Prime chiller question

crichard6069 · #1 09/13/2007, 10:10 AM

I'm going to order up the CurrentUSA prime chiller today - I know it needs a pump, but I have no idea what pump to get. Any suggestions? I'm using it in a 24g Aquapod and a rough guess is that I'll have about 8' of hoses (4' down, 4' back up).

Any ideas?

Henry Bowman · #2 09/13/2007, 10:33 AM

The chiller will be rated as to Gallons Per hour. My 1/3 hp recomends around 400 gph (best I can recall). You need to make sure your pump set up moves the ammt of water the chiller needs to run efficiently.

crichard6069 · #3 09/13/2007, 10:41 AM

I see - the chiller I'm looking at has a min of 100 and max of 350. So I need to get a pump that handles that all the way through the loop, correct?

Dump question - if a pump says it does 780gph, but says "head height" of 10', does that mean that is the GPH at the max height? I don't think it is, but I'm trying to make sure.

Also, if my chiller is roughly 3' down from the aquarium, does that mean I'm looking to pump a total of 6'? (3' down, and 3' back up)? