Should I get a Chiller?

goody · Mar 18, 2010

I live in San Diego about 5 miles from the beach, but our summers are starting to get pretty warm. Last summer I acutally lost a lot of sps due to temperature problems while away on vacation. Temp. was up in the mid90s at night. Since then, we have installed air conditioning in our house and I have four fans under my canopy.

Now that I have acquired a lot more sps, I'm thinking of getting a chiller. I just don't know a lot about them. How exactly do they work? What about the horsepower? Is this directly related to what size tank it can handle? Would I have to worry about freon or servicing a used one?

Then there is the question of how to set it up. I have a 90g with a 30g sump. I would imagine I would have it draw water from the sump and put it back in (is this right?). Problem there would be I already have a pump for my skimmer, a pump for my reactor, and a return pump, so I'm limited on space inside my sump.

Basically, I'm asking for any help in purchasing and setting one up. It seems like a wise investment and I don't want to go through another big loss.

NVTE · Mar 18, 2010

Yes, it is good investment for you tank.
the size will depend on you. I think 1/4 HP chiller is good for you. The higher horsepower, the faster chiller cool your water. I like JBJ chiller, which I know very good and very quiet.
Yes, the water pumps from your sump to chiller and back to the sump. You can use your return pump to pump water through your chiller before getting back to your main tank. If you return too strong, split them out to feed your chiller.

stunreefer · Mar 18, 2010

I would get a larger return pump and "tee" off of it in order to feed the reactor, chiller and tank.

My return goes to the chiller then up to the main tank as Daniel mentioned.

Some chillers have internal temp probes and controllers, some are external. Regardless, when the temp gets too warm, they turn on, then they turn off once dropped back below the set-point. I have a Pacific Coast 1/3 HP unit.

Reefnjunkie · Mar 18, 2010

For sure adding a chiller is a good investment-the money you lost on the corals that died may have paid for it-the money spent to replace them that is.

I live in wet Portland Oregon, where we may get 2 weeks of weather in the 100's and over all not hot-I have a 1/10 hp Current chiller on my 75, and with all the "gear" I run that sucker runs all year.

Worth the money and investment with out question-IMO

roscoe · Mar 18, 2010

It all depends on how you have your system set up. I have my 350g system set up with my guts/sump in the garage and DT in the office. Last year in the Seattle area it got over 100 degrees for a week. I was running 2 250w halides and 1 400w halides in LB reflectors 17'' from the surface and my system only got to 82degrees with just 3 fans 2 in the sump and 1 at the DT and my ambient room temp was in the 90s. I do have a super 1/3rd HP Tradewind chiller on hand if I need it though but I don't think I would need it and I don't need the added power bill either as they are power hogs.

goody · Mar 18, 2010

Thanks for all the replies. I'll definitely look into getting a higher gph return pump, especially since the chiller will add extra length (head). I like the "tee" idea.

Few questions: What is it that makes them noisy? Any brands quieter over the others, and what about the btu's? How does this figure in to the efficiency of cooling? Is this more important than the horsepower? Would a smaller chiller (nano) actually be enough to cool my 115g the 4-6 degrees I will probably need?

ariel47 · Mar 18, 2010

I have the artica chiller and they are very quiet.

stunreefer · Mar 18, 2010

Teeing off your return is great for many reasons: less maintenance, only ONE pump to maintain/clean rather than many - the more pumps you have, the more heat you're adding to the water, not only complicating your system but making it inefficient - you can purchase an extra pump and keep it on hand if god forbid something happens to it, pull the one off the shelf and hook it up to keep your system running with no hiccups!

The "noise" is when they turn on, kinda sounds like a refrigerator. Some are most definitely noisier than others, not sure what's the "quietest" brand/model. You want to make sure you get one that's large enough, bigger is better IMO. Even though it may take more power to run, it runs for shorter times, and in the end will save $ on electricity (they use little to no power when not turned on) and they make NO noise while not running. Mine turns on for a couple minutes a few times a day during hot days. A friend of mine has one that is a bit undersize, or right at the size limit, and the darn thing runs all day!

