USUALLY the least of our worries! LOL! But what a bizarrely simple, cheap, GREAT idea! Worth development....
Hey Joey, are they fish food you might be able to make which cures ICH? My fish seem to be eating a lot. I knew this was a good sign so I thought how bout take advantage of this?
Hey thanks for making the video. I just set up my chiller. I attached it through my Fluval 306 canister filter. When it was all hooked up and running, it seriously reduced the flow through the filter. Is that expected? Does it matter which side of the canister (input or output) the chiller is on? Thanks!
i'm planning to build something like this, but how much will it cool? in need an 85 gallon tank cooled to 60/65F year round, during summer it can get to 86F around here, would this be enough? iḿ planning to keep Tritutus dobrogicus (newts), and they'll flee the water around 68F and stop eating
Yeah good idea until you hit the high pressure side that is weaving through the insulation of fridge, it's on the sides and top, and the thermal temp switch wiring is on one of the sides, so far 3 out of 5 mini fridges I've drill through have hit the pressure side on one thermal switch wires on one and both on the other one so be careful. HOPEFULLY THIS HELPS SOMEONE
Is this for a marine aquarium? If so, then you should remove the metalic (brass, copper, etc.) ends of the hose. Replace them with plastic. You don't want metals in your tank water.
I tried the small fridge chiller for my 55 gal that is located in my garage. in the tank is a pleco and a koi. both will be moving into my aquaponics 1984 gal tank. for the meantime I am running into a temp prob. I did the floating ice but that cut own on the swimming area for the koi and was tedious to keep up with. temp is sitting at 82-86. this caused an algae bloom and that was a nightmare. I found that the fridge with 75 feet of marine hose just did not chill the water enough to cool the tank. since this was a learning experience for me as I will be needing a cooling system for the aquaponics which will be located outside in a greenhouse. my next consideration will be a chest freezer with much more hose. question here..... there might be room for another 25 foot hose in the mini fridge..do you think that this will increase the cooling affect? I do have a vid of the set up.. would you like to see? and please comment..
Wow... I went to a boating and fishing convention that has a program for classes to hatch and grow trout for 2 months and I thought about doing something like that at home but you need a chiller for them and I have seen how expensive they are. This may actually make it a possibility for me. Thanks for the video.
Thanks Joey, It is indeed a great solution rather than buying an expensive chiller. is there any other option exist because the refrigerator will take too much room. is it effective using cooling fan? if yes the how effective is it?
have little time to look though all the comments, but, would it not benefit pump wear down to have the houses laying horizontal orientation /vertical placement to reduce gravity from hindering flow? (couldn't post the whole comment, maybe i should make a picture and post on your forums)
This setup is not at its maximum efficiency, only the part of the hose that is exposed will get cooled, meaning that this setup is probably at half efficiency. How i would do this? take a second hand freezer and 100+ ft of hose, then unpack the hoses to a mess, and put them in a bucket. Fill the bucket with water and put it in the freezer. this could be done in a fridge too, and it would be much more efficient, because water tranfers heat (or cold) 30 times faster than air. Hope this helped, not trying to be negative :)
Very nice, that was clever I just had to comment. This is a great example of sharing and improving one's ideas. Thanks for the input.
why does the hose have to be unpacked to a mess?
because when the cable is mess, the freeze can reach the center of the hose
but can a 100 ft messy hose fit into a bucket, into a fridge? it'll take up more space..either 75 ft messy hose or 100 ft rolled up hose..there's a tradeoff...also not trying to be negative
Omar Aziz ::: Maybe more surface area exposed to cooling?
Can you pl make this video again with new and latest technology. Also for large aquarium.
For this project, wouldn't you want a hose with *less* insulating properties? So the heat from the water can actually transfer out of the hose? I get needing insulating the bits outside the fridge, but inside I think something like a vinyl tubing would be better.
I guess that would be more expensive though...
Maybe garden hose outside of the fridge, and then stainless steel. But it doesn't have to be a closed system, you can use 2 waterpumps and a bucket inside the fridge.
Guys what if we put bucket inside the refrigerator and plumb tubing directly to that bucket ? so that bucket water directly cool by refrigerator and pushes back to main tank .
Did you try the Fridge idea?
