Chillers

[Rico]

I have a 1/3 hp Custom Sea Life chiller on my 155 gal bowfront running 1600 watts of light in a enclosed ventilated canopy. This unit has been working great for over 3 years now, keeping the temp very stable. It is a bit noisy for a living area and does put out a substantial amount of heat that is removed from the tank. Because of this I have it located in the crawl space under my house just below the tank. I was fortunate to not have to drill holes in my floor because a heater vent was located nearby.

The chiller is supplied with a single stage digital controller that will only control either a heater or a chiller. I replaced that with a dual stage controller for both heating and cooling. Then I put the old controller away for a few years, even tried to give it to some club members and had no takers. Recently I was very glad I still have it because about 3 weeks ago my tank hit 87 degrees due to a problem with the chiller supply pump. After fixing the pump, I wanted to prevent this from happening again and knowing that my MH's were the main source of heat input to the tank, I pulled the old single stage controller out. Hooked it up and ran the MH ballast supply power through the controller. It is setup so that if my tank were to reach 85 degrees the controller will kill the power to the MH's and keep them off until the tank temp drops to 79 degrees. I was looking for another way to prevent disaster!

Just thought I would share this for those of you who may have an old single stage controller hanging around.

Rick

 

[jwgarner]

I'm using the 1/5 hp ViaAqua Chiller on my 85 gallon. I'm running 2 250W HQI's about 5 1/2" above the water. These are rectangular pendant style that I have sitting on top of the hood after I removed the lid. I also have a 20" ($45.00 at Costco) fan mounted on the wall above the tank. It cools the metal halide's and the rest of the room too. It was hot here today in SoCal, (over 100) and my tank stayed pretty cool. It peaked at 80.5. I have the chiller set at 77.5. Yesterday was hot too and it peaked at 79. A couple of weeks ago it got up to 100 and I had the chiller set to kick in at 79, I had the tank covers on and it peaked at 84. I've kept the covers off since then. I'm happy with this chiller so far. I've only had it about 2 months and it is quiet. I bought it at my local fish store here in LB for 299 + tax. I'll let you guys know if I have any problems with it during the summer months ahead.

 

[RGibson]

Rico- would you share how the timer for your MH lights and the single stage controller were put together? RGibson

 

[bradreef]

check out the price on the pacific coast chiller 1/10th hp on Coral Beauty's web site. I bought one from them. Quiet and easy to use. Saltwater city has the same chiller on there 120 gallon display.

 

[szidls]

Chiller Comparison

Hey I thought I would reserect this thread since there has been a lot of chiller talk lately. Summer is coming Hopefully we can get some updates on how folks like the products they have purchased. Do you wish you would have gone bigger or smaller? Is temp stable in your tank? Would you buy same chiller again?
Thanks, Scott

 

[bradreef]

mine is still working strong and I have had no problems with it.

 

[bc_slc]

tagging along. Trying to decide as well.

Mat

 

[bigdave]

Pacific Coast Imports 1/2hp on 300gal with 4x400wmh works great short run times, but alittle bit of noise. It is in another room so don't care. My sump return amp3000 has a 3/4 return thru the chiller. Love it and would recommend the brand. Dave