I would look into Tradewins chillers. Made in the USA (easy to get parts), relibale, and heavy duty. I would've got one, but I found my chiller for literally half price brand new and couldn't pass it up!

joelq · Mar 19, 2010

You mentioned you now have an air conditioner installed in your house. Depending on where you set your thermostat, you might be able to get away with just the fans in your canopy, and maybe add a fan down in your sump.

I live in the Dallas-area and have pretty hot summers. We leave our A/C thermostat at 80F during the day when no one's home, and my tank's water temp only gets up to 81.5F. This was back when I ran 2x250w MHs; I now run 6x54w T5s.

I also adjusted my photoperiod so the lights don't come on until 2pm. This helps a great deal, but it really just depends on what your house temperature gets up to during the day.

uchin · Mar 19, 2010

I use a teco chiller that runs a lot bc it says 100 in texas. Adding fans might help if you don't want to drop money on a chiller or use both like me. Down side to fan, more water evaporation. Keeping your tank temp steady will keep you livestock happy.

goody · Mar 19, 2010

joelq said:
You mentioned you now have an air conditioner installed in your house. Depending on where you set your thermostat, you might be able to get away with just the fans in your canopy, and maybe add a fan down in your sump.

I live in the Dallas-area and have pretty hot summers. We leave our A/C thermostat at 80F during the day when no one's home, and my tank's water temp only gets up to 81.5F. This was back when I ran 2x250w MHs; I now run 6x54w T5s.

I also adjusted my photoperiod so the lights don't come on until 2pm. This helps a great deal, but it really just depends on what your house temperature gets up to during the day.

See this is what I'm thinking. Last year at the end of summer, we were keeping our thermostat set at 68 degrees and we have a small house. Now I add the 4 fans, and I like the idea of a shorter photoperiod. Plus I now have 2 separate t5 on a different ballast. BUT, a chiller for around $300 is still a great precautionary investment.

Tankguy001 · Mar 19, 2010

I'm in the Vegas area where all summer long is hot. I've gotton away with the a/c at 77 and fans blowing across the water. This will be my fourth summer doing this and so far it has worked

litenyaup · Mar 19, 2010

one of the best investments i have made....

mfinn · Mar 20, 2010

Once you get a chiller you will pretty much stop worring constantly (on hot days) about the tank temp.
I had several tanks with mh lighting and hot pumps without having a chiller on them. It seemed like it was a constant battle everyday. Fans and more fans.
Now that I have a chiller (4 years) I still check the temp on the tank, but not very often.
I say get a good chiller with a controller.
But I like using a separate pump for my chiller. To me it's easier to get the correct flow to it and I don't have to worry about having a pump break down and loosing all flow to the display tank.

Troylee · Mar 20, 2010

Vegas here also 120 degree temps and no chiller either.. A single fan in the canopy and all is well... We have air conditioners out here so the temp inside my house never changes ... As long as the room temp never changes the tank won't from exp. It don't matter what time of year it is...

goody · Mar 20, 2010

Tankguy and troylee, what kind of lighting do you have? Are your tanks sps dominated? I wouldn't worry as much about the chiller if I was still lps and sofites, but I have a lot more sps.

lazyreefer · Mar 20, 2010

Great discussion, thats why I love R2R.....I'm tagging along.

Ike · Mar 20, 2010

As long as your temp isn't getting into the high 80's and higher there is no need for a chiller. I highly doubt it will be an issue now that you have AC and fans. Also, the notion that a stable temperature is important for the things we keep in our reefs has little basis. Natural reefs have regular and daramatic temperature shifts as well as day to night swings. There's even reason to believe that stable and constant temps could be harmful and make corals less resistant to small swings when something goes wrong and they do occur.

stedfast82 · Mar 20, 2010

one pump to run all of it is the way to go. return pump in and ball valve's. my chiller is at the end of the manifold just before it go's back into the reef .

very good chiller never had any problem's.