That's a pretty big chiller! I wonder how the running costs compare to out-of-the-box chillers in the longhaul. I also wonder about alternatives to the garden hose, it should be interesting to see how the insulation and cost varies by material type. It's crazy how easy it is to heat a tank and how difficult it is to cool one off...
Some of these cheap garden hoses are not safe for drinking water so I would use Drinking water safe and BPA free and CSA low lead content certified. Just a note.
+Ruben I thought the same thing. You can even buy "RV" drinking water water hose at Walmart. I'm sure that the bigger plumbing supply houses have flexible drinking water approved hose as well. Whatever you buy you might want to see if It's safe for sea water (non-leaching) as well.
I wonder what kind of cooling you'd get by running straight copper lines. Would hold the cold in the mini fridge better than rubber garden hose. Should also transfer the heat/cool better too.
Copper, even in low concentrations, can be very toxic to many aquatic lifeforms. Be careful what species of fish/invertebrates/plants etc. you have in the tank if you use copper pipes.
@@Demolishionist most house's have copper water lines in the house from the water main. I don't think it leeches that much if any.
@@ballsdeep994u It's been proven over the years that it does indeed leech enough copper to harm many invertebrates. Simply dropping a penny in the tank will do harm over time. This is why most anyone serious about reef tanks uses reverse osmosis and deionized filtered water instead of tap water. (Even humans with Wilson's disease can't drink water from copper pipes due to leeching copper into the water).
WAIT!!! I CAN'T BE CREATIVE! I need a video showing how to connect it to a pump
I know what my wife is gonna say but she doesn't have to know until its done lol
I have a finished attic (man cave/office) that I'd love to put another tank in but in the summer it can get pretty toasty up there. This is a great idea, although I'll have to get a second mini-fridge!
I just got my first aquarium about 3 weeks ago (30 gallon) and already I want another but the living room is off limits...for now! I did get 2 plecos which will hopefully outgrow the one tank and convince her we need at least another 50-60 gallon tank in a couple years!
The basement will make an awesome fish room someday but it'll take alot of work and is unnecessary atm. Watching your videos certainly inspires me to fix it up though!
I have a theoretical question. If, per say, I wanted to do this with a dedicated freezer (instead of a fridge) and placed the hose in a bucket full of water, the water in the bucket would freeze, but the moving water inside the hose wouldn't freeze but it would be cold, correct? I don't know much about freezing points or thermodynamics but I'm open to suggestions. Thank you!
I agree this sounds like a great idea especially for those of us who live in hot climates, But this does nothing if it's not tried and tested. There's no results of a temperature change. I'm not going to buy anything no matter how cheap if there is no proof it works.
Clips showing it in action would be helpful. I think it could be due better with a cooler, bottles of frozen water the tubing coils around, and filling the rest of the cooler with cold water. It would mean there's a wider variability in cooling and requires more hands on maintenance, but I think it would work better
Awesome vid again my friend! Also at the same time you can make your own frozen fish food in the freezer section...
2:55 bullshit i have killed 2 mini fridges so far by drilling into the side, and i have both punctured a freon line. so what now you diy expert?
Do the Door!!! not the sides
The worst idea after the Corona vaccine idea
There are freon lines that run along the side of the fridge . I hit one . Becareful
DUDE YOU ARE A GENIUS, thats such a great idea. I wonder if the pump could be hooked up to an apex controller and have it turn on when the temp gets to warm and off when reached its desired temp.
Exactly my plan!
@randyambrose1005 hey did you do this and does it work?
Awesome idea. Couple of minor ideas. Would also cut both ends off both hoses and connect them with a hose barb so as not to run the chance of introducing metal Contamination in saltwater setups and its about 10 gallons per 50watt for about a 10 degree drop in temp with about 100 gallons per of flow per hour or about 2 gallons per watt is optimal. if you slow the flow down too much or have too high will not work as well and you could burn out the compressor. If no sump Plumb the pump inside the fridge you already have the heat transfer from the pump if you were planning on using a submersible one anyways.
