Question about plumbing a chiller (I know it's winter...)

crazynewbie

New member
Hi everyone!
I think this is my first ever post even though I have been reading these forums for about two years.

Last summer for about a month. my aquarium temp kept soaring to the 83 range while I was at work. I lost a few heads on one of my hammer corals and lost two acro frags. Lucky me, a younger employee at a LFS sold me a 1/4 HP Arctica chiller that looks new and seems to work fine for 200.00. This is an 800+ dollar chiller online. It is way oversized for my tank though. I have a 65 gallon tank and I have the largest sump I could put under it.

So for my question...

It would be extremely difficult to reroute my return through the chiller and I'd need to add a few 90 degree angles. I was wondering, could I put a pump under my filter socks (Eshopps R-200 sump..I think) and use braided tubing to make it out to the chiller? Then I would have the chiller return pump it back by the skimmer and return chamber.

I was thinking that way I would be processing more water from display tank. It seems it wouldn't work as well sucking and dumping into the same chamber of the sump.

My return is a Varios 4 dialed to 80%. The pump I have for chiller is a Varios 2. Chiller says minimum water flow should be 480.

I would love to hear your guys' thoughts.

Thanks,
Tony.
 
My sump....

My sump....

IMG_7750 2.jpeg

IMG_7749 2.jpeg
 
Any chance to run it direct before the tank?
What you have to remember is the chiller WILL put out a lot of heat into the room.
I have seen the run outside too.
 
what you are describing should work fine as long as it's not dumping so much into the skimmer chamber as to change the water level......I have my chiller pump in my last chamber/return and it dumps back in the return chamber.
The rational for the 480 gal through the chiller is..... if you put a small pump on the chiller, gunk can accumulate inside the chiller. manufacturers assume you don't want to be cleaning and flushing the chiller often so they recommend a strong pump.

remember if you are going to have the chiller hooked up year round that you at least cycle the chiller pump through the chiller once a day....I have mine on a timer to go on for 3 minutes everyday in the winter (if you let aquarium water sit in the chiller all winter or for a long time it will get really stinky/bad)
 
I have a few questions....
1 is the chiller right next to your sump?
2 are both chiller and sump under your tank?
3 if so ...is it a closed cabinet?


Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
If you take water out of the sump and return it to the sump, you will not process more water. This idea is fine. You will not want the chiller in the enclosed sump. They put off a ton of heat to the air. If you run s separate pump, you can install and remove the chiller for the summer months when needed. Just flush the salt water out when you put it away.
 
I have a few questions....
1 is the chiller right next to your sump?
2 are both chiller and sump under your tank?
3 if so ...is it a closed cabinet?


Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Chiller isn't installed yet. I have till May probably until the problems should begin again. I'm just planning ahead and everything is actually working so I needed something to tinker with LOL.

1. My tank is in the living room against a wall that is on the outside of the house (I believe this is why it gets so hot (North Phoenix, AZ).

2. I haven't got room for anything else under my tank. I have a large sump, an oversized (for my tank) skimmer, a reactor, 2 dosing pumps, huge light, and my Neptune apex. (a certain online store loves me lol). Plumbing direct on my return line would literally require me to splice in 2 90 degree elbows to route to skimmer, It seems I'm making this awfully complicated.

3. Cabinet has doors
 
Chiller isn't installed yet. I have till May probably until the problems should begin again. I'm just planning ahead and everything is actually working so I needed something to tinker with LOL.

1. My tank is in the living room against a wall that is on the outside of the house (I believe this is why it gets so hot (North Phoenix, AZ).

2. I haven't got room for anything else under my tank. I have a large sump, an oversized (for my tank) skimmer, a reactor, 2 dosing pumps, huge light, and my Neptune apex. (a certain online store loves me lol). Plumbing direct on my return line would literally require me to splice in 2 90 degree elbows to route to skimmer, It seems I'm making this awfully complicated.

3. Cabinet has doors

:fish1: Hi, I have an external chiller, that is plumbed outside the house, if your tank is on an external wall, maybe you could place your chiller outside the house, and plumb your lines thru your external wall, with your chiller pump still inside the house. I live in South Florida, so I needed to cover mine, due to the amount of rain, but since you live in Arizona you may not need the cover for the short amount of time you need to use it. :fish1:
 
:fish1: Hi, I have an external chiller, that is plumbed outside the house, if your tank is on an external wall, maybe you could place your chiller outside the house, and plumb your lines thru your external wall, with your chiller pump still inside the house. I live in South Florida, so I needed to cover mine, due to the amount of rain, but since you live in Arizona you may not need the cover for the short amount of time you need to use it. :fish1:

+1 that's a great idea...…


I actually have my chiller in my fireplace ( fireplace never been used for fire) when the chillers in use (summer) I open the flue ….heat goes out the chimney ...
 
Back
Top