The Arctic Breeze cooling fans from Aqua Medic have hit the U.S. just in time for summer. Evaporative cooling is one of the most efficient ways to keep your aquarium temperature down especially with the hot summer months coming up when we are fighting higher electric bills. Sporting corrosion-proof plastic and extruded aluminum materials, these clamp-on cooling fans will withstand the harsh conditions of the marine aquarium. The Arctic Breeze line comes in three sizes with a two-fan “Twin” version, a four-fan “Quadro” and the big daddy “Six Pack” featuring six fans. All three units are easily mounted to the edge of the aquarium with durable plastic clamps with about 3/4 inch of clearance to easily mount on thicker tanks and over traditional plastic bracing. The unit is adjusted with a nylon Allen Head bold to get a snug fit. Running on a 12VDC power supply, the fans are manually adjustable from 3-12VDC depending on your cooling needs, sipping 0.5 – 3 W per fan.
Speaking of the fans, these brushless, waterproof fans are more durable than your typical clip-on desk fans and computer case cooling fans featuring ball bearings to give you quiet and long-lasting operation. Each fan is rated at 23.5 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air movement (40,000 liters per hour). The units are designed to be maintenance-free but we all know with salt accumulation, dust and pet hair fans do need to be cleaned occasionally. Aqua Medic made this process as simple as possible just unscrew an end cap to remove the protective grill and get access to the fans. Each fan is independent of each other so in the case of one failing, you can swap out the defective fan simply without having to purchase the entire unit.
The Arctic Breeze cooling fans are just beginning to be distributed to retailers and should be available very soon. The MSRP of the Arctic Breeze is $102 for the Twin, $169 for the Quadro and $229 for the Six Pack.
