# Cooling Hood



## argentis (Jan 18, 2010)

So I recently picked up an Axolotl; a salamander species that stays in it's juvenile aquatic form, very cute IMO.

So for the sake of understanding, Axolotl prefer cold water, anything below 20C is their happy zone, and unfortunately I'm not able to afford a super awesome chiller. So when in need, DIY!

I've seen several DIY cooling systems for these guys, currently, I have a desk fan sitting on the top of the tank blowing down (not very pretty, but it works)

I found my old tank's old hood that I never used, this tank never actually held fish in it, but was the best bang for my buck when I was trying to get a home for a rat that pretty much fell into my life.

My hubby is a giant computer guy, and we actually have 4 unused rigs from years back that he hadn't junked yet, "in case he needed a spare part". So, he gave me the ok to disassemble all of them to get myself some computer fans.

I gutted the hood's built in electrical for the lighting, and pulled out anything that wasn't part of the basic hood. (sorry I didn't snap photos of this part)

On my Hubby's recommendation, I'm using 2 fans; one for incoming air, the other to exhaust.

About an hour or so later I had one fan ready to place (and a dead Dremel battery), after a tea break the 2nd slot was made for the 2nd fan.

I'm rather happy how its turned out so far. The red fan in the photos actually has LED's on the edge of the frame, so the tank will be lit up partially.

Now comes my problem, getting power to it. I'm not good with electrical wiring on this scale (ask me to install a ceiling fan or light and sure, no prob). The Hubby will be doing this part for me, but we need to figure out a good way to change things from the computer connections to a regular wall adapter.

Anyone have experience on doing that?

Photos can be found here because Sweet baby Jebas they're huge!


http://imgur.com/kGfes


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## bob123 (Dec 31, 2009)

I have axilotis in an unheated aquarium with no problems, temps range from 18 - 23.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

You need a compatible, voltage wise, adapter. Value Village often has them for a couple of bucks.


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## argentis (Jan 18, 2010)

Bob123, my tank (no matter where I put it) is too hot, and any temperature above 20C can stress them out terribly. It may be new mother syndrome, but with the desk fan on it the temperature is hovering at 13C and my Axie is a much happier little dude.

Thanks BillD for your input! I'll look into it.


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## argentis (Jan 18, 2010)

Cooling hood is fully functional!

My sweetie, who's a computer person, wired up the electrical for me. Added a Super bright white LED strip sealed in with aquarium sealant. He even went out of his way and gave everything a protective cover to prevent damage (all the internal wires have been covered now, and the power line for the LED has been fixed to the hood so it's not in front of the fan).

















Also found a great little board that lets me switch on and off things as needed.









Here's what the hood looks like Daytime/Nighttime.


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