Chillers: Good, Bad or Ugly??

Whipitup

Whipitup

Member
Just some rambling thoughts........

Firstly, Ugly......yes, very (At least we will all probably agree on that one!!!)

Now, Good, or Bad......We all know that high tank temperatures are bad, so a chiller seems like a good idea. We all know the rapid changes in tank temperature is also bad, so after what I saw maybe chillers are not such a good idea after all??

I was round a mates house during the last bout of warm weather and his chiller kicked in while I was there, it dropped his tank temperature by 1 degree in about a minute. He said (from what I recall) that it kicked in every 20 minutes or so therefore his tank temperature was going up and down 1 degree every 20 minutes.

Is this better or worse then say your tank rising (for arguments sake) to 28 degrees while the lights are on (10 hours) and then dropping to 26 degrees during the light off period (about 14 hours)?

Comments??
 
Nowellsy SNR

Nowellsy SNR

Active Member
Agree with the UGLY but im sick off my temp going up and down i have no control over it what so ever tried everything! So when i can afford im buying a chiller, i thought there meant to just stay at the same temp no matter the weather?
 
Whipitup

Whipitup

Member
No, they aint that accurate apparently.

+ or - 1 degree variation, so back to my original question, which is better for your tank??
 
speirsy81

speirsy81

New Member
Thought i would share a couple of thoughts on the subject, having a chiller is a definate requirement living where i am (North Queensland,Australia), both myself and the LFS owner have chillers hooked up on our RSM 130's. Ohterwise everything would turn to goo lol.

Your absolutly correct on the temp changes but only varies maybe 1 or 2 degrees celcius and have never found it to be a problem, both of us have a many types of fish,corals,inverts etc..including clams,nems,etc, etc, you get the idea and have no probs at all. Remember most only chill, their not going to keep going until the tank is an ice-cube but if the outside temp drops alot at night you need the heater or get a chiller that heats and chills, expensive though. I found the just chill version to be fine.

We also found if its warm-hot climate all year-round like us, you may need to place the chiller outside of the cabinet, sucks i know but it just got too hot in there. Unless maybe you could make some mini-extractor fans? But that may weaken the structal integrity of the stand/cabinet, I was too scared to try! Just stick a big potted plant in front of it!

Overall though a sound investment if really needed, if your hot weather only lasts say 3 months max, might be cheaper just to use air-con in the house?:dunno: I'm sure other people have better idea's?

But my chiller helps me sleep at night!
 
bodyguard295

bodyguard295

Member
The chiller I have also has a plug on the side for the heater to be plugged into. This is so if the temp drops below the set temp on the chiller, the chiller will switch on the heater until the temp rises. I find this more useful. I just unplugged my heater from the power on the side and plugged it in the chiller. It's as if they are synced. This kind of chiller does not have the built in heater but just the plug for a heater that kicks in when the temp drops. This kind of chiller costs less then one with a built in heater!
 
V

VP Clown

Member
Hi

I just fitted a Teca Micro conditioner, it is a peltier type, probably a little on the small side but seems to be chilling/heating within a °C. got it off Ebay unused for £70.00
A lot of lads in the uk went for the geo oceanic i think it is called its also a peltier one, Night fox has one i think.
When it was hot a couple of weeks ago it worked great, didn't evaporate as much either sothats another plus
HTH
Andy
 
R

RaysReef

Has been struck by the ban stick
After the chiller does it work in about 20 minutes, it takes hours for the tank temp to rise 1 degree again (depends on room temp in my experience).

I like the D-D / Hailea range because they are cheap and not as ugly as some others.

Get a chiller whipitup! My tank temp is always between 25 and 26.
 
bodyguard295

bodyguard295

Member
Also, if you get a chiller a little larger than what you need, the chiller won't have to work as hard or stay on as long! A larger chiller can cool a larger amount of water in a shorter period of time. This will save on electricity.
 
B

brucewrs

Member
I think mine looks cool.....Matches the tank..
chilleruv.jpg
 
alphasierra

alphasierra

Member
bodyguard295 said:
Also, if you get a chiller a little larger than what you need, the chiller won't have to work as hard or stay on as long! A larger chiller can cool a larger amount of water in a shorter period of time. This will save on electricity.
Click to expand...

I agree. Get at least 1/10HP. Mine struggles and it is 1/15HP however it is a little warmer here in HKG than in the UK.

Have a look at this :eek: ... haha. I'd love to get one... maybe for the new tank.

It's a heater and chiller combined. Fits nicely in the cabinet! Excellent product but $$$$ :eek:
DSC_0309.jpg
 
Whipitup

Whipitup

Member
The point I'm trying to make is from what I've seen of chillers is they allow your temp to fluctuate aver at least a degree every 20 minutes (the chiller will drop our temp by 1 degree in about a minute and the ambient temp will make it climb one degree in 20 minutes and then the cycle repeats))..........but, is that better or worse than your tank being at 28 or 29 while the lights are on, and cooling to say 26 while they are off?

Roger
 
TonyV

TonyV

Member
I purchased a chiller and hooked it up and it sits nicely under my RSM cabinet. It get's quite hot where I live and now I have a sense of security with my tank. The nice thing about my chiller is that it controls the heater so they don't fight each other.
 
mbdave

mbdave

Active Member
IMHO Its better to have the chilller and not risk unusually hot day where the temp will rise way out of proportion (86+). A properly sized chiller is the way to go if you get one too small you risk it running constantly and not bringing the temp to the desired level, to large and you have a very rapid drop when it comes on. I have a 1/10 Oceanic and it runs little and does not change the temp to quickly. It has a range of 3f. and keeps my tank between 79 and 81. The 79 being early morning and the heat of the day being 80-81, at 81 is when the compressor kicks on so it is never at that temp very long.
 
JeepersReefers

JeepersReefers

Member
Ugly, a little noisy, but for me its a must. I run a 1/3hp and its the only way i can keep my tank around 80(26c). In the past i tried fans on the sump, shunting down non critical equipment during the hottest parts of the day and it would still get to 84(29c)+.
The larger chillers draw a fair amount of power so keep an eye on the total power usage for the tank if its on one circuit. To be on the safe side i have my chiller powered by the kitchen and the rest of the tank on the living room breaker.
 
Whipitup

Whipitup

Member
RIGHT...................forget what I've posted.

I've just had a chat with my mate and it seems the dozy bugger had the inlet and the outlet to the chiller in the last chamber of his sump, so the reason the chiller was working so "well" was it only had about 20 litres to cool down.

Jeeeeeeeez!!!

:help1: :help1: :help1:
 
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