Chiller reccomendations

[madmax7774]

I have a 75 gallon reef at home with a 30 gallon sump. My temp is usually at 80' but lately it has been fluctuating to as high as 84' and I can't seem to stop it from going up. I was thinking of adding a chiller to try to stabilize the temp at 80'. Specifically I have been eying the JBJ arctica 1/10hp for my tank it is sized for up to 125g whichg seems just right, and is priced at $399 which isn't too terribly bad.

What's the general consensus on chillers and what about this one??

any help would be great.

John

[DEEPBLUE]

I have a Pacific Coast Imports chiller that I'm very happy with, it has a built in temp gauge and are ok priced. if your interested the web site is www.pacificcoastimports.com

 

Eric

[madmax7774]

ok let me pose this question a little differently:

 

How much temperature fluctuation is too much for a 75G reef tank with fish?????

John

[DEEPBLUE]

Anything more than 3 degree change I think is bad, but also anything over 79 or 80 is very bad.

 

Eric

[EricBrian]

... anything over 79 or 80 is very bad.

 

Eric

 

 

You sure? Reefkeeping.com recommends between 76 and 83.

 

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

 

Eric

[keeperofthefish]

The question when you get over 78 degrees F is how much dissolved oxygen your water can hold. Put simply, the warmer it is, the less oxygen it can hold so the more surface gas exchange you need--i.e. oxygenation. In other words, you need more flow, a protein skimmer running, and visible motion of the water at the top of the aquarium. A sump is also a huge plus--which obviously you have. A refugium lit 24/7 is also important--especially at night when photosynthesis drops in the rest of the tank and along with it oxygenation. I know of people whose tanks go as high as 84 with no problem. I suppose some corals from more temperate regions may be more sensitive to this. Many of the SPS rich regions of the world have water temperatures that get as high as 87 degrees F. But of course the ocean doesn't have the oxygenation problem a closed aquarium does. I wouldn't panic about temperature, though. Before investing in a chiller, also think about aiming a clip-on fan across your fuge water to speed evaporation (but keep up with top-offs!) and think about ways to eliminate wattage in your tank. A MaxiJet 1200, for instance, is 20 watts of electricity in your tank with direct heat transfer. A Tunze 6000 is only 18 w and is more powerful than an armada of MaxiJets. If you are running your sump pump in the sump, think about plumbing it externally and getting a pump with low heat transfer. Often this is enough to take down the tank temp markedly, and is a much cheaper solution than the operating costs and buy-in costs of a chiller. There are lots of other clever solutions out there, also. Lighting plays probably the biggest role.

[Gatortailale]

1st step - get a 7 inch clip on fan and see if that helps.

2nd, if you have central air, turn up or down, what ever the proper term, the ac to make house cooler.

 

What brand, I went with TradeWind.

 

TradeWind has a factory special - FREE shipping - right now. Listed on Premium aquatics has it on their site and Champion, although not listed, is also participating on it (ordered one from champ. yesterday).

 

http://tradewindchillers.com/specsheet.html The Finest, Most Reliable Water Chillers Produced, Proudly made In The USA

 

TradeWind Chillers are built by a staff that has been building reliable chillers for over 25

years. Our focus is building the finest, most reliable chillers in the world. In fact, we only

build chillers, and they are proudly built in the USA!

 

We are dedicated to improving our already outstanding products. Our team is headed by Hal Collier, who

has earned a reputation for designing chillers that are practical and reliable for the aquarium,

commercial, and industrial industries.

We offer inline chillers from 1/5 hp up to 12 hp and drop-in style chillers from 1/5 hp up to our Super 1/3

hp. The Super 1/3 hp is ideal for applications where a 1/3 hp is too small yet a 1/2 hp is too large.

All chillers come standard with a 2 year warranty. We also offer an extended warranty for up to 5 years

because we have total confidence in the components and the manufacturing of each unit.

 

TradeWind Chillers feature:

 

**Condensing unit made by the Copeland Corporation, the most reliable in the industry.

 

**Molded threaded inlet and outlet on inline models

 

**Rugged, powder-coated steel cover that resists corrosion

 

**Super Flexible drop-in coil, the most flexible in the industry.

 

**Easy to program electronic controller, available in single or dual stage and accurate

up to 1 degree.

 

**Well probe for controller sensor prevents freeze-ups and prolongs sensor life.

 

**Insulated refrigerant lines to prevent condensation.

 

**Side inlet and outlet on inline units makes for a clean installation, while also allowing

the removal of the cover without disconnecting the plumbing.

 

**Every unit built is water-run tested.

 

 

 

JBJ also a good brand.

[wolfman]

if your tank stays at 80 all the time than that is ok dont waist your money on a chiller, my 180 stays at 79.3 all the time and will get to 80-81 and i have no problems at all, i have a buddy whos tank got to 84 all the time and everything in there was fine so i think you shouldnt waist your money on something that is going to drop your temp down one degree. You cant buy a little chiller and thinks your going to drop the temp 5 degrees because that is not what is going to happen, and what these ppl arnt telling you is that they have problems with them and when they break you have to call a ac guy to fix them or buy another one. Try this first get a fan and point it at the lights so it is blowing the hot air from your lighs away from the water and i bet you money that it will drop the temp almost 2 degrees. hope that helps.

[madmax7774]

Brilliant!! I love the fan idea. $14.99 for fan beates the heck out of a $400 cooler.

I will try that and see. Also, I will look into plumbing my main pump outside the fuge.

John

[EricBrian]

The fan lowered the temperature in my tank by 4 degrees. I hooked it up to the timer my lights are on so that it turns off when the lights go off. The first night I didn't do that and the temperature in my tank fell all the way to 74. :-(

 

Luckily all of the livestock went about their business normally after the temperature went back to normal.

[wolfman]

it will help out alot you will see

[fishface]

The first concern is the fluctuation, not the actual temp. But corals will bleach in temps higher than 85 or so all depending on their orign.

 

Anyway, another approach is to raise the minimum temp, so that at night it doesn't drop as much when the lights are off. I had a bleaching event the first 2 years in a row in the spring when I first didn't realize how the temp would creep up if the air temp was higher than 76 deg in the house. So the aircon now runs from April through Sept now.

 

And disable the setback feature on the thermostat during the day or the corals will still roast.

 

I moved my tanks to the basement and the overall cooler temp helps a lot.

 

FF