I'm trying to regulate water temperature for aquatic toxicology laboratory experiments, but the solutions I've found, like water chillers and heaters, are very expensive. Is there an easier and cheaper way to regulate water volumes of 500 liters?
Use a larger water bath. QQuite feasible of you want to have several replicates with the same temperature. Could have an issue with pseudreplication. Then try a whole lake (this is partly an attempt to joke)
We have certainly used large waterbaths - but they still require appropriate chillers/heaters - but single heater/chiller units can regulate multiple tanks. Another option is to regulate the room temperature - this will depend on the cooperation of the people that manage your building heating. With this room heating option you may still want to use a waterbath to ensure temperature stability.
We have environmental chambers that we use for tank cultures of various organisms - temperatures can be managed between 4 and 30 degrees C. Just some options
Aquarium hobbyist-grade heaters are fairly cost-effective, though avoid the cheapest models as they may not be reliable (either they fail "off" or they catastrophically fail "on", cooking a tank). A simple fan blowing over the water surface can reduce the water temperature of a tank by a few degrees via evaporative cooling, though this will increase your evaporation rate and may be a concern in tanks containing saltwater.
We use aircon to bring the air temperature down if we need cooler temps and aquarium heaters to control the temps in the tanks directly if we need a warmer environment. If you do small experiments (with small organisms) you can use a fridge or an incubator depending on the requirements. It is quite cheap to convert an old fridge into an incubator.
South African greetings :)
Cooling can also be provided through a home made cooler such as an extended hose (use a thin but long one) running from the tank to a chilled system, such as a cooler/freezer, or worst case scenario - a bucket/styrofoam box of ice replaced/added to keep temp. Length of hose will determine temp. Fans will evaporate water, which might mess with your parameters, especially substance concentrations in ecotox. Watch the temp though and test it thoroughly for a consistent parameter. Remember that room temp can affect ice melting as well, so keep this constant. Use many small aquarium heaters to heat water, rather than a large one, since this will minimise any effects of over heating from a broken heater. Cheap heaters regularly function about a year without fault. Insulate aquaria to keep temp consistent. If they are bubbled, use lid to prevent evaporation and temp loss.
Good luck!
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