How Do Chillers Work?

M

mermaiddreams

Premium Member
Just a question about chillers. I have a brand new 90 gallon tank which has been set up for 2 weeks. I'm currently curing 135 lbs of live rock, so I haven't been using my T5 lighting yet. My tanks temperature is running between 80 and 82 degrees. With the heat of summer upon us and the fact that I'll be using my lights soon - I'm worried about the tank warming up even more. What do you experts recommend? The tank is not in any direct sunlight and we keep our A/C around 80 degrees or so. I really don't want a $500 electric bill trying to keep the room temp in our house much lower. Is there a certain brand of chiller that works better than others? Where do most people put theirs? Is it safe to purchase a used one? I have a 30 gallon sump/refuge underneath that I have to work with. Thanks in advance for your help! Candace
 
Candace,

Chillers are refrigerators.. the water flows through them, they cool the water and it exits out to the tank using coolants for the most part, almost exactly how your AC operates though instead of cooling the air flowing through them, its water.

Now many people can get away without having them. If you keep your house at close to your tank temp, then if you use fans effectively you can keep your tank cool by encouraging evaporation. The more your tank evaporates, the cooler it will be. This is done by placing fans on the top of the tank and/or down in the sump and blowing air across the surface.

Some things you can do to help is to have an open top tank, meaning no canopy and keeping your lights as far off the surface as possible. You can also use pumps in the sump that do not put heat back into the system. MAG pumps are famous for adding heat to the tanks.

Mine is under my main tank and plumbed into the system. Some people have them outside of the stand on the side of the tank, others keep them hidden elsewhere.

It is safe to purchase a used one, but like anything you purchase used, be sure you get one that is in good operating condition and that is properly sized for your tank. With chillers I believe in over-sizing slightly, this helps them run a bit more efficiently and reduces the running time on them.
 
Dave,

Thanks for the information. I like your idea of using fans to increase the evaporation. That will be easiest thing to do, and I think I have room for a fan or two under the canopy. I really only need to drop the temp 2 or 3 degrees - so we'll start there. If the heat continues to be a problem I can always move to Plan B! Thanks again for your expertise! Candace
 
keeping your house at 80 for a/c in my opinion is pushing the border line for fans to be effective as 80 is already close to high end for corals to survive. And that is not even your lights or pumps turned on
 
I agree with Pampee, if you're keeping your house at 80, in addition to all pumps and lights running, the fans won't do you any good. Getting a chiller will drain your electricity and release hot air which in turn will cause your a/c to work more. The chiller I had increased the temp of my entire house, and caused the a/c to be constantly on. The easiest way and cheapest is to decease your house temp to at least 76 and add a lot of fans. Good luck.
 
also depending how big the room is the humidity from the new tank can be unbearable. this past weekend my a/c went out i put a window unit in the main bedroom. once the a/c was fixed i decided to keep the window unit to keep humidity down
 
@kuyatwo wrote:
also depending how big the room is the humidity from the new tank can be unbearable. this past weekend my a/c went out i put a window unit in the main bedroom. once the a/c was fixed i decided to keep the window unit to keep humidity down said:
Yep I have a window a/c in my fish room. My tanks stay at 79-80 with house a/c set between 76-78
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@MermaidDreams wrote:
Dave said:
In my experience, having the tank up to 82 degrees in the summer will not have adverse affects. Your water quality, feeding, habitation, etc. will be much more important.

I keep my house at 80, with 3 12V computer fans blowing into the canopy when my T5 lights are on (plugged into the timer). Believe it or not, my tank actually drops about a degree WITH the lights on. Nightly tank temperature is around 79-80, day temperature about 78-79. I keep the house constantly at 80 degrees.

Two things. Evaporation has been mentioned. You will go through MUCH more topoff water (get an automated system if you don't have one already) with the extra fans, but considering the price of a chiller and electricity to run it, the fans are your best option. My cost was less than $20.

Second, your choice of pumps may have a significant effect on your tank temp. My temperature went down about 3 degrees when I switched from a Mag 7 to a QuietOne 4000. For me, it runs quieter, puts less heat into the tank, and it's also much more efficient with electricity.

Peter...
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Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond to my question.

I have gone ahead and put regular mecury type thermometers in both the 90 gal display tank and the 30 gal sump. The temp of the display tank reads 76-78 degrees, and the sump reads 80-82 degrees. I'm somewhat surprised about the difference between the two? My sump/refug has 3 partitions (Octopus protein skimmer on the left, Quiet One 3000 return pump in the middle and the last partition on the right has just live sand in it for now). The temp I was measuring in the sump was the empty section - the one without any pumps that put off heat, and receives a small amount of water from the overflow that has been "T'd" off prior to going into the bubble trap and subsequently the protein skimmer. I have not been using the T5 lights yet as I'm only 19 days into curing my live rock.

So - does it look to you that I indeed have a temperature problem? Do you guys use digital thermometers? Where is the best place to measure - sump, display, both? What is the best brand of digital thermometer and who sells them?

Thanks for your help - have a great weekend....
 
Honestly, there are very few things in this hobby that are absolute (i.e. Ammonia in any quantity). Otherwise, it is what works in certain setups, and the best way to learn about different strategies is to read the forums, talk to people, and visit with them whenever you have a chance. After a while, you'll find out that some people are full of knowledge and experience, and others are just full of it. :)

Look up members in your area and see if you can stop by for 20-30 minutes to check out their setup. I've done that in McKinney, and I always come away with an idea or two.

You're welcome to stop by and see what I've put together if you're ever in my area.

Peter...
 
Thanks Peter for your continued advice and encouragement. There are a few members that live in my area and I'm sure they'd let me stop by to take a look at their tanks. If I'm ever in your area - I'll give you a call! Candace
 
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