SeeDemTails Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Ok, so I have been running my tank with two halides for 2 weeks. Daytime temps are getting around 83, a little hotter than I like. I have decided to bite the bullet and buy a chiller. I need a chiller that can be below the tank by about 5 feet, and also has to be inline. Any suggestions? What type of pump should i use to power it? I have been looking at the current usa prime 1/15hp mini chiller, that does up to 50 gal, for like $300. Thanks! -Christel Mei Link to comment
abe Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 why must it be inline? drop in chillers are great at high flow points. Link to comment
hazmat Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Im going to follow along cause I need one too. I'm in Texas and temps are in the high 90's. I'm having a tough time keeping my temp below 82 and that is with all the tops open, fans on etc... I was looking at the JBJ only cause it had better reviews than the current. Hopefully someone will come along and give us the full 411 on them! Heidi Link to comment
Phixion Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 lol, I'd have never guessed you weren't using one yet. Mine has been a Godsend considering we were hitting near 110 here in L.A. this past weekend... Freakin' global warming!! Anywho, the prime is good, pump wise I'm not sure though. Their ratings are much higher than the JBJ Artica I have which requires 110-160gph of flow, but i believe the Prime's require something like 300gph... I use to an MJ1200 on my chiller though with NO issues and it travels through a total of 6 feet of tubing. In your case, perhaps a QuietOne 2200 (which Dr. Foster Smith is having a sale on still I believe, QuietOne pumps) or a Mag 3 might suffice as well. Eitherway you go, good luck! Link to comment
Rehype Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 +1 I use a quiet one pump on my Aqua Euro 1/10th chiller and it works wonders.Its been running non stop for almost a year.No issues at all. Hey tails which tank are you buying the chiller for? Im thinking the 1/10 would be better for a larger tank. Those 1/15 chillers,although rated for 50 gallons actually are only good between 5-20 gallons. Link to comment
Izzue Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Christel...you are to funny...LOL I dont have a temp problem!!!! Im sure 2 MH will cause no problems!!! Heat Happens!!! Fixen to bite the bullet on a chiller also...I hit 81.5 x 2 last week. My 75 gal is a total of 90-95 gals with sump. Im sick of the fan on the table across with the front hood doors open having to keep it cool. Think Im gonna get a drop in...I dont want the heat from another pump or all the pluming that goes along....Not to mention in time you will get a buildup inside the chiller that will have to be cleaned somehow...Ive even heard stories of the buildup getting so bad the chiller stopped working before the figured out what the prob was. Using a drop in (as long as you have the room) all you have to do is clean the coil Think Im gonna get the Prime 1/4 with dual sensors...DR has a good deal on those right now. I watched one on ebay but changed my mind due to it not being new. Izzue Link to comment
Oceanic 30g Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 If it is for your 37, I would bump that to the 1/10th. The 1/15 is going to be a bit weak. You cannot resist buying new toys! Link to comment
Phixion Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Christel, this chiller might be up your alley! DIRT cheap in price, not sure why it's so cheap, but it's a damn good deal if you haven't picked up the the Prime yet! Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 SDT- Having done my usual obsessive compulsive a-retentive research dance on this very issue for the very same reason I came to the following conclusions. 1. Don't bother with a drop in. Limiting as to where to put the probe and more expensive 2. Mag 7 pump. Head loss on it brings it to about 360ish GPH, it can be run externally so you won't have water heating, and its quiet with a much better reputation than a Quietone. Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 Christel...you are to funny...LOL I dont have a temp problem!!!! Im sure 2 MH will cause no problems!!! I dont have heat issues from the lights as I have it set up, but to make my current fan setup effective for the next 3 hot months I would have to keep my ac lower than I can afford to this time of year. I cant afford the $270 electric bill to keep my house at 72* during the day this time of year.....last month it cost me $160 to keep the house at 72*, thats a huge jump from the heat! I have been raising it a little each day, but any higher than 72 and heat starts to build up. I figure the cost of a chiller outweighs the power bills I will have if I dont turn the air to like 78* in the day. I have two 120mm pc fans on it right now, but I hate the noise and hate the evap. I have to use inline because my tan is 8 feet tall, and I have no place to put the chiller, and the drop in part is not more than a few feet long on the models I looked at. I need something that I can sit next to the tank about 5 feet from the top, and run inline. I already have a mag 7, so that should work! Link to comment
hazmat Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Christel, this chiller might be up your alley! DIRT cheap in price, not sure why it's so cheap, but it's a damn good deal if you haven't picked up the the Prime yet! i know this isn't my thread.... Why do you think this is so cheap?? especially compared to the others. My concern with the 1/15 was if I EVER upgraded to a bigger tank then I'm hosed on the Current or JBJ. So really this chiller is perfect. But I'm suspicious of the price. I dont have heat issues from the lights as I have it set up, but to make my current fan setup effective for the next 3 hot months I would have to keep my ac lower than I can afford to this time of year. I cant afford the $270 electric bill to keep my house at 72* during the day this time of year.....last month it cost me $160 to keep the house at 72*, thats a huge jump from the heat! I have been raising it a little each day, but any higher than 72 and heat starts to build up. I figure the cost of a chiller outweighs the power bills I will have if I dont turn the air to like 78* in the day. I have two 120mm pc fans on it right now, but I hate the noise and hate the evap. I have to use inline because my tan is 8 feet tall, and I have no place to put the chiller, and the drop in part is not more than a few feet long on the models I looked at. I need something that I can sit next to the tank about 5 feet from the top, and run inline. I already have a mag 7, so that should work! Christel: You are so lucky...my electric bill for last month was $413! And that was keeping my air at 76! Link to comment
