Chiller Recommendation

[Tanya R]

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!

 

[ReeferBud]

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.

 

[ca1ore]

81 degrees is really no problem. Fans can work, although ambient humidity in the house will significantly affect performance. Worth a try though. I'd second tradewinds; best chiller I have owned.

 

[Tanya R]

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

 

[Tanya R]

81 degrees is really no problem. Fans can work, although ambient humidity in the house will significantly affect performance. Worth a try though. I'd second tradewinds; best chiller I have owned.

Thank you so much for the feedback. I am glad to hear that 81 isn't too bad. Good to know about the humidity. When the humidity goes up, the AC in the house goes on -- so hopefully that won't be too much of an issue.

 

[Chrishvacman]

I know a guy [emoji57] that makes them in FL he sells them on ebay not pretty but they work well they have a titanium heat exchangers and they use a rotary ge compressor in fl when we take power hits or in the islands at 50 hz they keep chugging.

 

[ReeferBud]

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

 

[Tanya R]

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!

 

[CMO]

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.

 

[dstienmann]

Ive got a Penguin Chiller 1/2HP about 300GPH my tanks outside/in the garage, chiller and sump in the basement. No problems with keeping up in STL 100 deg weather


Total water volume about 360Gal

 

[Tanya R]

@Chadmowens = You bring up the reasons why I know we should, especially being here in FLA. We usually have brief outages... but with Irma last year, we lost power for a week and it was wicked hot out. Thank you for the chiller recommendation, too!

@dstienmann = Thank you for the recommendation! I have added it to the list of units to compare.

 

[mehaffydr]

I also have the Penguin 1/2 hp on my tank
Tank is 225 with 50 gal sump
I’m in Alabama so it gets warm
I have always used a chiller I set the chiller at 80and heater at 78 so my tank stays within 2 deg year round
Penguin is a good price also

 

[Txdragonslayer]

Ive got a Penguin Chiller 1/2HP about 300GPH my tanks outside/in the garage, chiller and sump in the basement. No problems with keeping up in STL 100 deg weather


Total water volume about 360Gal

i am considering these chillers, would you recommend them still?

 

[mehaffydr]

i am considering these chillers, would you recommend them still?

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

 

[Txdragonslayer]

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,

 

[vetteguy53081]

JBJ. . . Very quiet and dependable

 

[Txdragonslayer]

JBJ. . . Very quiet and dependable

I was looking at JBJ, but for my size they recommend 1.5hp chiller which i felt was way to much. on energy costs. I haven't ruled them out yet, but i like what i have been reading about this Penguin brand. I am also talking to Aqualogic, where i got my inline heater.

 

[schuby]

My first tank was a 90gal with a hood and 1/10 hp jbj chiller. My current tank is 150gal with 30gal sump, closed hood (2 pc fans: one in, one out), and a 1/5 hp jbj chiller (one of two return pumps is plumbed through chiller). If you decide to add a chiller, having it outside your cabinet is much better for heat dissipation.

If you can't plumb your return pump through the chiller and it has to be sump-to-sump, then I'd recommend pulling from upstream of your sump and returning to your return-pump section. This would most closely simulate actually having the chiller inline with a return pump. If you pull and return to the same section (refugium) then the chiller will likely turn on and off far more often because it is re-chilling some of the same water. During summer months, when my inside temp is 75-77 and lights are on, my chiller comes on for about 50 minutes and then is off for about 4 hours (1 degree change, max of 81.0). Chillers are more efficient when they run longer than when they only run for a few minutes.

 

[schuby]

One more quick addition. I've always had lids/covers on my tanks. It reduces overall evaporation/water-loss and helps my lights last longer. Running a fan across the sump is effective at reducing water temp, too.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I was looking at JBJ, but for my size they recommend 1.5hp chiller which i felt was way to much. on energy costs. I haven't ruled them out yet, but i like what i have been reading about this Penguin brand. I am also talking to Aqualogic, where i got my inline heater.

I used a 1/10 hp unit on my 660g which is way larger than rated and it kept my tank always at 78-79 and whisper quiet