You'd probably get better heat energy transfer by submerging whatever tubing you use in water or even better, glycol. Also, the length of tubing isn't the kicker. The only thing that matters is whether your water going through it is at the temperature you want by the time it leaves the fridge, however much tubing that takes. I'd use as much as you can fit, though, since it will only add buffering capacity to your water chain. 100' of 1/2" ID hose adds about 4 gallons of water volume. I'd definitely also use the thermostat in the fridge to handle the temp control, because the fridge will last longer than if it's having the power removed from it mid-cycle. Even better is that the hose itself and possible water or glycol suspension, won't see as much of a temperature swing, I'd imagine. Seems wasteful to have to cool the hose again just to cool the water.
I did this however I placed a bucket of water in the fridge and laid the hose in the water. It helped keep the water more constant.
Does it work well? How cold in a hot room would it lower too?
How may degres did you won?
Hey man. Can i use it for a 350 litre tank? Keep cold water channa and im tired of floating ice bottles
I feel that finally we can buy these chillers for couple hundred bucks/quid/euros/pounds nowadays. But certainly might be a good hack if you have a spare fridge-freezer for any reason
Hey Joey, did you consider using some aluminum pipes in the fridge to exchange better? I also find those water hoses always leaving a taste in the water, and perhaps leaving bad chemicals in the water.
Have you tested if the compressor gets to work all the time without rest and perhaps failing.
this has to be the DUMBEST idea. Who would use up fridge space for a large friggin coil loops, unless you have ANOTHER fridge to use?? That being the case, why not just get a chiller which is more efficient.
First time tank owner here. Is there a video on how u'd hook this up to ur tank?? I'm lost lol
Did you even watch the video ?
he attached a valve to the end of the hose where the water was sucked up, that way he could control how much water was being sucked up
then he got a siphon started
I wouldn’t use a garden hose because they tend to freeze and burst easy. It would be incredibly inefficient.
Those mini Refrigerators can be found cheap if not free or already one on the garage.
I grabbed a used upright freezer for $25 and found stainless wort tubing (food grade) because it is a great conductor of cold versus plastic hose. Far as efficiency it matters plastic is an awful exchanger of heat.
Btw All that length reduces flow significantly. 1/2” ID tubing is only good for 100ft max per direction. Plus you need a pump large enough to push through it which creates more heat.
Anyways it’s something to consider for anyone building.
So if your not worried about killing snails and shrimp, You could make it handle more water with copper tubing, Not as cheap, 150 bucks for 100ft, but you wouldn't need near as much..and the more you use the more water you could handle. but its not really good for snails and shrimp.
This does not work. I have a 160 gallon tank and used 100 feet of poly hose and routed it through a chest freezer maximum cooling acquired was 1-2 degrees and the chest freezer condenser practically burned up and the freezer would not drop below 45 degrees. I scrapped this set up and retrofitted a dehumidifier dropping the evaporator coil into a cooler full of antifreeze and had the 100 feet of hose coiled around. The 160 gallon tank is now able to chill to 34 degrees with 70 degree room temps.
I wish this video came out before I bought my 1/2 hp chiller I really like your videos I actually made my sump after watching your DIY acrylic tank build very informative keep up the good work
Doesn't look like drinking water safe hose usually its white maid out of vinal like for RV potable water. & stainless coil would be better to conduct thermal activity much more proficient. 70 to 100 bucks would get you there. fridge 150 vinal back to tank. don't harm your fish being unsafe..
So I've read a bunch of comments and no one has any temperature comparisons.... To be frank, I'm amazed even the video guy hasn't bothered. Disappointing.
Garden home seems like an absolutely horrible idea.
Garden hoses are made from insulative material.
You're putting a barrier between the liquid you're trying to cool and the coolness.
You want the opposite of a garden hose here.
Get a wort chiller. Or bend your own stainless steel coil.
The stainless steel has far more thermal conductivity than a garden hose and will chill the water faster with less tubing.
Tried this. You need a really powerful pump in order to force water through the 100 feet of hose. I have an 1100 gph pump and won't even pump a trickle through the hose. This is a fail !
This is great! Although I am confused as to where the ends of the hose hook up to.Also, I have an axolotl which needs really cool temperatures so would it still be necessary to have a heater?
Has anyone successfully used this long term? I was told by a few people on the aquarium diy page either it won't work or it will make my power bill shoot up??
