Chiller Flow Rate???

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pezcubano

New member
My 75G reef has minor fluctuations in temp Mon-Fri, however on sunday the A/C can't be turned on and I will definitely have issues with temp. I run 2x250w MH and I'm thinking of adding a 3rd.

In order to get around the temp issue I'm guessing if I use a chiller, it will be on most of the day on sunday and VERY little the rest of the week. How should I go about choosing a chiller based on this awkward scenario? Is this bad for the chiller? Should I look to fix the issue with fans instead?

Thanks...
 
Pezcubano, I don't think there is anyway you are going to keep your tank cool enough with just fans on Sunday. I am in Sarasota and we keep our house around 77-78 degrees during the daytime, for the dogs, and without my chiller the tank would get to 83-84 degrees with fans in my canopy and blowing on my sump. I run a pair of 250 watt MH with 4-55 watt PCs. I don't think you would have a problem just turning the chiller off when you don't require it. The water would still flow thru, just not get chilled. The one thing you don't want to do is stop the flow of water thru the chiller without turning the chiller off. This would cause the chiller to freeze up. Good luck to you.
 
You shouldn't have to worry about shutting the chiller off at all. The temerature controller will take care of that. Unless, you just dont want the chiller to run except for on Sunday no matter what.
Just set the temperature to the highest point that you will allow or the highest point that the tank gets to during the week when the house is cool. That way it will run on Sunday only or atleast very little except for Sunday. You still need to size the chiller so that it can atleast keep up with the temperature on Sunday. You could possibly get away with sizing one size down from recommended although I would still buy the right size chiller if it were me. Atleast if the cost difference was not that great.
And no, running one day a week shouldnt be bad for the chiller.

Definitely try fans first. Sometimes they can make a surprising large difference.

Use this sizing calculator:

http://www.jbjlighting.com/prod_chiller_size.asp
 
Thanks for the tips...
ITs sunday and I'm testing the temperature over the course of the day.
I'll get back when I know more or less what sort of deviation I'm up against.
THanks
 
A timer for the chiller is not necessary. When the temp. gets to a specified, user set temperature, the chiller kicks on. If its only when the lighting is on that the tank reaches that temerature, then the chiller will only kick on during the time period when the lighting is on.
 
I don't have other lights in the canopy yet besides the MH so if I turn off the MH on sunday then I'm without light. I'm looking into some actinics to supplement the MH and become part of the sunrise/sunset settings.

I turned the MH on this morning and I'm going to go back tonight to see what the deviation in temperature is. Once I know the deviation I can start looking into the right chiller. I'm definitely going to take DarG's advice and go for the right size chiller (rather than downsize). Any particular brand preferences on chillers?
Thanks so much folks!!
 
The tank is in my office and the building I lease in doesn't run the A/C on sundays. I'm going to ask them about it tomorrow cause that would solve all my problems and also avoid me spending $400 -$500 on a chiller.
 
I turned my MHs on at 10 this morning and now at 7pm the temperature has gone from 79 to 88!!! This place is cooking!!!

I'm think I'm going to install a 4 fan unit as per Reef Sponger's thread, but nonetheless it seems like I'm going to have to get a chiller. I'm worried about relying on the fans alone. Am I being too paranoid?

I'm assuming the best way to set the fans is so that they blow while the MHs are on (put them on the same timer). The room temperature keeps the tank at 79, and I wouldn't want it going lower at night while the MH are off.

I used the " Size a chiller" on the JBJ sight, and I put the temperature of my tank at 88 and the desired temperature at 79. Its recommending a 1/4. Is this thing accurate, have you guys had good experiences with it?

Thanks
 
Yeah, that calculator is very good. And a 1/4 hp for a 75 that's hitting 88 degrees sounds right. You could probably get away with a 1/5 since it's only going to be running for a day, although it will run alot on that day. I would get the 1/4 if you can swing it.
 
Yeah, I think 1/4 is the way to go. I looked on the specs for the 1/4 and it says the flow rate is 480gph and that its capacity is for a 260G tank. I'm guessing that 480gph is the max flow rate I should put through it. I'm thinking of only putting around 250gph through it. Is this ok? I was reading other threads where people recommended slow flow rates through chillers for maximum chilling.

I'm going to take my Eheim 1262 (pumps 900gph) and from my sump run 250gph to the chiller and 650gph to the display tank. Sound good?
Thanks
 
Chillers usually have a range of flow rates. I have run different pumps with a couple of different chillers through the years, all the pumps within the flow ranges of the chillers. Not as a test, just usual pump changes for various reasons. It never seemed to make a difference. There are two ways to look at it. The slower the flow, the cooler the water coming out of teh chiller but the slower you turn the tank over through the chiller. Faster flow and the water leaving the chiller isnt as cool but you cycle more water through the chiller within a given timer period. Slower than the minimum recommended flow rate is not better in my experience. Neither is faster. Just stay within the range. If it says 480 GPH and that is the only number given, I'd gues that is probably the center of the range. 250 - 700 would probably be fine. 250 GPH for a 75 gallon tank should turn the the water over fast enough for efficent cooling. My 1/3 recommends 12 - 22 GPM, a pretty wide range. I'm pumping about 14.5 GPM through it (about 870 or 880 GPH), closer to the bottom of the range. But different manufaturers have different flow rates depending on how their units cool.

Bottom line, I think you will be fine.
 
I'm going to try contacting JBJ directly to get their take on the 480gph and whether 250gph will do fine. I agree with you DarG that the flow should be enough... I've read enough threads and gotten enough feedback to make it seem like 250gph should cut it.

I'm a pretty paranoid guy, especially when it comes to the tank, so I'm going to give JBJ the call just to make sure!!!

I'll let you know what I find out.
 
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