Water chiller advice
- Thread starter Germ42
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First off, 80 isn't too hot.
But if you want help, you're going to have to include a lot more details. You say you got a water chiller without giving us any specs. We don't know what kind it is, size, brand or anything. Or what size the tank it is hooked up to.
But if you want help, you're going to have to include a lot more details. You say you got a water chiller without giving us any specs. We don't know what kind it is, size, brand or anything. Or what size the tank it is hooked up to.
Brett H whitt
Community Member
I run my chiller on my Apex and use the Apex Temperature gauge to control the chiller.
I set the chiller to 77 and have the apex cut it on at 79.4 and of at 78.7
Works great for me. Most chiller thermostats are off a few degrees.
So I would keep an eye on the unit to make sure it does not cool the tank down too much.
They also have a max flow rate that is best followed in my opinion.
I set the chiller to 77 and have the apex cut it on at 79.4 and of at 78.7
Works great for me. Most chiller thermostats are off a few degrees.
So I would keep an eye on the unit to make sure it does not cool the tank down too much.
They also have a max flow rate that is best followed in my opinion.
My advice would be to not bother with a chiller unless you're seeing the mid 80's or higher fairly regularly and sustained. Now that you have one, I would say don't bother having it turn on unless your tanks get above the mid 80's... 
No tank problems at all (knock on wood lol) but I'm adding another Hydra 52 on top of the two 26s in the tank and if 79.4 is the lowest I can get I'd rather not risk running hotter! (especially because I can't raise my lights anymore than 6 inches above water level because of my canopy) And yeah but thankfully this one isn't putting off any more than my dehumidifier and my House a/c can knock some heat out! The ac can drop the house temp from 76 to 70 in less than an hour! So heat that is expelled can be handled here and quite efficiently.
Thanks again for all input, I would much rather make sure a problem is handled before running into it!
Brett H whitt
Community Member
looks good,
I would make sure you have 10 to 12 inches of free space behind and a few inches on the side of the chiller, they can put out a lot of heat when they are running
I would make sure you have 10 to 12 inches of free space behind and a few inches on the side of the chiller, they can put out a lot of heat when they are running
Idk everyone's tank I see runs 78 max and I've done a little bit of googling and from what I've seen coral grow the best and fish are the least stressed at these temperatures so that's the reason I was shooting for that range. Honestly I just saw my Tank hit 86 before I double the lighting I'd like to make sure all bases are covered lol. I absolutely hate losing fish, it kills me inside I'm always thinking what I could have done better, so I'm trying to be ahead of the ball vs behind!
Mine bounces around between 77 and 83 regularly, and I prefer it that way. This whole reef tanks should be run below 80 and have a stable temp is very old thinking and totally unfounded. If it wasn't more expensive to maintain I would choose 82-83 as my regular daytime temp. Reefs with some of the most abundant coral growth are routinely above 80 and experience swings throughout the day and the minute for that matter.
Also, there's absolutely no reason to think that higher temps or temp swings can get a marine fish sick. That thinking comes from the freshwater side of the hobby and does not translate to the marine environment.
