Should I add a chiller?

JCOLE · Jun 8, 2020

I have a 150 SPS dominate tank that plumbs into my garage with a 40 gallon sump, 20 gallon fuge, and 50 gallon frag tank. The temp is getting hot and now my tank reached from 78 in the morning to 82 at peak of day.

All of my SPS look fine but I am concerned for July and August. I am looking at a JBJ 1/3 chiller.

What do you all think? Its $1000 and I do not want to spend this if it shouldn't be an issue.

Bj’s Reef · Jun 8, 2020

Have you thought about using a fan on your sump. It will cool your tank down for a whole lot cheaper. Which leaves money for more corals.

MikeRizz88 · Jun 8, 2020

I would definitely suggest the chiller! 1000$ is a lot for now but think long term. Temp flux like that are a killer and with an sps stocked tank with the rest of your hard earned $ in the frag tank would be so worth it. Just giving my 2 cents. But good luck

highest_tides · Jun 8, 2020

I'm bad...this is my first year with a reef tank and instead of a chiller I'm running my AC all day @72...I have a feeling I should of looked into a chiller

JCOLE · Jun 8, 2020

tigerhawk said:
Have you thought about using a fan on your sump. It will cool your tank down for a whole lot cheaper. Which leaves money for more corals.

Yes. I have a fan over my sump and two fans in my canopy. I also just added a temporary box fan over my frag tank a couple days ago. Helped with a degree but that is about it.

JCOLE · Jun 8, 2020

highest_tides said:
I'm bad...this is my first year with a reef tank and instead of a chiller I'm running my AC all day @72...I have a feeling I should of looked into a chiller

I keep my air at 71-72 and it still hasn't made a dent. NC has been HOT these last couple days.

JCOLE · Jun 9, 2020

I am looking at the JBJ Chillers. Could I get away with the 1/5hp or 1/4hp instead of the 1/3hp? I have probably around 200-230 gallons between all tanks. I am looking to cool it by a couple degrees.

MikeRizz88 · Jun 9, 2020

I think the 1/4 hp would be fine for your set up. I was introduced to this guide and sizing chiller has worked fine for me.

MikeRizz88 · Jun 9, 2020

There’s calculators out there, but your gonna have to put in current temp, desired temp, watts from lights, watts from pumps, watts from power heads and so on...you probably know good rule of thumb is to one up everything you get!
I Like your set up n equipment tho!!!

JCOLE · Jun 9, 2020

MikeRizz88 said:
There’s calculators out there, but your gonna have to put in current temp, desired temp, watts from lights, watts from pumps, watts from power heads and so on...you probably know good rule of thumb is to one up everything you get!
I Like your set up n equipment tho!!!

For less than $100 more I can get the 1/3 so I think I will probably end up going that route.

Anybody with experience with he JBJ chillers? How do you like them?

ca1ore · Jun 9, 2020

What did you do last Summer? A high of 82-84 ish is probably fine ….. over that becomes problematic. Evaporative cooling (using a fan) only works well if the RH is low …. probably in the 20-30% range. That's Colorado, Arizona, etc .... and maybe if you blast the AC. Problem with oversizing a chiller is short-cycling. I have no experience with JBJ, but have been very happy with my tradewinds unit.

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Sdot · Jun 9, 2020

JCOLE said:
For less than $100 more I can get the 1/3 so I think I will probably end up going that route.

Anybody with experience with he JBJ chillers? How do you like them?

Was in the same boat as you about 2 months ago. My Display is 240 with another 60 or so gallons between the fuge and the sump. I purchased the JBJ 1/3 chiller and it works well. Here are my observations:

It works really well! My temp doesn't fluctuate more than a degree....my tank sits between 76.1 -76.8 degrees.
Its smaller than the pictures make it appear.
It will heat up the room thats its in....

It is noisy....but the results speak for themselves. I live in Texas, and i tried the fan route...evaporation was really bad and i had to keep my house at 72 degrees to keep my tank under 79 degrees.....with summer around the corner i didn't want to chance it.

92Miata · Jun 9, 2020

So, if I'm reading this right - the problem seems to be that the garage is getting super hot because its hot out, and your in-garage sump is just sucking up heat?

I wouldn't be surprised if you could insulate your garage and include it in your cooling envelope for less than a big chiller. Might be worth looking into.

That would also get you some dehumidifying in the garage - which is a necessity if you've got a sump in there any any sort of metal tools.

count krunk · Jun 9, 2020

Yeah it may be cheaper to insulate and cool your garage and bump ac up to like 75 76 vs adding a chiller.

JCOLE · Jun 9, 2020

ca1ore said:
What did you do last Summer? A high of 82-84 ish is probably fine ….. over that becomes problematic. Evaporative cooling (using a fan) only works well if the RH is low …. probably in the 20-30% range. That's Colorado, Arizona, etc .... and maybe if you blast the AC. Problem with oversizing a chiller is short-cycling. I have no experience with JBJ, but have been very happy with my tradewinds unit.

Fish Tanks Direct

Looking for the best Tradewind Chillers for sale? Read verified Tradewind Chillers reviews online then buy direct and save. Free shipping. Tax free.

www.fishtanksdirect.com

I used a fan last year and it wasn't that bad. I have since added a 50 gallon frag tank in the garage which is what I think is adding to the heat. Also, I covered my tank to a full SPS Acro tank so a little more concerned of the fluctuations.

I checked out the tradewinds and a 1/3hp is $200 cheaper than a JBJ. The 1/3 says its rates for 300 gallons. Should I go lower?

JCOLE · Jun 9, 2020

Sdot said:
Was in the same boat as you about 2 months ago. My Display is 240 with another 60 or so gallons between the fuge and the sump. I purchased the JBJ 1/3 chiller and it works well. Here are my observations:

It works really well! My temp doesn't fluctuate more than a degree....my tank sits between 76.1 -76.8 degrees.
Its smaller than the pictures make it appear.
It will heat up the room thats its in....

It is noisy....but the results speak for themselves. I live in Texas, and i tried the fan route...evaporation was really bad and i had to keep my house at 72 degrees to keep my tank under 79 degrees.....with summer around the corner i didn't want to chance it.

Thank you. Nice clean setup! Wonder if it is going to be an issue installing the chiller in a hot garage?

JCOLE · Jun 9, 2020

92Miata said:
So, if I'm reading this right - the problem seems to be that the garage is getting super hot because its hot out, and your in-garage sump is just sucking up heat?

I wouldn't be surprised if you could insulate your garage and include it in your cooling envelope for less than a big chiller. Might be worth looking into.

That would also get you some dehumidifying in the garage - which is a necessity if you've got a sump in there any any sort of metal tools.

Yes that is correct. Unfortunately I don't think I can do all of this work for less than 1k.

dwest · Jun 9, 2020

I think the garage might be the place. I used a chiller a long time ago. It was in my living room. It was by far the loudest thing on my tank.

JCOLE · Jun 9, 2020

dwest said:
I think the garage might be the place. I used a chiller a long time ago. It was in my living room. It was by far the loudest thing on my tank.

Do you think the heat from the garage would affect the chiller?