S197 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 On my JBJ 28G HQI I use JBJ's Nano Artica and a Mag5 run inline so its not in the water with a 4 foot head. Its rated at 25gal max but does an extremely efficient job at cooling my tank. I was running up to 83 degrees before but now its a steady 78. It can drop my tank from 83 to 78 in about 15 minutes. For you I would reccomend the mini artica which is a 1/15 HP instead of the 1/20. Its rated at 40G max, but keep in mind your tank is only 37G without any rock or sand, so its going to be very efficient for ya. I would go with the Mag 5, not the 7. Reccomended flow rate is 110-160 GPH. I have a ball valve on mine just to slow the flow down since I like to run the minimum flow (more exposure to the cooling element). You will be more than ok with a Mag 5 and you will need a ball valve to slow down the flow. Heres a Mag 5 chart for ya Head Height (in feet) Gallons per Hour 0' 500 1' 450 2' 415 3' 380 4' 310 5' 250 6' 180 7' 125 8' 80 9' 45 10' 20 11' shutoff Your going to want to be at 110-160 so unless you have a 7 foot head get a ball valve to slow it down. If ya have anymore questions feel free to ask. Link to comment
FateX9 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 holy crapper! 400 electric bill?! man im only at 200 at 76degrees i am going to be using a 1/10th on my 40br its sitting on the floor right now but im on vacation so wont be setting that up for another few days Link to comment
Tony Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I love my arctica. I currently run a 1/10hp on about 90 gallons of water and temps this last week were up to 107, I dont have AC and the tank is in the garrage which gets even hotter than the house. The chiller had no problem keeping temps at the set point of 80. Plus you cant even hear the thing run. Link to comment
Phixion Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 i know this isn't my thread....Why do you think this is so cheap?? especially compared to the others. My concern with the 1/15 was if I EVER upgraded to a bigger tank then I'm hosed on the Current or JBJ. So really this chiller is perfect. But I'm suspicious of the price. Christel: You are so lucky...my electric bill for last month was $413! And that was keeping my air at 76! i hear ya'. Well I know someone (whom I got the link from) that ordered one. The price is legit. Back in the day, I guess CoraLife used to Ebay off overstock of chillers for dirt cheap! Brand new, nothing wrong with them. Since this chiller is the same price as a JBJ 1/15th when on sale, it's really a steal of a price! Christel, I'm with you on the A/C bit. The main purpose of the chiller for me is to keep my tank alive and save a chunk of energy rather than having my A/C on while I'm not home all day which is rediculous to do. And now having central air, the house will cool quickly when I get home, and on the down side it's hella expensive to run too often. Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 My tank sits on top of a planter, 5 feet off the ground.....the top of the tank is less than a foot and a half from the ceiling. I am gonna put the chiller on top of my equipment cabinet, which is next to the tank and would put the chiller about 5' under the tank. I have over 60 lbs of rock in my tank, so I am guessing my water volume is somewhere around 25 gallons. I am pretty sure the current model will cool my tank just fine. I really dont want to spend more than $300. I am wondering where to put the intake for the chiller pump. I am thinking in the return box of my skimmer. How do some of you have your inline pumps drawing water from the display? I have no sump, remember. Link to comment
S197 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 just make sure the intake and exhaust dont draw from the same spot. Example: In my nano cube, I have the intake coming right where water pours in from the overflow, and the exhaust where the water goes to be sucked back into the tank. If you dont have a sump or back area to your tank at all then have your intake suck from the middle to bottem part of the tank and your exhaust drop it off at the surface. So you get added surface ripples and your drawing from different levels of the tank Link to comment
Izzue Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Opps... Thought you had sump...or I would not have mentioned a Drop in Chiller. BTW:...You may want to think about slightly oversizing for the larger tank I know you will eventually have Izzue Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 Good point about the intake and output! I am gonna take from my skimmer return and dump back into the tank behind the skimmer. I dont need any more surface flow, i have two maxijet 1200s and a 900 all near the surface, I hear all kinds of gurggling and splashing all day, but no spills. I wish I had a sump, but no room. I am really thinking about this, this is a big investment. Link to comment
Phixion Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 My 30g tank has 3 chambers in the back, the intake/skimmer chamber, main return chamber and a built-in fuge chamber. I stuck the MJ1200 pump that powers my chiller at the bottom of the intak chamber under the skimmer. Then the chiller return I have going into the main return chamber and I stuck the hose as far down into the chamber as close to the main return pump as possible for hopefully maximum cooling effect as quick as possible. This seems to work out well as my 1/20th power chiller cools my tank down rather quickly. Ditto on the placement of the intake to the return. The return should always be downstream and as far as possible from the intake to the chiller. Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 If you dont have a controller, do you run the chiller 24/7....or put it on a timer to come on when the lights do? Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 The most chillers, I believe, have a temp probe in line with the water flow that will regulate when they come on and off. Some of the more advanced ones will also be able to control your heater. Link to comment
HankB Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Good point about the intake and output! I am gonna take from my skimmer return and dump back into the tank behind the skimmer. Are these at the same level? If so, there is no head loss. I see frequent confusion about this on this site. From Wikipedia "In fluid dynamics, head is the difference in elevation between two points in a column of fluid, and the resulting pressure of the fluid at the lower point." (emphasis mine.) You will have resistance losses but no head loss if the chiller is a closed loop with inlet and outlet at the same level. HTH, hank Link to comment
GrandpaFeathers Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 there are controllers with a plug for your heater and cooler, and it keeps your temp veeeerryy constant Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 Thanks Hank, that makes since. Yeah I know about controllers, but after a chiller purchase, I cant afford one right now. Link to comment
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