Need cooling advice

[deranged chipmunk]

sadly, unlike aquariums, there is no chiller system currently available for us froggers. there are, however, a few things we can do to keep heat down. those portable A/C units are awesome for keeping a smaller space at the right temps. they install easily, are rather energy efficient, aren't very noisy, and don't really cost that much. other than that, you can run fans, reverse your light cycle so that the lights are on at night, during the coolest part of the day, and some people have had success with cold water bags in the tank. i'm not a real big fan of the last one, i don't see much benefit in it. the main goal, unfortunately, is to get ambient temps down, much like you would do for yourself. and sometimes, that isn't cheap. i have seen a diy air conditioner video on youtube. it consists of a desk fan, some 5 gallon buckets, some plumbing parts and a lot of ice. although, if i recall correctly, it only cools for about 4 hours. so if you are going to be out longer than that, it just doesn't make sense.

[ericbrookey]

sadly, unlike aquariums, there is no chiller system currently available for us froggers. there are, however, a few things we can do to keep heat down. those portable A/C units are awesome for keeping a smaller space at the right temps. they install easily, are rather energy efficient, aren't very noisy, and don't really cost that much. other than that, you can run fans, reverse your light cycle so that the lights are on at night, during the coolest part of the day, and some people have had success with cold water bags in the tank. i'm not a real big fan of the last one, i don't see much benefit in it. the main goal, unfortunately, is to get ambient temps down, much like you would do for yourself. and sometimes, that isn't cheap. i have seen a diy air conditioner video on youtube. it consists of a desk fan, some 5 gallon buckets, some plumbing parts and a lot of ice. although, if i recall correctly, it only cools for about 4 hours. so if you are going to be out longer than that, it just doesn't make sense.

Thanks Bill, that's about what I was expecting as my searches have not yielded much in terms of ready made systems. I'm resigned to finding a DIY solution but wanted to check with the experts first. I'm out of town for the week and temps are reaching 82-83 in the house the last couple of days. The GF kicks the ac on when she gets home but I'm afraid of what's happening before that. It will be cooling down out here soon but I'm sure we will have a few more of these days and I travel a lot for work so I need to solve this quickly and it has to be easy for her to "kick on" or be automatic. When I'm home, no biggie as I work from a home office so can control the house temp.

What about a standard misting system that is filled with chilled/iced water in the morning and a timer set to regular intervals during the hot hours? I know the water won't stay chilled for long but it's gotta help lower ambient at least a few degrees right? Could misting too cold of water have a really bad effect on my fbt's? Is there a cold temp limit?

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[deranged chipmunk]

ah! you have fbt's! that makes live a bit easier, believe it or not. what's their water temp? if the air in their tank gets warm for them, they'll go in the water to cool off. keep the water in check and i believe you should be good. but i do admit, i never kept fbt's. but the summer months were why i always built paladariums for my white's, so they had water to cool down and soak in.

i'm sure they have a cold limit, much as everything does, but i have no idea what it would be. a guess though, would be mid 60's since their natural habitat is fed by cold, mountainous streams. not that the water they live in is cold, but i think you get what i mean.

[ericbrookey]

ah! you have fbt's! that makes live a bit easier, believe it or not. what's their water temp? if the air in their tank gets warm for them, they'll go in the water to cool off. keep the water in check and i believe you should be good. but i do admit, i never kept fbt's. but the summer months were why i always built paladariums for my white's, so they had water to cool down and soak in.

i'm sure they have a cold limit, much as everything does, but i have no idea what it would be. a guess though, would be mid 60's since their natural habitat is fed by cold, mountainous streams. not that the water they live in is cold, but i think you get what i mean.

No heater being used in the water and If I recall the last time i checked it was in the low 70's. Now I haven't been around to check the fluctuation which is what worries me. I don't think it would be getting higher than 75-78 but I will know more when I am home tomorrow and can monitor for a couple days.

I know they are more tolerant on the cooler side so your suggestion to focus on water temp makes sense. I might just hook up a small fan to a timer and have it blow across the top with the lid open to try and pull some of the hot air out for a couple hours at a time and see what that does this weekend.

Thank you sir!

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[ericbrookey]

No heater being used in the water and If I recall the last time i checked it was in the low 70's. Now I haven't been around to check the fluctuation which is what worries me. I don't think it would be getting higher than 75-78 but I will know more when I am home tomorrow and can monitor for a couple days.

I know they are more tolerant on the cooler side so your suggestion to focus on water temp makes sense. I might just hook up a small fan to a timer and have it blow across the top with the lid open to try and pull some of the hot air out for a couple hours at a time and see what that does this weekend.

Thank you sir!

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I want to rephrase part of my last question for clarity. Is there a cold water temp for misting that would be bad for the fbt? As a general rule, do most folks use room temp water in their mist systems or chilled?

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