PCI CL280 with a 240 gal?!

[DMan5587]

My little brother, who sucked me into the reef tank world, gave me a Pacific Coast Incorp CL280 chiller. My tank is 210 gallons, the sump has another 30 gal or so.

He's a good guy, so he gave me a pump rated at 350gph as well.

I'm pretty confident the chiller is underrated for my tank (PCI says 10 degrees at 85 gal, 30 at 40 gal, as I recollect).

Does anyone know if I will get any meaningful result from hooking this chiller onto my current setup?

Thanks in advance, happy holidays,
DMan

 

[Maxx]

That chiller and pump combination might pull your tank down a few degrees, but it wouldnt be very energy efficient to do that. You'd probably get better results on your system by using a fan and evaporative cooling.
I'm assuming this was an Xmas gift by your well meaning brother?
I hate to say it, but the best thing you could do would be to see if you could return it and spend a little more on a larger chiller, (If its new). If its used, I'd suggest explaining to your brother that the chiller is too small for your system, and you really appreciate his thoughtfulness, but it work with what your currently have. I'm sure he'd understand and wouldnt get his feelings hurt if you explained it nicely. That way you could sell the chiller, (again, if used) and then use the money from that to help offset the cost of a larger chiller. For a 240 gallon tank, I'd reccomend going with a chiller rated for 1/3 HP. Premium Aquatics has a special on JBJ INline Artica Chillers, youwont have to pay shipping....
Hope that helps,

Nick