Broken Chiller - Dead Tang

[Kiko]

My Via Aqua cc-25 chiller broke and my blue tang is dead.

I came home from work yesterday and noticed that my blue tang was dead and stuck in the reef. I was bummed out, but waited until intermission of the hockey game (Kings v. Tampa Bay) to pull it out. The water was really warm. I checked the digital readout on my chiller and it was 86.5 degrees! The tank was around 78 degrees when I left that morning!

I live on Maui, in Lahaina, where it is usually around 85 degrees, year round. My chiller had performed flawlessly until this point, keeping things in the tank cool despite the Lahaina heat. Yesterday afternoon, it would run, but not cool anything.

My two percula clowns appear okay.

I took the hood off to allow the tank to cool as much as possible through evaporation. I can't turn the lights on again until I have another chiller, or this one is fixed. It stays in the low 80's w/o the hood and lights on.

Has anyone had a similar problem? Are chillers fixable?

I will call today and check about warranty status.

My cannister filter was working fine. I will service it now that I have dismantled it. Change the carbon, etc.

DAMN! :x

 

[cj10488]

Most likely chillers use Freon much like a car air conditioner over time the freon will all be used up and need to be Recharged.. Whether its freon or not This would be the first place I would suggest looking into.. I would contact the manufacture of the unit and see if this could be the case and where abouts you could get it recharged if so.. Relatively cheep fix.. Recharging arounf here usually costs about 35.00 labor plus gas charges (freon ect)

HTH<
James

 

[Kiko]

CHILLER

I just got off the phone with the manufacturer. They said to send it to them and they will repair or replace it for me. It had only been running for two months at the most, I doubt the freon wore out. I checked out the radiator and it did not have any holes that I could see.

I live in Hawaii though, and shipping is expensive and it takes a long time. By losing my chiller, I pretty much lose my whole tank for how ever long it is gone for. I can't turn the lights on again until the chiller is back.

I guess my clownfish will just hang out in a dark, warm tank until then. tank . I hope they will be okay.

I am bummed about the tang dying, it was doing really well, and was grazing the reef aggressively. It was getting fat and a very vibrant shade of blue, and would swim with the clowns all over the tank. When I got it it had a little nicks all over it, but those healed after about two weeks.

DAMN!

 

[MACATUA]

One thing you might try is to clip a little desk fan over the surface of the water. That will help with heat exchange and maybe cool it off a bit. HTH

 

[Electrobes]

was thinking the same thing, heck.. could even try fanning a side or something.. make a cool spot? not sure if it would be efective...

 

[wseaton]

Had a 200watt PennPlax heater short out in a 55gal African Chiclid show tank. Yeah, my fault for using such a crappy heater.

Came home, and the house literally smelt like fish soup. Water at 100F and everything belly up, so I know how distressing this feels.

 

[bizzybeas]

Sorry for your loss!!!

 

[wseaton]

Most were fish I had raised from fry back when I used to breed and raise African's.

 

[Bang Guy]

Sorry for your loss

86 degrees is a natural temperature for these fish. That is not your problem. What are your water parameters?

 

[jamal-188]

Sorry for your loss

86 degrees is a natural temperature for these fish. That is not your problem. What are you water parameters?

I was thinking the same. 86 is not that extremly hot, I had my heaters set at 88 before to try and rid my tank of ICK before I learned that trick doesn't work on SW fish.

 

[ddcboys]

Turn on th a/c and put a fan on top

 

[EMS503]

I am not sure if it was on this site or elsewhere but in one of the DIY post they made a chiller out of a small cooler with tubing and a small pump, using ice cubes to cool down the tank. guess you would have to watch that the temp. dosen't go to cold. This might buy you some time why your chiller is being repaired

 

[troutman11111]

i agree with the temp 86 is not going to kill your fish,for 40.00 you could build your own chiller and all it requires is a bag off ice every other day. temp till you get your other chiller fixed. my chiller is in my gallery. i just run it now without ice so the water in the hose doent get stagment. if needed just put a bag in. what are your water parameters?

 

[EMS503]

Now I know where I saw that DIY chiller , Nice job troutman