If you are doing this with a mini frigerator and it is a brand new hisun from Walmart be careful the opposite side of the wall of the door has a free online running through it and I just shot through with my screw gun 140 bucks wasted although I got a second fridge and redid it this time it work good I'm running Airline off of a powerhead screw the refrigerator in the freezer twice one line coming in two lines going out
great heat exchanger idea and very informative. Thanks for the video Joey and I will be considering it for the summer time.
I would probably add watching energy consumption and fine tweeking the heater and the fridge. I don't want to have the water heater and the mini fridge to have an epic battle over my power bill
you're the king
Obviously you never but one of these. You state that you can drill a hole anywhere except the top or the back, I drilled my hole in the center of the side and hit a freon line. you should know what your talking about before you put on youitue!!
Dang! That is going to save me like $200 if I truly need this setup. Hoping I won't have to get a chiller.
using a cold water dispenser also another solution
You could probably use a variable speed controlled on your pump and a inkbirds temp controlled for the fridge/freezer?
In theory, this is a great idea. But the reality is that once the warmer water runs through the hose inside the fridge, it will warm up everything inside the fridge. Even if the flow of water inside the fridge is controlled with a valve. It takes less energy to warm water than to cool it. This idea does not have enough energy to do the trick.
I would add a smart thermostat and smart plug , then when in the app of whatever brand you’re using set automation to switch pulp on or off depending the temperature
Wow..You look same 6 years ago buddy😝
Ruined two fridges by drilling through sides. Some fridges have freon lines in the sides as well. Do not follow this video
I’m trying to get this done today; I will need a mini fridge 2 things of garden hose; and a ball valve what else will I need what’s that other part on the water input side
Why would you want the insulating properties of hose when you're trying to build a heat exchanger?
What size water pump do I need ? I have a 800gph pump and it is not able to pump the water through that 100 ft of hose
Hello. I'm looking into doing this for my Axolotl aquarium but the part that confuses me is how do you get the water to continuously go through the hoses?
Shylynn Wolfgang you create a suction, similar to how a siphon works 👍🏻 I’m doing the same thing for my Axolotl! Once you get the siphon started, it should be good as long as the water isn’t halted by accident!
Mini sump pump
Either 100' of hose filled w/ air or 3' filled w/ liquid @ ± order mag. Ugggg
hey have you seen these videos using glycogen? can you do this integrating thus and using this whole glycogen... thanks 😊
how about using copper pipes instead of plastic pipes, will it make more efficient cooling?
chill your water and keep your fish food frozen and out of the main refrigerator.
Seeing the finished product on a fish tank would have been useful. no idea how to link this up to my water filter. Any examples someone have made? thanks!! :)
Small chunk of advice for anyone doing this type of chiller. Add a water vessel to submerge your coil in. A high salt solution works well to transfer heat and provide a buffer from temp changes when opening the door preserving the duel use of the mini fridge.
I've seen your videos from time to time and just subscribed now. Thanks man, you spout a lot of good info.
why would you make a video and then not show how to connect it to the tank? You go as far as to show the entire setup and then thats it
Hey I seen you on the local news tonight and I could not help myself but checking out your page ,, Love supporting local talent ,, love what your doing
Thats awesome! Thanks for tuning in.
No problem I might have a few ideas I would like to bounce at you some time :)
What’s the coldest you can get the water coming out of this configuration?
Haha xD Biggest DIY aquarium accesory so far. Suprised me totally with this fridge xD
You can not drill into the sides.
Safest place to drill your holes are into the door.
I'm very new to this but have always been intrigued with the plumbing etc. My question is I noticed that heaters are used alot so when would someone actually want or need a cooler and would you recommend one for a 50 gallon tank or less? Ps I cant stop watching your videos. So many cool and smart ideas to watch. Thanks for everything!
What are the benefits of doing this with a garden hose vs thicker clear fish tank hose?
Simple ! very affordable and efficient !!!
