Don't Get Sucked In By All The Hype....

tario · Mar 21, 2016

hybridazn said:
Great write up rev! It def hits the nail on the head, even the most devoted reef head tends to slip a bit in the warmer weather months. Unless you of course live where it's warm all year lol

Its always warm here in the bahamas. ..having a chiller is a must.

hybridazn · Mar 21, 2016

tario said:
Its always warm here in the bahamas. ..having a chiller is a must.

Rubbing it in are we? Hahaha

tario · Mar 21, 2016

Who me? Lol

ngvu1 · Mar 21, 2016

I was expecting a totally different content ;-)
I don't know about other states, the weather does not have much effect on reefers here as much as algae booms or tank crash in CA.

TUSI · Mar 21, 2016

no kidding around, this is the perfect time for cyano bacteria, always when temperatures start to flactuate so dont wait for the warm weather to set up the chillers, do it now and maintain the temperature steady. my 2 cents.

Drakonis · Mar 21, 2016

Jodie Sokel said:
I would like to invest in a cooling system this year. Any recommendations? Thanks

I got my paws on a office water cooler, you know the ones you put the culligan jugs on. i plan to coil 1/4 line in it same stuff you use for RO and then fill the chiller bowl with water and make a lid for it. for controls ill just put a solenoid on the circulation line and use regular aquarium controler to open and close the solenoid. not sure just how much cooling power this will be but hey i got the water cooler free. random DIY idea for everyone

saltyhog · Mar 21, 2016

Do lots of people not have air conditioning? My inside temp doesn't vary over a degree or so all year round?

I'm in Rev. I'm switching out my old sump for my larger custom sump Thursday.

hybridazn · Mar 21, 2016

saltyhog said:
Do lots of people not have air conditioning? My inside temp doesn't vary over a degree or so all year round?

I'm in Rev. I'm switching out my old sump for my larger custom sump Thursday.

I have central air and in the summer with the air set on 68 the tank gets upwards to 82 with my halides on

TUSI · Mar 21, 2016

hybridazn said:
I have central air and in the summer with the air set on 68 the tank gets upwards to 82 with my halides on

Same here. No matter what a chiller is needed unless you have different lights maybe. My chiller is outside and even in winter it still works when the halides are on cause the temp in a house is always the same winter or summer

saltyhog · Mar 21, 2016

Yep, definitely can understand needing a chiller with MH but that's not a seasonal need for one but a year round one isn't it?

JMacedo · Mar 21, 2016

Only two weather seasons here; hot and very hot! AC unit with a drop-in-coil is a must!

pelphrey · Mar 21, 2016

Let the warmth come, hopefully someone locally lists a 120!!!

Browner20 · Mar 22, 2016

I was in the market for a chiller for a long time but finally found that fans solve all of my needs without having to plumb an external chiller. My lighting is MHs and T5s and I have two computer fans in the hood with two long vents on top of the hood and two 12" box fans above the sump. The sump vents up behind the tank to the hood and out through the two long vents on top. I also have the ballasts for the MH, a dolphin amp master return pump, and a large sedra pump for my euro reef skimmer in the sump area so the fans do a great job considering there are a lot of heat producing equipment(not sure why I even need a heater). The computer fans are like $30/piece at radio shack and the box fans were like $10/piece at Walmart so super easy to swap out if needed. *** Important note - I do have a fair amount of evap daily so not a solution for those without a robust ATO system.

abinder · Mar 22, 2016

jpickard said:
I have the same chiller still sitting in the box. How did you set yours up? Hooked to. Controller? I guess I'm just curious on how to set it up with heater etc to keep a constant temp.

I don't use a controller to run the chiller. JBJ Artica chillers seem to be very accurate with controlling the temp. One of the return lines to my tank from the sump runs through the chiller.

I do use my controller to run my JBJ titanium heater. I just wish the JBJ came without it's own controller; I don't even use the JBJ controller included with the titanium heater.

It seems to be better if you get a chiller that's rated a little higher than your tank water volume. I'm using the 1/4 hp Artica for my tank/sump that has a total water volume of about 100 gallons after all of the Rock and equipment was installed.

Allen

Reef-roach · Mar 22, 2016

Hot dang Logzor's tank is sweet!

Sharvey103 · Mar 22, 2016

Setting up my JBJ Artica chiller on my new 265 this week.

Drakonis · Mar 22, 2016

Ive never been in person with a aquarium chiller but have good knowledge of pancake compressor cooling systems and can say you most likely do not want to cycle power to the chiller unit as this will be hard on the compressor and cause early failure.