2.5 Gallon AIO w/ 18 watt Current USA Fixture

[Whatigot]

gotta disagree with you.
a diy ato like I mentioned would cost about 5$.
a fan for a tank that small would not be over 15$ from any computer hardware store...

[sphelps]

I guess it depends on how you define ATO, I wouldn't consider trying to dial in a drip rate to top off a 2.5 gallon tank. I wouldn't even consider that automatic.

[superduperwesman]

It was only $50? See I was confused I thought just the controller was $50 and I couldn't see how much the fan and such was. I wonder how much shipping is.

But would the glass on the 2.5 be able to handle it hanging off the back? And the temp is only that hot on really hot days and with no fan.

I think I have a few different fans and 6v and 9v plugs so I might give the computer fan a try. Eventually I'd like to bring it to work (which has ac) but not till I get my own office which could be a little while ahah

[spreerider]

check out silenx fans on NCIX.com they are very quiet i have used many of them in near silent computers that i build. For their size and air movement they are the quietest fans available.

[sphelps]

The glass could handle it but it would be difficult to drill such thin glass, but I could do it
The nice thing about the chiller is that it simplifies things, using it would allow you to completely seal off the tank and eliminate the need for an ATO, which no matter what will just be an eyesore on such a small tank. Same with running fans, where would they go??

However before you get too carried away $50 only covers the actual chiller unit, ideally you would still want a controller as well to efficiently control your temp.

[mseepman]

Originally Posted by sphelps

The glass could handle it but it would be difficult to drill such thin glass, but I could do it
The nice thing about the chiller is that it simplifies things, using it would allow you to completely seal off the tank and eliminate the need for an ATO, which no matter what will just be an eyesore on such a small tank. Same with running fans, where would they go??

However before you get too carried away $50 only covers the actual chiller unit, ideally you would still want a controller as well to efficiently control your temp.

Unfortunately, that unit is actually around $135 and the controller is $50. Marine Depot wasn't listing the price on the page you linked to...so it seemed cheap. OA sells it...for $180 combined plus tax.

[sphelps]

Yeah my bad. $50 did seem really cheap which expalins why I pushed this idea. Still $180 controlled isn't too bad. Come on Wes, you big engineer, splurge a little

[Whatigot]

drip it in.
some people are afraid of the simple stuff, but I have kept nanos ( I have a 5 gallon running for 3 months now with a diy drip) successfully with this system and its not that hard to dial it in.

if you wanna spend 200 bucks, you will have something nice and easy, if you wanna save some $ and put in a very little legwork, try the drip.

it will cost you 10 bucks MAX to build, and that isn't much to take ac hance on something you might find works excellent.