Are you "chilling" your reef? Why or why not?

[Conrad Noto]

A lot of factors come into play when determining if you'll need a chiller or not for your reef tank. Where you live, the location of your tank, your lighting and more. With it starting to warm up outside I thought it would be a good time to discuss chillers!

What is a chiller?
Here is a simple definition from First Tank Guide: An aquarium chiller is really a small refrigerator which is installed in-line with an external filtration system to cool - or chill - the water as it passes through the system. When coupled with a thermostat, the chiller can prevent the aquarium from rising above a per-determined temperature.

1. Do you run a chiller on your saltwater aquarium?

2. If you answered yes, what brand of chiller are you running?


Image via MarineDepot.com

Way back in the 80's ozone and halides were a requirement lol. Halides made heat, tanks needed chiller or were 94 degrees in summer. I'm now in Florida, kept the ozone, using LEDs, although love halide/t5 combo best. My tanks run 78-80 degrees most of year and do well. During heatwaves I lower central air few degrees. Tanks stay 2-3 degrees higher than room temperature.

 

[Crustaceon]

My tank gets as high as 84 degrees in the summer. No problems and yes, I do have various sps including acros.

 

[Member No 1]

Running a 15+ year old JBJ Arctica 1/10 HP Chiller. Was controlled by Apex, now GHL. Still runs like it was new.
Tank is a 120g running old school (2) 250w DE Phoenix 14K & (4) 54w T5's.
I believe in a greater temp fluctuation than what people try to achieve. 78-82ish is good.
Consider the coral on the reef flat. I bet some of those tidal pools get hotter than 82. Plus some coral are expose to air in direct sunlight. How hot do those get? I think greater temp swings, within reason, makes for a healthier coral, and less prone to issues if you do happen to have an unavoidable temp swing.

 

[JoshO]

It never gets warm enough here to warrant one!

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

A lot of factors come into play when determining if you'll need a chiller or not for your reef tank. Where you live, the location of your tank, your lighting and more. With it starting to warm up outside I thought it would be a good time to discuss chillers!

What is a chiller?
Here is a simple definition from First Tank Guide: An aquarium chiller is really a small refrigerator which is installed in-line with an external filtration system to cool - or chill - the water as it passes through the system. When coupled with a thermostat, the chiller can prevent the aquarium from rising above a per-determined temperature.

1. Do you run a chiller on your saltwater aquarium?

2. If you answered yes, what brand of chiller are you running?


Image via MarineDepot.com

Our setup is experimental and so needs to be outside, just last week had a major leak and if the setup was inside the building it would have been a mess. So living in always sunny Callyfornia, we build our own chillers, as the need arises and recently set up one which is half horsepower capacity for 80 gallons of water. Recently we had days that are upper 90s. And the chiller keeps up, so far

Carnation corals (dendronephthya) and 34 Pacific oysters.

 

[KrisReef]

AquaEuro 1/2 in the garage. The feed pump failed recently and I lost 1/2 of my SPS before I figured out what was wrong. We had been having mild temperatures before but when the sun came out the corals started rtn.

 

[Mjl714]

Negative for me , the A/C does all the cooling for my tank and myself.

same here, also have ceiling fan in display tank room.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

AquaEuro 1/2 in the garage. The feed pump failed recently and I lost 1/2 of my SPS before I figured out what was wrong. We had been having mild temperatures before but when the sun came out the corals started rtn.

Is chiller in or outside garage? Sorry for loss....bummer

 

[Hannahrain]

I live in central FL, no chiller use AC and if no electric we have a generator to run the pumps and I can float frozen water bottles in tanks if needed.

 

[Ardeus]

I use a fan, but not all fans are made equal. I tested 2.

 

[DHill6]

No chiller, tank runs 78, using a ceiling fan in room, tunze twin fan on tank connected to Apex and a/c throughout house.

 

[SRQreefer]

A lot of factors come into play when determining if you'll need a chiller or not for your reef tank. Where you live, the location of your tank, your lighting and more. With it starting to warm up outside I thought it would be a good time to discuss chillers!

What is a chiller?
Here is a simple definition from First Tank Guide: An aquarium chiller is really a small refrigerator which is installed in-line with an external filtration system to cool - or chill - the water as it passes through the system. When coupled with a thermostat, the chiller can prevent the aquarium from rising above a per-determined temperature.

1. Do you run a chiller on your saltwater aquarium?

2. If you answered yes, what brand of chiller are you running?


Image via MarineDepot.com

Yes. I live in Florida and have the sump plumbed from the garage. I use a JBJ Arctica, 1/4HP, on a 120G. Works amazing, is surprisingly efficient, and I couldn't reef without it.

 

[jgvergo]

My house has AC, but if I keep my room temp at 75 in the summer, the pumps push the tank temp over 80. I run a fan controlled by my Apex and the temp is held within a 0.5 degree range.

 

[mfinn]

I used a chiller for nearly 20 years when I used mh and vho lighting. About 10 years ago I went to LEDs and sold the chiller.
About a year ago I switched to T5's but they run cool enough that I don't need a chiller.

 

[brianbigoats]

I use a fan not really necessary but i always want the insurance

 

[maceto]

Exists any small Chiller for a Pico?

 

[bobbyM]

Yes. It’s part of my hurricane prep equipment. I have a generator to run my tank and refrigerator.

 

[MARK M. DAVIS]

I do. Heaters too. Way less costly than coral. Don't want a heater failure or AC failure to ruin my day. I also have a back up generator. It's just piece of mind - no need to scramble.

 

[Yoosuf]

Always yes, this part of the world always needs a chiller

 

[Dburr1014]

My sump is in the basement. It's about 50% the size of the tank so it keeps the tank cool enough. If I need to, I have fans mounted in the hood. I haven't needed them yet.