chillers?

[harleychic]

Okay, so I'm not a noob, (have had reefs for years), but I have done it the most low tech way possible. DIY is a dirty word to me.
My questions are, how do chillers actually work, and does it go IN the tank, or a fuge, or sit outside or what?

 

[pillpusher]

It depends on what kind of chiller you use. If it is flow through, a pump is used to circulate water through a heat exchanger (usually titanium or SS). These have worked the best for me. There is the dropin kind where you just drop a cooling coil in the sump.
The answer to the question is they do work. I sell a chiller to 80% of the customs that I set up. If you want ultimate control use one with a heater controller built in.

 

[harleychic]

Thanks pillpusher, I do not plan on using a sump or fuge on my next tank. Does a flow through sit outside of the tank? Sorry for sounding like an idiot (kind of amazing I can understand reef chemistry, but the mechanics of this hobby baffle me)

 

[crvz]

Yes, the flow through sits outside the tank. I usually just use fans to keep my tank cool, though. Evaporation cooling can do great things.

 

[harleychic]

thanks for the replies! I thought about trying a fan. This would be a 55g with MHs. It would be in a relatively cool basement, but so is my 3g with 36w PCs, and it gets hot!

 

[crvz]

on a 55gallon, a chiller seems even more like overkill. I'd definitely try a couple cheap fans before shelling out the funds for the chiller.

 

[harleychic]

cool! Thanks

 

[NirvanaFan]

how hot does your current tank get?

 

[harleychic]

pushes 86 degrees sometimes

 

[IslandCrow]

I have a chiller on my 46g, and I'd definitely do it again. Of course, for me, I keep my house fairly warm, and when I'm out of town (which I am a lot), it's much cheaper to cool my tank rather than my entire house. That said, you can certainly do it without a sump. I think in-line chillers are definitely the way to go, and I definitely wouldn't use a drop-in style cooling coil in your display tank. Of course, I'd be hesitant to use one at all. They're generally not very efficient. For an in-line chiller, you need something to pump tank water through the chiller and back to your tank, though. What I would suggest is a closed loop. What you won't like is that the words closed loop and DIY go hand in hand. If you're now asking, "what is a closed loop", take a look here for the general concept: http://www.melevsreef.com/closedloop.html

 

[NirvanaFan]

I'd get a fan and get that blowing across the surface of the tank. I use an old computer fan rigged up to an old cell phone charger on the sump. If the day is really hot, and the tank gets up to 85, I'll turn the 7" fan from Wal-Mart that cost me $8 on the display. The temperature could be 85 degrees inside, and the tank will cool back down to 83ish, which is perfectly fine for a tropical reef.

Before you get a chiller, I would try using a fan to increase evaporation. It is a double-edged sword though. You want to make sure that your specific gravity doesn't swing too much. I top off my 75 gallon once every 3 or 4 days, and everything is growing like crazy. I'd top off a 3g every day.