Chiller rec's for 55 SPS

[Elorian]

Wanted to get everyone's opinions on a good chiller for my 55 SPS dominant reef. I'm running T5's, but the tank is pretty well covered and a recent temp spike may have deep sixed one of my acan frags. Wish I'd caught that earlier .

I've been looking in the 1/10 HP range and thought the Arctica Titanium looked pretty decent, but wanted to see what people thought of that and if anyone had other recommendations. I'd like to stay under $450 if possible. Any advice is much appreciated!

 

[Elorian]

Bump

 

[kretzkiller]

What temp did it spike to? t5's shouldn't heat the water. Isn't it funny that we think it's necessary to spend $450 to protect something worth a small fraction of that?

 

[Elorian]

It was off the top end of my stick on thermometer which goes up to 84 (not good...). Probably should have shot a temp with my tds/temp meter, but I didn't think about it.

I've got the T5's sitting right on the tank, with acrylic sheets covering the tank (under the fixture, instead of glass). I like the setup and don't want to elevate the fixture for aesthetic reasons (not to mention PAR loss), so I'm going to have to use a chiller.

So, anyone have feedback on the artica, or others? I'm definitely looking for opinions from people who have used the different units- build quality, value, effectiveness etc. C'mon, brag about your chiller (or rant if you can't stand it...)!

Thanks!

 

[kretzkiller]

what fixture do you have?

 

[Elorian]

Its a Current Nova Extreme SLR 4x54W (not the pro, but with reflectors for each lamp). Had to mod the fixture to cure extreme fan noise- ended up adding another fan and cutting the original fan exhaust hole pattern out with a hole saw to increase flow; replaced the orig w/ two rat shack fans Keeps the top of the fixture reasonably cool (won't burn your hand), but the tank is heating up. Inexpensive fixture that seems to put out a lot of light, but a major pain in the backside to get the fan issues fixed.

 

[Skinnysloth]

I bought my 1/3 HP Current Prime modular (single stage ranco controller, refurb) off ebay from currentusa for $350 shipped. It's used to cool down my 80g DT + 40g sump. Thankfully it hasn't gotten that hot here for it to kick in, so I cannot comment on the performance, but the unit looked brand new.

 

[Toddrtrex]

In the meantime, so you have a sump? And if so have you tried putting any clip on fans over it? Will be surprised at how much that will bring the temps down.

My 58 has 2*250 MH + 2*96 PC, and two clip on fans keep my temps b/t 78 & 83. The light fixture sits right on top of the tank.

 

[Elorian]

Unfortunately, no, the tank is sumpless- I'd thought about going the fan route, but without a good expanse of open water to blow across I think it would be insufficient for my needs. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Well, just get yourself a sump.


One thing to remember about chillers, is that they produce heat, so account for that -- make sure it is in a well ventilated area.

 

[Elorian]

Wish I could, but space constraints and spilled water from siphon breaks on a previous non-drilled tank w/overflow and sump make that unfeasible at this point .

This is definitely the last tank I'll have that isn't drilled .

 

[Henry Bowman]

Prime Chillers are decent. I have had 2 of them in the last 10 years. Sold the first one to a friend and it is still running. I have a 1/3 hp on a tank with 120gl total volume. It cycles on and off over the summer in the heat of the afternoon about 10-15 minutes at a time.

You definitely DONT want to undersize and have the thing running all day. (Keep my house at about 78 during the summer but the room the tank is in gets warmer)

HTH

 

[Elorian]

Thanks for the info- I'll take a good look at Prime as well.