Chiller Recommendation | Reef2Reef

Hi all!

Asking for thoughts... we have a new 190gal tank + 40gal sump and live in Florida. The temperature outside has started to rise and noticed that the tank is now creeping up to 80-81 degrees (with the doors and windows open). The tank temperature averages 78 degrees when we've got the AC on in the house... which will be pretty much from May to September. ;)

We're thinking about getting a chiller.

1) (First and foremost) Do you think we need to chill the water if the tank will only go up to maybe 81 degrees on occasion? It is (will be) mixed reef.

2) Does anyone have experience or a recommendation on a chiller that would need to cover a ~4 degree max temperature swing?

3) Is it a plausible theory that since we just need to manage a few degrees every once in a while that we wouldn't need a heavy duty one?

4) Are there manufacturers that are better than others?

Unfortunately, since it is an after thought - we're also thinking it needs to be a sump-to-sump sort of add on. The chiller will have to sit outside the canopy connected to a return pump in the refugium. :(

Thanks all for sharing your experience/knowledge on this!

Start by adding some fans to do evaporative cooling. You should be able to get a couple of degrees.

80F should be fine. That’s what I keep my mixed reef at.

If you’re decided on a chiller, I used to run a 1/3HP on a 220 gal and it was fine.

After trying several different chiller brands over the years, I find Tradewinds to be the best.

Having said all that, chillers are a pain. They’re expensive, produce a lot of heat (exhaust) and consume a lot of electricity.

Thank you so much for the feedback! We'll give those fans a try. To be honest, I was really hoping to not have to add the chiller. ;Shamefullyembarrased No problem. I bought two inexpensive clip-on’s from amazon and attached them to the light rack. Double benefit of evaporative cooling and removing the hot air inside the canopy.

Can’t really tell from your picture but if you have a completely closed canopy, it really makes a difference in raising the temperature.

If possible, take off the top portion of the canopy to let the hot air escape. At a minimum, install a few fans in the canopy to refresh the air.

You can probably get another degree or two that way.

Thank you so much for the feedback! We'll give those fans a try. To be honest, I was really hoping to not have to add the chiller. ;Shamefullyembarrased

Can’t really tell from your picture but if you have a completely closed canopy, it really makes a difference in raising the temperature.

If possible, take off the top portion of the canopy to let the hot air escape. At a minimum, install a few fans in the canopy to refresh the air.

You can probably get another degree or two that way.

It's actually open in the back, but you're correct, closed on three sides. I do have 3 hydra 26's up there with fans built into them - but know they're not beneficial for this issue. There is room to mount some PC like fans up there though. Thanks for the additional ideas! When starting my tank I questioned whether I'd need a chiller as well since my tank is downstairs and I run AC regularly. While I could probably get away without one, I'm very happy with the decision to add one for the following reasons.

• Not sure what you plan to have in your tank in the long run, but do you really want to risk several years (and $$$) of coral growth and lives of your fish if your AC goes out? I've already had my AC breaker trip once (tank's only been up 3 months) which would have caused my tank to over heat without the chiller (and of course these things always seem to happen while you're on vacation - mine did).
• I run my AC at 74 but now that it's summer here in California I'm finding that my chiller kicks on several times a day when the tank hits 79.
• With a chiller you can easily keep your temperature within 1 degree which will reduce stress and give you peace of mind that between the chiller and AC your risk of large temperature swings that could stress or kill live stock is very low.

I have the Aqua Euro Apex 1/4 HP chiller on my tank and am pretty happy with it. I chose this chiller over others specifically for the lower flow requirements compared to other similarly sized chillers. You can get away with only 260 gph on this chiller vs. 500 gph + recommended on other similar sized chillers (much smaller feed pump or even manifold could supply this chiller). The chiller does have a built in on/off range of 3 degrees, however, which is more than I'm comfortable with. To keep the tank within a 78-79 range during the summer I set the chiller to 76 degrees so it kicks on at 79 degrees and use my apex temp probe to shut down the chiller outlet at 78 degrees (the internal thermostat set to 76 provide redundancy if my apex were to fail). I'd never consider running a large tank without a chiller again.

2 1/2 years later and mine is still running strong. Never an issue. I set the temp when I bought it and I have never touched it in the 2 1/2 years. I am currently in the process of upgrading to a larger tank and will for sure upgrade with a larger Penguin Chiller

Ok, the few people that i have asked on here, have all said positive things about them, so i think i will buy one too for my build. I appreciate your feedback,

Ambient temperature in the room is 75 F, and you wish the tank temperature to be 40 F, correct? Tell us more about the tank setup. How powerful your chiller needs to be depends on how much heat is going into the tank.

