Chiller Question

[walts7598]

Hey all,

After a good 2 months, I finally got my marine aquarium up and running and wanted to know about chillers. My aquarium is running very warm and I'm concerned about the summer months. Can anyone recommend a good chiller unit that either runs inline with my pump or can attach to my sump? I have a 90 gallon system.

Thanks!
Walt

 

[thominil]

How warm is "very warm?" Often people think they need chillers when they actually don't. Even adding a clip on fan that blows across the water can lower the water temp. a few degrees.

 

[jeffwisely]

what is your water temp if it is 84 and below you are fine

 

[Zer0]

I agree with thom on this one. Instead of spending big bucks on a chiller, see if there are other ways to chill your tank that are low-cost, and effective. The most common way is the fan blowing across the top of your tank. That can definitely lower the temp by a few degrees. Depending on the surroundings of course..

As already asked, how hot is your tank water normally?

 

[walts7598]

Thanks for all the help! The system has an old (and I believe) out of commission chiller with a themostat that reads 80-81. So I'm below the critical threshold of 84, but am concerned about the upcoming summer. How about putting a fan in to blow the sump system? The top of the tank isn't really amenable for me to open the top to blow directly on the water (too much splashing from the water inlet from the sump.

Thanks!
Walt

 

[Crepe]

Buy yourself an ice chest, fill it with water and wrap your tubes tightly in foil then coil them in a loop like you would do your garden hose and just put it in the water. That might cool it another degree or two.

 

[Zer0]

Crepe.. the only problem with that is that may cool the tank down too quickly. You really don't want quick changes because livestock need to be acclimated to new levels. Too much and too quick of anything could shock the tank, and could damage things. Also.. 84 degrees really isn't THAT critical.. but it is a little warm for most tropical livestock. I mean.. if your temps were reaching something like 86 to 88.. then i would definitely say use a fan or a chiller.

I think a fan over the sump would work too.. but i'm not entirely sure on that one. Might want to hear from others and then make an informed decision.

 

[Crepe]

You're correct, I was assuming that he would only use it on the hottest of days to save his livestock. You wouldn't of course, add ice to the water, just plain out-of- the-faucet water should be about 3 degrees cooler than ambient temperature. My thoughts were that it would be similar in design to a computer liquid heatsink, only larger.

I use a fan on my FW tank to cool it. It's only 20gal but it cools it a degree or two.

 

[SHARPiE]

I have emergency bottles of ice in the freezer at all times. It slowly lowers the temp of the tank. Peace of mind if you can't afford, or don't have enought room for a chiller.

 

[thincat]

You didn't say what you had in your tank?

 

[bavass]

I am running a Azoo fan across my sump and it keeps my temps down below 80. Its a 55g tank

 

[MARLANDO]

Well, I just added,
JBJ Arctica Titanium Chiller DBE-200 1/4HP to my 50 gallon tank, I know its a overkill, but got a great dean on it

Have it set to 77*

My home can get very hot over the summer, and leaving the A/C on gets very expensive specially when no one is home...

 

[Crepe]

I have the same problem really, down here in Houston it's already 100degrees+ and my monthly electric bill is about $500 so a chiller or top fan is a good investment.

 

[thincat]

I bought a chiller ~8 months ago. I have it set at 82 degrees as I see no reason to set it any lower. This is a Tropical tank isn't it. My tank varies from 79 degrees to 82 degrees and I sleep much better knowing my tank won't over or under heat. Small investment for peace of mind.

 

[MARLANDO]

I bought a chiller ~8 months ago. I have it set at 82 degrees as I see no reason to set it any lower. This is a Tropical tank isn't it. My tank varies from 79 degrees to 82 degrees and I sleep much better knowing my tank won't over or under heat. Small investment for peace of mind.

Sounds good, But my LFS recommended to set my chiller at 78 and also set my heater at 78.....

 

[thincat]

78 is okay, only trouble you will be wasting lots of electricity and it depends on what you keep. Do you have fish or corals that need it that cool? Setting your heater at the same temp. will be setting your heater to be working all the time. If you insist on keeping your temp at 78 then set your heater to 77 or 76 degrees so that your heater won't be running all the time.

 

[MARLANDO]

This is my set up,

 

[thincat]

Looks like you are on your way. I don't see any fish or coral in there that needs a 78 degree tank. Leave the heater at 78 and set the chiller at 80 or 82 and save a few bucks. Buy another coral with the savings.

 

[MARLANDO]

Looks like you are on your way. I don't see any fish or coral in there that needs a 78 degree tank. Leave the heater at 78 and set the chiller at 80 or 82 and save a few bucks. Buy another coral with the savings.

TC, Seems that 78-82 is a big difference to very in my tank, dont want to
stress out my tank, I like having 1- 1 1/2 variance in the tank.

Thanks

 

[thincat]

Setup that way my tank is normally 81-82 so the heater almost never kicks in and the chiller rarely runs either. This will all change when it starts to heatup for the summer. Then like last summer my tank will sit at 82 degrees.