Will I need a chiller.....

[DragonForce]

I am going to have some serious temp problems for my reef tank thats going through the cycle. Right now i have a custom 175watt metal halide lighting system that I built and its suspended about 6 inches over the tank until I get my hood in about 2 weeks which I will then build 2 cooling fans for. Right now my temps are at 83. I'm really worried that ill have to spend 300 bucks on a noisy chiller.

It will be suspended about 12' above the water once the hood arrives and will have 2 cooling fans. I hope this is sufficient. Any help guys?(and gals)

 

[tripper]

What size tank do you have? I would think that you should be fine though. Until you get your hood built you can always aim a small fan across the surface of the tank to help cool it. Also, what temp do you have your heater set at? If you turn that down to the 77-79 range it won't do anything during the day and then just maintain heat at night. HTH

tripper

 

[DragonForce]

i dont even have a heater, i wont need one. tank is a 37 gal

 

[mfrei64]

what are you planning on keeping? I just bought a chiller for my reef, and in 30 years in the hobby, it's the best thing i've ever done. You don't want temp fluctuation. My tank is better than it's ever been and I think the constant 79 temp I got going is the key. When I think at all the corals i lost, likely due to temp (i live in a hot area, and my 400 MH don't help), i've def been penny wise and pound foolish.

You can battle the temp like I used to, but man that chiller is awesome.