You could also use an addition coil in your sump for the heat/cold transfer and if it is a closed system, you could use a freezer and have an antifreeze solution in the hose and bucket in the freezer. This would allow a much colder exchange range and may not require as much tubing. This also would prevent an toxins from cheap hoses entering your tank and killing off your expensive fish or corals.
im thinking, put the hose in a deep freezer and put salt water or anti freeze in the hose
I tried this. Exactly the way you did but i tried 200' of hose. Tried a small power head like yours but wouldn't flow through. tried 2 other larger power heads and still won't flow through. I then tried 1 of the 100' hoses and still won't flow through. The larger powerhead is usually used to pump water from my garage 40-50' to my tank on water change days its a Rio 2100 that pushes 2630 LPH or about 700 GPH. do you have any idea what the problem could be???
A lot of tubing = a lot of resistance. You need a stronger pump.
+Corey Grogan make input in the top and output in the bottom and make the hose spiral downwards and use gravity to move the water. This can however be an issue if you want to pump directly from here into a higher point.
But that is my plan when i will build this for garden pond, and just make the water circle/drop back into my pump system.
Anyway, letting it spiral downwards, and use gravity as help could put less stress on the pump no matter what, because if you put them inside as he does in this video, you are going to need a pump with high head output, because you need to lift the water a lot.
I tried it and it did not work for me, a hose doesnt transfer temps very well, more like an isolator, tried a variery of hoses, same result.
Could try using stainless steel or aluminium tubing inside the fridge, it'll be more expensive but it'll be much more efficient.
Or try putting a bucket of water inside the fridge and put the hose in there. Water has a higher heat capacity so it can remove heat more efficiently, plus water also conducts heat better than air.
@@pab26120 I was thinking that also, but aluminum is toxic to the fish
I had thought about doing this some 20+ years ago when I was planning a reef tank with metal halide and florescent fixtures for lighting. Things happened and I never did built that tank (in fact, I left the hobby altogether). I had envisioned however submerging the tubing in bucket of water while in the fridge. As water is changes temp less quickly than air, (conducts heat better too) the extra liquid mass would help regulate the temp inside the fridge which would allow it to cycle less often thereby saving on energy bills.
+sdj9776 By putting the hose in a bucket of water, you could probably get away with using less hose which would mean less work for your pump or powerhead since there would be less resistance and less water mass that it would need to push through the hose.
I forgot how much you sounded like Mickey mouse
Might be a silly question, but could I put my canister filter in the fridge and run the hoses out of it and into the tank?
Yes that would work in theory but a mini fridge is way to small to power anything
Why not just use some radiators and fans like a PC?
***** Great idea! I have a question for you though; have you ever found that you've had condensation on the glass from the water temp level being lower than the room temp? Thanks!
why not use a chest freezer as a water tank.. simple
This is too much ill take a store bought anyday
Awesome! I was thinking of how I could cool my axolotls and I have a mini fridge that size in the shed! Now I just need some hose!
PokemonNerd8749 Did it worked? I am looking to do that for my axolotl to, thats why im asking! :)
Hello joey...nice video. I read the comments and i just wanna add something. Someone asked u if u could fit more hose...would u do it? and u said yes the more the better. Well..ur ideea is brilliant but this could be improved by replacig the hose inside with half the lenght (or less) of some coiled copper pipe!!! U can do the same chiller with a smaller fridge and double if not even triple the efficiency. Heat transfer is 10 times better thru copper coil. And half of that lenght of copper pipe is a little bit more expensive but the results improve dramatically. I hope this helps...keep up the good work... keep inspiring. Peace!
Just replied to this on another comment. copper is poisonous to many forms of aquatic life. Especially Invertebrates, and some plants. You are better off using inert materials unless you are sure the copper will not effect what you have in the aquarium.
"The more hoes you have, the better" - I agree my dude!
I wouldn't mind trying a mini versionn
I would seal those holes and maybe some spray foam in the hole. If cold air leaks the fridge will sweat and overwork the compressor pump, and cause premature failure. I know this because my friend made a kegerator out of an old fridge, and he pump motor burned out. :(
What if I have more than 50 gallons
Interesting DIY project, just a suggestion: you could give us a quick look of the finished project and put the "how it works" at the beginning of the video. I did not understand what you were doing until half way of the video, I was confused before that and after I realized what you are doing I was thinking backwards while watching the video. So it's better to show what you've done AND THEN how you did it. Also you could show your project actually running with a tank, if you bought everything and put them together already, why not show us the result? Not everyone is as creative as you and some people would like to see the end result for a better understanding of the project.
