Who uses what chiller locally?

mpoletti

mpoletti

You'll never walk alone
Premium Member
I am in the market for a chiller for my 90 gal. I like the tradewind, but the in/out is on the wrong side. I have to place my chiller to the right of my tank. I have a JBJ 1/5 on hold @ aquarium concepts in dublin until sunday. They did not have the 1/4hp.

What kind of chiller do you use and what are your likes/dislikes?

Thanks
 
For SPS, I think its a mandatory piece of equipment. A lot of people don't have them and rely on fans and what not, but when paying $100 an inch for a piece of LE.......a chiller is money well spent.

I was lucky enough to have a buddy in SF that bought a tank that already had one. When I visited the next time and it was in the closet, it came home with me.......Its a cheap Via Aqua Polar Bear, but has been flawless. http://www.saltwatersolution.com/store/cart.php?target=product&product_id=17107

I would not go with a drop in and go with an inline unit.......more efficient IMO.

I would get the biggest you can afford, just in case of the dreaded tank upgrade, but more importantly a larger one will have more cooling capacity and will cool the water down faster allowing you to hold the temp at near stable, but additionaly not have it running all day just to keep up.......in the long run, should last much longer than a smaller one due to wear and tear.

Make sure its compatible with a controller if you ever want one or have one.

I was considering one of theseCurrent Prime inline towers:http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_chillers_current_usa_prime_inline_drop-in.asp?CartId= for the nex tank, but thats a long way off...........maybe?

I like that its modular and can be upgraded and has the integral heater also.
 
Doug- I couldn't agree more. I am at that breaking point and I know that this day was going to come and as I was doing some spring yard work, I said, "I still need to get my chiller". I think I am going to pass on the 1/5 hp and go with a 1/4. Its less than 100 bucks difference.

The only problem is my upgrade, when it comes, will be to a 220.

But like so many of us, my wife has the final decision in regards to what looks "cool". No matter what, its going to be in the front living room.
 
Mine is in the same spot, tucked against the wall. It can be a little noisy. But think of it this way, if its under display with the sump, that heat that is being blown out the exhaust that just was pulled from the water could heat up the air under the cabinet and be sucked right back in the water causing a huge inefficiency.

I have some water bottles occasionaly 2-3 feet in front of it and they get very warm when the chiller is running.

I know your pain, I want the next tank plumbed with all the mechanicals in another room or create a little dust free, insulated "closet" in the garage.

After a chiller, all you will worry about is power outages.....and that can be solved by a Honda generator very easily.
 
Chillers? We don't need no stinkin' chillers... ;)

BUT...If you are interested in buying a chiller, I have a couple I can sale. They were part of a massive equipment buy that I did awhile back for my Project. These came with it but I changed course and they are too small for my needs.

I have a 1/4 HP Coralife still in the box, and I have another 1/2hp Coralife, used literally for 2 weeks last summer. So, get the 1/2 hp and you are covered for your future upgrade too!
 
I already have one of those from my jeeping days...

Which model are you looking at? I like the idea of heater and UV upgrades all in one. Teco also makes one like that. I just don't know anyone that runs a chiller. I know one person who runs a JBJ and then John runs a tradewind. I just am not comfortable pulling the tigger...yet.
 
Nooooo, Mike don't sell my 1/4 hp... ;)
I haven't done enough work for you yet to work it off.

Although with the past 2 days heat I may need to straight up purchase that off you soon!!!

The tank was at 84 today, and it's not even in the heat of summer yet.
 
Out of respect for Mark, please PM me - I was not trying to hijack the thread or anything, just letting Mark know I have a couple since he is in the market for one.

Thanks!
 
Yep I second that; my bad too..

Back on the subject...
Sometimes I see good deals on Craigslist, altough those will start to get sparse as the waether heats up, and lees people sell them.
 
i've had my eye on the prime tower also. given my limited space w/a 36" stand, this will fit perfectly.

- anybody have reviews?
- where are the connects? in back? if so, on the left side, right side or center?


current_usa_chiller_prime_tower.jpg
 
I had an artica 1/10 hp inline for a 140 gal and it put out a lot of heat. The room was definately unbareable when it was on. On top of that I set it up during the winter under my stand, and when summer came by it was just too much work to take it out so I let it sit under there. During the hottest times, I just had to open the stand doors and use another fan to blow away the trapped heat under there. IMO it's a bad idea to keep one under there. If you decide to put it outside you're going to need to keep it in the shade as well. I'm going to set it up again pretty soon and this time I'm going to try to exhaust it either into the ceiling, outside, or another room.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9471058#post9471058 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MrMikeB
Out of respect for Mark, please PM me - I was not trying to hijack the thread or anything, just letting Mark know I have a couple since he is in the market for one.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Mike- Thanks for being kind, but I am not one of those people that is so into myself that I need to hog information in one thread:p . I believe we are all in this hobby together....
 
I have an Artica 1/3 on my 210. On standby it is dead silent but when it is on, things get pretty noisy. One thing i don't like about mine is the fuse it uses. It's impossible to find it locally, but they have fixed this on new models by making a new power assembly with a more standard fuse. Overall happy with it. After i calibrated my artica's thermometer i'm surprised as to how close it is compared to my Aquacontroller's one. Which makes the programming much easier since i can't connect the chiller to it.

Gabe
 
I really thought more people ran chillers her is Sac...It gets so hot here. I am going to order 1/4 hp and I have narrowed it down to Tradewinds, Current prime, and JBJ.
 
I use a JBJ 1/5HP on a 55g. Kinda mandatory when you don't feel like air conditioning the whole house during the summer.

Very quiet. May not be the most powerful/efficient for the HP rating, but I've been using it for over a year with no trouble. Main complaint is the builtin temp probe is slow to respond. I let my AC Jr run the fan + heaters, and let the JBJ cruise by its self. Sometimes I end up with the heaters fighting off the chiller (I have a very narrow temp band dialed in on the AC Jr, and the temp probe responds faster than the in chiller one). Luckily the chiller always wins.
 
I used an AquaLogic 1/4 HP chiller w/coil drop in for my 90 gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump. it worked very well, but you need to make sure to place the coil where it gets lots of flow to get the most out of a noisy product. I wouldn't know how to compare the noise level to other chillers, but it was tolerable to me since it was only on maybe once a day. I still have it laying around - won't ever use it unless I build another tank.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
Coralife Chiller Error E1
Replies
1
Views
305
Reefing102
Reefing102
M
Another Reefer back from a 13 year Hiatus
Replies
9
Views
841
EchoVetEcho
E
Jyetman
UNS Aquariums Good or Bad
Replies
1
Views
1K
lvanderbeck
L
F
Low ORP
2
Replies
20
Views
2K
griss
griss
Broken reefer
Redflex sump
Replies
3
Views
297
griss
griss
Back
Top