heat killing my coral

[stevieduk]

Hi everyone , whats the average price you spend on a aquarium cooler.
You have probably seen that global warming is striking and giving us the hottest summer on record here in the U K. Its been up near the 100 F mark for quiet a few days now. Ive been keeping marines for many many years 48 to be exact and have never had a problem with water being over temp. but now ,even with fans blowing ice packs at the tank and putting cool things in the water i cant get the temp down below 85 and sometimes nearer to 90 F.
my corals are all bleaching and i think will be dead by the end of this week apart from good old xenia, thats still going strong, so i started thinking about maybe getting a tank cooler, but was stunned by the price of the ones that had a built in thermostat, We do get ripped off with equipment prices over here , but the ones i could see were around the $5000 mark or £ 4500 sterling.
that is CRAZY money, its cheaper to let the tank die and then restock when the summer has gone

 

[ctpeasy]

Stevie,

While chillers are expensive, I’ve not seen them be that expensive. Have you checked out bulk reef supply or other online vendors?

I bought my chiller secondhand. It is. 1/3 hp jbj and it chills a 250 g system with no issues.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Ouch. How large a chiller are you looking at. Even over there it should not be more than 750pounds. I use a 1/4hp chiller for my 280g system and keeps in line. We have very hot summers in Cincinnati and I can keep temp near 80degree F mark on hottest days.

 

[hotashes]

Sorry to hear the troubles, does a chiller not cut it for you?

A.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Turn to Amazon...

 

[RichtheReefer21]

I think you are looking at the wrong chillers... or maybe ones designed for insanely-large water volumes...

 

[ageno125]

Look for lobster tank chillers.

Big and not found in reef supply store, thus doesn’t have the crazy price tag.

Found one that was 1/2hp for $500or $600. Made in the states.

 

[lion king]

What is the ambient temp of the room they are in, I easily get a 7 degree f drop with fans. Do you have the tank completely uncovered and fans clipped on or mount above the tank, with the air blowing directly across the surface. Watch the evaporation, my ato is working over time this time of year, I keep my tanks at 80, I definitely try for nothing above 82.

 

[shred5]

What about air conditioning the room with a window air conditioner? I had to do that for years when I lived in a apartment.

Fans can cool it a few degrees but you are getting over 90+

 

[RichtheReefer21]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/eco-plus-1-4hp-chiller.414710/

They are constantly for sale here on the forums. Here is just the most recent one posted.

What volume of water are you dealing with here?

 

[Super Fly]

Ouch!... if u r handy, I wonder if u can buy a small beverage fridge or tiny freezer and drill small holes on 2 sides (entry & exit) and run your tank water through it via tubing (u can leave a large coil of tubing inside the fridge/freezer so more of water volume will cool) to help cool the water? using a valve on the tubing will help control flow thru the fridge, i.e. let the water sit inside longer or shorter. This assuming a small fridge/freezer is much cheaper than a chiller and would take up more space but beats $5K!

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Ouch!... if u r handy, I wonder if u can buy a small beverage fridge or tiny freezer and drill small holes on 2 sides (entry & exit) and run your tank water through it via tubing (u can leave a large coil of tubing inside the fridge/freezer so more of water volume will cool) to help cool the water? using a valve on the tubing will help control flow thru the fridge, i.e. let the water sit inside longer or shorter. This assuming a small fridge/freezer is much cheaper than a chiller and would take up more space but beats $5K!

I used to do this to Liquid Cool my Computer Graphics/CPU Cards when FPS gaming got big and smooth FPS were hard to maintain on the old systems! hahah

Awesome bush fix if one is in a pinch though with a cooling issue for sure!

 

[Jet915]

I bought a used jbj chiller on craigslist for 200, working great so far....

 

[John494]

I just run the air conditioner. I’ve yet to see any problems (knock on wood)

John

 

[vetteguy53081]

Take 3-4 Large zip lock bags. Fill with water and freeze them. Float one to bring down temp. When bag melts, place back in freezer, and pull another and float that one. You get the idea. Brings down temp safely and gradually and the method works. I have a chiller and ultimately- its the best remedy

 

[ZoWhat]

I'm was topping out at 81.x degrees a month ago

So I started freezing gallon milk jugs filled with RODI water and the scewcap on tight.

After adding the frozen gallon jug in my sump in the AM before work.....my max temp is now 79.2 and a low of 78.0

So a frozen gallon jug is lowering my 180g DT+100g sump by 2.x degrees.

I'm pleased.

I rotate one in the freezer and one in the sump daily



.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

You have probably seen that global warming is striking and giving us the hottest summer on record here in the U K. Its been up near the 100 F mark for quiet a few days now. Ive been keeping marines for many many years 48 to be exact and have never had a problem with water being over temp. but now ,even with fans blowing ice packs at the tank and putting cool things in the water i cant get the temp down below 85 and sometimes nearer to 90 F.

Come on, this is the UKs hottest month, & you'd only had one day over 30C this month untill yesterdays 32C.
What about 1990, it was 34.6C back then, & 33.5C in 1975.

Anyway, global warmings going away for the next week & things should settle down a bit.

 

[ZaneTer]

People overlook the fact that, in general, homes in the UK are extremely well insulated. I bought a chiller a year ago because of the same reasons as OP. My corals were bleaching and starting to die in some cases.

I am not in the habit of letting corals die. I have it hooked up to a custom control system so now the tank maintains 80•F +- 0.35•F

People do forget though they they should be cleaned out about every 4 months or so. The performance can take a major hit if you don’t.

Overall I am really happy with my chiller. It was a great investment for me. It was a Hailea 500A but it maintains 220g with ease. It is 1/2hp

It was only £355 @stevieduk

 

[Borsalino]

4500£

Extra Money for May to pay the Brexit?

 

[ZaneTer]

Completeaquatics.co.uk

Now there is no excuse not to get one. This one can deal with up to 1200l aquarium...it is 1/2hp so the websites recommendation of up to 500l is ********.