How much do I need!!??

[tlandrum]

800g tank, 1000 total water.

I am planning on DIY LED lights... and the webpage says I will need about 425 LED's which is about 9A

I think the JBJ chillers appear to be the best from what most say... but according to their info a 3HP chiller will questionable be enough for this tank.

I am in Oklahoma, so it gets pretty hot in the summer. I am planning on a heat/air exchanger for the tank room.

My questions: do I really nee that much light and chilling?!!?

The lights I think is pretty close, but the chiller?!?!!?

 

[anbosu]

Do you have air conditioning? If so with LEDs you shouldn't need a chiller.

 

[tlandrum]

Do you have air conditioning? If so with LEDs you shouldn't need a chiller.

I am still building the building... but as of now no... I didn't want to get the salt through all of the building. I know it will get hot in that room during the summer....Oklahoma will for sure hit 100 in July, but then it gets back down into the 70's at night.

So I will for sure need some kind of chiller... but do I really need a 3HP chiller (as JBJ states for 800 gallon tank)?!?

I will say I have a heat exchanger (where fresh air is passed past exiting air so the fresh air is not as hot as it is outside.)

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Yes you will need a huge amount or LEDs for a tank tank large especially if you plan to keep sps. Yu ou shoukd not need a chiller with LEDs. I live in AZ and it get 120°f in the summer and I have never needed a chiller on my reef tank even using MH lighting. A fan over the sump ran by a controller was all I ever needed along AC my temps never went over 80°f and stay about 78° most of the time. Heater believe it or not was a must though, aslo on controller.

 

[Dmorty217]

You should put a AC unit in the building and avoid the chiller all together. It won't be very enjoyable standing in a building that doesn't have AC when its 100 outside while trying to look at your large, beautiful tank. I run 1125w worth of LEDs on my tank and there is no need for extra cooling in the summer. My tank is in the basement so obviously that helps but I could double the wattage and still not need to worry about the LEDs heating up the tank.

 

[tlandrum]

The rest of the building will have AC... just this one room (the tank filter room) will not. I didn't want salty air into the AC of the building, and figure a chiller will take care of the water, and I will not be in the room very much, and can just leave the door open with a fan.
So I am sure in the summer I will need some cooling... the tank will have AC on 3 sides, but I don't think it will be enough to keep it cool when it is 100 in the room... even with LEDs.... the question is how much?!!?
I am leaning towards a JBJ 1HP 220 unit?!?! But it says it is only for 260g tanks... but the 3HP seem WAY overkill (the 1HP I am pretty sure is over kill).

 

[Dmorty217]

Is the room in the middle of the building? A 3hp chiller is definitely way overkill on a 260g. Also what temperature are you trying to keep the tank in the summer?

 

[tlandrum]

Yes, the tank and tank room are in the middle of a building.

As for the temp... shooting for 78. (any corrections on that?!?!?)

As for where I got those numbers... here is the info JBJ publishes on their webpage:

JBJ 1 HP 230V Commercial Arctica Titanium Chiller
Recommended aquarium size: 250 gal.
BTU: 12,000 BTU/h
Amps: 5.5
Flow Rate: 636 - 954 gph


JBJ 3 HP 230V Commercial Arctica Titanium Chiller
Recommended aquarium size: 800 gal.
BTU: 36,000 BTU/h
Amps: 16
Flow Rate: 1920 - 2880 gph

My tank is 800 gal (200 gal refug)... but there is no way I would need a 3HP chiller if I had my tank in the open of south Texas?!?! am I right?!!?

 

[Dmorty217]

The idea with the 3hp recommendation by JBJ is they don't want the chiller to constantly cycle on and off (or run nonstop) and neither do you really. If I were you I would setup the system and see where the temperature is holding at during the day and the same goes for at night. Another issue I see with the 1hp chiller after your last post is it will barely handle the system volume per hr (via flow rates) and will literally run nonstop.

 

[anbosu]

If you don't want to run A/C in that room, could you leave the doors open and have an exhaust fan constantly blowing air outside so you're drawing in cool air from the other parts of the building? You might be able to avoid a chiller entirely if you do that.

 

[tlandrum]

If you don't want to run A/C in that room, could you leave the doors open and have an exhaust fan constantly blowing air outside so you're drawing in cool air from the other parts of the building? You might be able to avoid a chiller entirely if you do that.

Blowing out all that cold air will cost more than the chiller!!!