Aquarium chiller question

S@ltydog · Mar 6, 2012

Hey everyone,

I live here in Nevada and with the summer months coming up water temp is going to be an issue with my setup. Originally when i set this up i opted to have the sump hard plumbed into the garage which is not environmentally controlled. Reason for this was all the equipment that is & will be occupying the sump. Mainly to cut down on the noise level.

My current setup is 100 gallon but i will be upgrading to a 200-300 gallon tank. That being said i want to plan for the future if/when i decide to purchase equipment I currently have T5 lighting so not too much heat is generated from my fixture. At any rate i have to decide now if i will be getting a chiller and what hp model jbj arctica chiller i should go with. Without having this current aquarium setup here last summer i do not know what the temp fluctuation will be with my sump being in my garage. To be honest i actually got heat stroke last summer if that helps you all with what the temp actually gets up to in the garage.

Any reccomendations? Sorry for the long story, but im trying to give all the info for suggestions. Ive used the jbj chiller size estimator and saw the manufacturers general reccomendations, but im hoping to find someone with a similar setup and see what they've done.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

revhtree · Mar 8, 2012

I have never used a chiller because I have always used a fan and have had all my tank equipment in the house. That being said my buddy always used a chiller and even moved his sump and frag tank out in his garage which was very hot during the summer in Tennessee. He started using this fan and had it to turn on via his controller when the water got to warm.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001BJDUQ...e=asn&creative=395093&creativeASIN=B0001BJDUQ

He actually sold his chiller because this fan worked so well. I also use this fan.

US Marine Coral · Mar 8, 2012

+1 A fan works great. Save your money and buy more corals and fish instead :bigsmile:

S@ltydog · Mar 9, 2012

Thanks for the input. So ... What if I found a decent deal on a chiller though? I found one for pretty cheap relatively speaking. Really made me contemplate taking him up on his offer. Found a 1/4 hp for $300. i guess I would have to worry about the power usage if I got the chiller. I heard they are power hogs and my electric bill is already over $500 in the summer :sure: .A fan would obviously use less, but I'm just concerned that a fan won't be able to cool it enough. I of course don't want to find out the hard way...

I trust what you are saying but how many degrees do you think a fan would cool it?