Chiller

[Kayo]

Gang,

Any opinions or impressions about this unit?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20758&item=2393340142&rd=1

Thanks

[lil'salty]

looks sweet to me

[thedogofwar]

don't know much about chillers but it looks and sounds pretty good. Good feedback rating on the seller too.

I guess you're still fighting heat issues.

[Achilles1882]

I have this exact unit on my 120 Reef tank and it's works just wonderfully....got mine on ebay too and not one thing to complain about....except maybe i should have gotten a larger one since it's rated for at most a 100 gallon....lol....but it does the job i need it to do.

[Kayo]

Thanks everyone, since my tank is only 60 gallon's I would think it should be okay. Now to decide if I want to plumb it off one of the returns or get a small pump placed inside my sump.

[Kayo]

Achilles,

Any pictures of your tank?

[Kayo]

Well Gang,

I orded one of the chillers. Tomorrow (hopefully my change water will be up to temp) I will be replacing pumps on my tank. The customsealife (All of what I read, including what my LFS told me adds 4 degrees to the tank) will be history. I am hoping with a chiller, a new pump, a new canopy with an additional layer of glass between the the pendants and the tank top will get my temp to a nice and normal level.

If this doesn't work, I will have a nice fish only 60 gallon tank that will be hitting Ebay (sump and all)........

(don't worry, I am in this for the long haul, I most likely will pitch some more bucks in and get the 120 all-glass tank)...

Once again, I thank the forum for giving me some directions.

[Scuba Dog]

I am sure with the chiller minus the pumps all will be fine for you.

[Kayo]

Well, this weekend I replaced my sump. Bought a new one off EBay, barely fits under the stand. With the new sump I finally installed the chiller. Man this is sweet, I removed my extra fans from the top, lowered my lights and am letting the chiller take care of it. The lights are now about 16 inches off the tank. Eventually they will be 12 inches. The water heats up, the chiller kicks on.......badda bing......It doesn't take long for the chiller to reduce the tank temp by 1 degree (about 20 minutes).

I have the chiller and the ballast in the closet behind the tank (small outlet sixed hole to run the cables and hoses).


Some day soon I will have all the small issues fixed and be able to enjoy the tank with minimal maintenance........just in time to get a bigger tank and start the cycle again..

[Scuba Dog]

Kayo

cool sounds great Kayo...your definitly going first class on your system...what kinda lights are you running?

[Kayo]

Thanks S-Dog,

I have a pair of reef optic pendants with 250W DE Ushio bulbs.

[Scuba Dog]

Kayo

Thats way cool, sounds like you have a sps/clam machine now!

[Kayo]

As soon as I can control the algae I plan on getting a couple of clams. James at Exotic Tropical has a nice supply to choose from.

[Scuba Dog]

Sounds cool kayo. a fuge will go a long way in controling nunsance algae, and coraline algae aslo helps prevent the nunsance algae, but clams use up nitrates and helps keep the nitrates down....just keep your Ca and alk and magenesium levels up....

[Kayo]

One last entry, I took the whole family to San Diego last week, Had a great time. I picked up an auto-feeder and set it for daily around noon. I left a friend in charge of the tank as he was going to drive by on the way home from work. Unfortunately that friend left his son in charge. Somewhere during the week the A/C in the house went out. The son did manage to swipe some beer and/or soda out of my fridge in the garage and leave the freezer door slightly open. I guess he wasn't smart enough to reallize that an 85 degree house was not normal.

When we got home it was 85 inside the house (One entire side of my house is floor to ceiling windows, gets a lot of summer heat). I checked the tank and the temp was 81.1. The chiller saved me.

[Red Sea Purple Tang]

Are those chillers loud?

[Kayo]

Nope, it is quiet as a mouse. It does kick out a massive amount of heat. I have mine plumbed through the wall to a closet to keep the heat away from the tank.

[Scuba Dog]

man glad to hear your tank made ith through all that....

[Kayo]

Thanks,

Were you guys up in town this past weekend. James said a couple of the guys were up.

[Scuba Dog]

Kayo

yes Brandon and my wife and i were up in the area, Brandon bought dannys set up and I suplied the pick up truck...we had a great time visiting the lfs and talkin shop during the drive time, your fortunate to have two great LFS's in the area....and excelent sps and clam selections, havent seen anything like that before...

[thedogofwar]

close call, glad it turned out ok.

[Kayo]

Spoke too soon......................

The Chiller must have gone threw its last leg last week when the A/C went out. All looks, sounds and appears to be okay with it only it stopped chilling the water. I looked up this unit in RC and found mixed opinions. I sent the seller an email and am waiting his reply. He only warranties it for 15 days. I let it sit for about 3 weeks before I plumbed it in so I am out of luck there. If he doesn't do anything for me I will probably spend the extra bucks to get a really good unit. I had to raise my lights and throw on all the fans.



How does that saying go, if it weren't for bad luck I would have no luck at all......

[Scuba Dog]

Man I hated to read that....wish I knew more about chillers...if there anything like airconditioners...maybey its possible that a replacemt part or a fill could fix it, or perhaps it froze itself up......Im just guessing

[thedogofwar]

o man, that sux. I'm afraid I don't know much about chillers either. what ballast and bulbs are you using? I still don't understand why you have such a heat issue.

[Scuba Dog]

Premium Member

Registered: Jan 2004
Location: Northwest Arkansas
Occupation: Engineer
Posts: 110



As soon as I can control the algae I plan on getting a couple of clams. James at Exotic Tropical has a nice supply to choose from.

Hobby Experience: 10 years freshwater - 4 months and counting with the reef tank
Current Tanks: 60 gallon acrylic reef tank
Interests: Kayaking, Travelling, Snorkeling, Cooking, Pet's of all kinds


You were definitly right on the mark about the sps and clam selection, I still dont know how I got out of his store without picking up one of those baby maximas lol....but there best viewed from a clam tank set up like his, mine are gorgious but they dont look it unless you take the top down view point...

[jerryc]

Originally posted by Kayo
It does kick out a massive amount of heat. I have mine plumbed through the wall to a closet to keep the heat away from the tank.

Kayo i just reviewd this post haven't noticed this before
if lack a AC unit you may have overheated the condenser
with the heat trapped in the closet
i no some about ac but not about chillers but should be
similar they have to have good air circulating around the
system to cool their self
just something to think about hope it helps.:rolleyes:

[Kayo]

Thanks Jerry, The closet is actually 4 by 8, it gets a bit warm but it is directly below my A/C return that constantly pulls the warm air in. Of course when the A/C went out it surprised me that this chiller was running and keeping the water temp okay. At least it waited until I returned before it crapped out.

The Ebay seller tells me that it comes with a one year manufactuers warranty so maybe I am not totally sunk.

As for the lights on my tank, I have a pair of 250w MH DE bulbs. Maybe a bit of over kill on a 60 gallon.
I bought these lights because in the next year I plan on going much bigger in the tank department. I figured as expensive as lighting is I should plan for the future. The tank I have is acrylic and has an attached cover. It is great at keeping salt creep down but it does not offer a large area for evaporation.

[jerryc]

Yep that is a lot of light but as you say you have to plan for the
future as expensive as this can be, i finally have everything
to set up my 55+ just waiting for the one i purchased it from
two get moved over to his new tank so i can move it home