Aquarium Chillers

[rdarlington]

Do any of you have experience with aquarium chillers? I'm looking for something with a mechanical thermostat (turn a knob, etc) or preferably no thermostat at all. My move of the 50 gallon saltwater tank went pretty okay. The only problem was the impeller on my 4000HH pump sheared or fatigued to failure and had to be replaced. The new apartment is excessively hot and 87F is just WAY too hot for my critters. I need to get a chiller ASAP but want to make sure I don't buy junk and then be forced to buy a second one.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. To clarify, I'm looking for something that I can control externally with a process controller. Either via a DC switch or via switching AC to the unit.

-Bob

 

[rdarlington]

BTW, that's 87F *water* temperature, not air temperature. The air in here is around 70F

 

[Dangerous Ace]

Bob,

Have you tried a small fan yet. When I put my halides on the temp in my 75 went above 86. I went to walmart and bought a little $10 desk fan. It just clips to the back of my tank and blows across the surface of the water. That brought the temp down to a pretty constant 78 in the winter and 80 in the summer. The only drawback is more evaporation. It evaporates about 3 gallons of water a day. It might be worth an experiment to save a ton of $ on a chiller. Let me know how it works out.

Brian