Tankless Electric water heater for reef temp management

[k2-]

Hi All,
Has anyone tried using a tankless water heater (Just like a chiller would work) for tank temp management with low set point?

Any thoughts please.

 

[Rubblereefer]

I think TSA or Tidal Gardens maybe used some industrial heater like that for thier system, I think I remember seeing something like that on a youtube video. My first thought would be does it leach copper etc into the water column. It could also cook the tank pretty quickly if somehing went wrong, but I guess as long as you had it hooked into a controller that could be mitigated.

 

[Mschmidt]

As rubblereefer said, I'd be concerned about copper leaching. If everything can be made from titanium then you'd be ok. My understanding is that is used in chillers. Might be overkill unless your system is huge.

 

[KStatefan]

You would want the water in the tankless unit seperate from the tank water with a titanium heat exchange. Aqualogic makes systems how big of system do you have?

 

[k2-]

My system is about 220 gallon (sump + refugium + 2 tanks) - I am concerned about upcoming winter and my temperature is constantly swinging between summer and winter.

My thoughts are -

1) Use some kind of water heater (like chiller)
2) Use centralized heating/cooling for my fish room (a single car garage)

I am in so-cal so it does get decently cold but no where close to other parts of the world.

 

[All_talk]

What's the down side to typical style aquarium heaters?

 

[mtraylor]

I have 255 with 100 gallon sump and use 2 300watt heaters in sump. No issues

 

[BCSreef]

I have a 320-gallon system and use a 300 Watt primary and a 500 Watt secondary (hardly ever comes on) and temperature is rock solid at 78.5.

 

[exnisstech]

I ran a 150g and 180g plumbed to a shared 125 gallon sump with an inkbird controller and two 300 Watt heaters with no issues. Still running the 180g and sump. The house only stays at 68-70 degrees in the winter. Unless your just really bored and need a project I don't see why would bother

 

[k2-]

Got it . What i am getting is that with a single tank heater + chiller combination is good enough for temperature control. Thank you.

My use case perhaps requires a different discussion - I have another thread going on here :

Fish Room - HVAC/Mini Split ?

Hi Guys, I have a fresh + Reef system in my garage (approximately 200 sq ft) and almost 8-10 tanks (total of 700G + fresh and salt systems - approx 50/50). Temperature control has been a problem of mine as even though in So Cal - coastal can see plenty of temperature swing (even though garage...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[exnisstech]

Got it . What i am getting is that with a single tank heater + chiller combination is good enough for temperature control. Thank you.

My use case perhaps requires a different discussion - I have another thread going on here :

Fish Room - HVAC/Mini Split ?

Hi Guys, I have a fresh + Reef system in my garage (approximately 200 sq ft) and almost 8-10 tanks (total of 700G + fresh and salt systems - approx 50/50). Temperature control has been a problem of mine as even though in So Cal - coastal can see plenty of temperature swing (even though garage...

www.reef2reef.com

Makes more sense now. I thought it was a total of only 220g. Sorry I can't offer any help. I'm not much of an hvac guy

 

[k2-]

@exnisstech Thanks alot your feedback had been valuable. I am trying to make educated decision as my reef sometimes have 8 degree temp fluctuation - corals have been nothing but nice to me by not dying all out just suffering, So just considering all design patterns without wasting too much of energy.

 

[BZOFIQ]

You'll need to circulate water through tankless loop and circulate SW through a Ti heat exchanger on the tank loop.

People with large system used to do same with tanked type water heaters for eons.

Ti heat exchanger is key to this whole conversation. Some people also do crazy long pex loops through sump but that not as efficient.

 

[Joe's Coral Reef]

A couple of solenoid ball valves and a titanium heater exchanger you could tie it into your existing home water tank heater.

 

[BZOFIQ]

A couple of solenoid ball valves and a titanium heater exchanger you could tie it into your existing home water tank heater.

Yup

 

[k2-]

This sounds like a great idea.

A couple of solenoid ball valves and a titanium heater exchanger you could tie it into your existing home water tank heater.

 

[Crustaceon]

My system is about 220 gallon (sump + refugium + 2 tanks) - I am concerned about upcoming winter and my temperature is constantly swinging between summer and winter.

My thoughts are -

1) Use some kind of water heater (like chiller)
2) Use centralized heating/cooling for my fish room (a single car garage)

I am in so-cal so it does get decently cold but no where close to other parts of the world.

I'm in San Diego, have a 200 gallon acro-dominant system and my tank runs at 76 degrees in the winter. I use two 600w BRS titanium heaters on an inkbird controller and actually choose to run that lower temperature to save power. During summer, my tank naturally runs as high as 86 degrees. Everything grows fine and is perfectly healthy, summer or winter. Don't worry about seasonal temp swings, lol. Tank temp doesn't have to be an exact number and we have quite a bit of wiggle room even on a day to day basis.

 

[k2-]

Thanks a lot. This was one of my biggest concern (almost similar weather).with my fan the temperature. Ever goes more than 83 and never lower than 75. Heaters keep it above that point. I don’t want to invest in solving something that is not a problem but somehow YouTube makes you think 2 degree will kill everything.