Youre a goddamn genius joey.
You just gave me an idea a 3 and 1 on how to create a coiled fan to cool a room.The only problem I would be facing is the condensation. Maybe transfer it it to the plants they wouldn't mined a little copper..The question I have how cold can the refrigerator get without the cover removed from the freezer department?
In the fridge you would want to expose the water more than shielding it thus the insulation inside the fridge doesn't seem as if it would be beneficial
" the more ho's you have the better ":D
Living in the UK, cooling aquarium water is USUALLY the least of our worries! LOL! But what a bizarrely simple, cheap, GREAT idea! Worth development....
Thanks Joey for this cool video but may I kindly ask how we can make the temp stable i.e. 22 C for the tank with this method?
I’m 8 years late but you can get a temp controller for your aquarium that you plug the pump or the fridge into
Hey Joey, are they fish food you might be able to make which cures ICH? My fish seem to be eating a lot. I knew this was a good sign so I thought how bout take advantage of this?
Hey thanks for making the video. I just set up my chiller. I attached it through my Fluval 306 canister filter. When it was all hooked up and running, it seriously reduced the flow through the filter. Is that expected? Does it matter which side of the canister (input or output) the chiller is on? Thanks!
Great idea! Seeing manufacturer chillers it just looks like something you can't make yourself. Awesome video!
i'm planning to build something like this, but how much will it cool? in need an 85 gallon tank cooled to 60/65F year round, during summer it can get to 86F around here, would this be enough? iḿ planning to keep Tritutus dobrogicus (newts), and they'll flee the water around 68F and stop eating
Doesn't concern anybody about the copper fittings at both ends of the hoses.
Copper will kill all corals
Yeah good idea until you hit the high pressure side that is weaving through the insulation of fridge, it's on the sides and top, and the thermal temp switch wiring is on one of the sides, so far 3 out of 5 mini fridges I've drill through have hit the pressure side on one thermal switch wires on one and both on the other one so be careful.
HOPEFULLY THIS HELPS SOMEONE
Would the Fluval 206 External Filter work with this idea?
Is this for a marine aquarium? If so, then you should remove the metalic (brass, copper, etc.) ends of the hose. Replace them with plastic. You don't want metals in your tank water.
I tried the small fridge chiller for my 55 gal that is located in my garage. in the tank is a pleco and a koi. both will be moving into my aquaponics 1984 gal tank. for the meantime I am running into a temp prob. I did the floating ice but that cut own on the swimming area for the koi and was tedious to keep up with. temp is sitting at 82-86. this caused an algae bloom and that was a nightmare. I found that the fridge with 75 feet of marine hose just did not chill the water enough to cool the tank. since this was a learning experience for me as I will be needing a cooling system for the aquaponics which will be located outside in a greenhouse. my next consideration will be a chest freezer with much more hose. question here..... there might be room for another 25 foot hose in the mini fridge..do you think that this will increase the cooling affect? I do have a vid of the set up.. would you like to see? and please comment..
Wow... I went to a boating and fishing convention that has a program for classes to hatch and grow trout for 2 months and I thought about doing something like that at home but you need a chiller for them and I have seen how expensive they are. This may actually make it a possibility for me. Thanks for the video.
axolotl fans represent
Could I connect this to a hang on back filter? if so how?
intake from the HOB while having the outflow going into tank or back into the HOB whatever works.
Thanks Joey, It is indeed a great solution rather than buying an expensive chiller. is there any other option exist because the refrigerator will take too much room. is it effective using cooling fan? if yes the how effective is it?
have little time to look though all the comments, but, would it not benefit pump wear down to have the houses laying horizontal orientation /vertical placement to reduce gravity from hindering flow? (couldn't post the whole comment, maybe i should make a picture and post on your forums)
would this work for a 8 site 55 gal res rdwc?
GrowLouder did you try? That s what I'm using mine for. 30 gal instead
Jason Gellert ::: Makes you wonder why hydro chillers are so dang pricey!
@@94HOCHEROKEE1 How is it working for you, maintaining consistent temps?
In the summer, I reach 33 degrees centigrade, how can I get to about 21/22? My aquarium is 200l