A given chiller can only go down to a certain temperature. Ordinary aquarium chillers cannot go down to 40 F. You may need the type of chiller used for lobster tanks. My best guess is that you would need about a 12,000 BTU (also called 1 ton) chiller.

Chillers use a lot of power. The more you can reduce the chiller's workload the better. Some things you can do:

1. Use low watt lighting, and incorporate fans to disperse heat from the lights.

2. Use inline rather than submersible pumps.

3. Insulate the tank.

4. Use air conditioners or fans to reduce ambient temperature.


This site http://www.aqualogicinc.com/products/chillers/Delta-Star-Air-Cooled-Water-Chiller.htm#Sizing has the kind of chillers you require. You can fill out this questionnaire http://www.aqualogicinc.com/product...m-Questionnaire-Chiller-DeltaStar-Cyclone.pdf and send it into them; they'll tell you which model best fits your needs.

MN_Rebel;; said: Depends what species you want to keep?

Only trout, whitefish, northern pike, graylings and Alaskan blackfish needs a chiller.

Plan is, that create a biotope of some river of northern Finland (in northern Europe). I maybe order an aquarium, 118" * 20" * 31" (300cm*50cm*80cm)
= ~ litres = ~300 gallons(?)

We have many species fishes in our river, trouts, whitefishes, graylings, perchs, and many other, and they need cold water.

Ambient temperature in the room is 75 F, and you wish the tank temperature to be 40 F, correct? Tell us more about the tank setup. How powerful your chiller needs to be depends on how much heat is going into the tank.

Correct. I want temperature in tank be something in 40 - 45 F.

I know, I have use "low watt lightning" in 'winter'. And I have think if I put a styrox to three sides of aquarium, and put a doubleglass to one side.

One coldwater aquaristic recommended for me Aqua medic titan . I don't know, do you have that model in United States. I am not familiar with that model, but found some information here: http://www.swelluk.com/pdfs/Titan%20Cooler%20Instructions.pdf

It states that the model is recommended for tanks up to L if the desired change in temp is 10 degrees C. Your tank is about L, and will probably approach L total system volume with filtration. However your desired change in temp is almost 20 degrees C, so this model will not be adequate.

Are you sure the water needs to be that cold? Similar coldwater fishes in the US may be maintained at 60 F or so, which would make the Titan just about right.

Noto;; said: I am not familiar with that model, but found some information here: http://www.swelluk.com/pdfs/Titan Cooler Instructions.pdf

It states that the model is recommended for tanks up to L if the desired change in temp is 10 degrees C. Your tank is about L, and will probably approach L total system volume with filtration. However your desired change in temp is almost 20 degrees C, so this model will not be adequate.

Are you sure the water needs to be that cold? Similar coldwater fishes in the US may be maintained at 60 F or so, which would make the Titan just about right.

I use external filters for filtration, so total system volume is something about - L.

Do you really keep example graylings and trouts whole year in 60F ? In there, northern Finland our rivers and lakes temperature raises over 60F in two-three months in a year (summer), and in winter our rivers are something about 40F, and they have ice, and we can ice fishing.
We have talk about this thing in Finland, and if temperature is too high, example trout don't live so long than in cold water. But we didn't have many cold water aquaristic in Finland.

And, sorry my bad english.

Noto;; said: I know that many aquarists keep trout, including Salmo trutta, Oncorhynchus species, and Salvelinus species at 60-65 F. You just have to be sure there is plenty of oxygen in the water. I don't know about the grayling, as they are seldom kept here.

Oh, my dream fish in tank is Salvelinus alpinus http://www.rktl.fi/www/uploads/images/nieria1.jpg
They grow big, but I have an outdoor pond, about gallons. So if fishes in aquarium grow too big, I can put these in my pond. (Now I have only 10 perch in pond)

How I can be sure there are plenty of oxygen, is the only way to have stream in aquarium's water coat?

And if I want to chill water to 50F, what chiller you now recommend? Really, as long as you keep the water below 65 F and super oxygenated, I would think most coldwater species would be ok. I worked at a trout hatchery for a couple years and on hot summer days, we had trouble keeping the outdoor tanks below 70-75 F and the trout still survived because we kept the water as aerated as possible. This is of course the danger zone where a slight change could cause the whole tank to turn, but normally below 65 is safe with high aeration. We did it with motorized pond aerators, but for your tank you could use powerheads and air stones. In the cooler months, you could also let some outside air into the room where the tank is and this could eliminate the need for a chiller in all but the warmest months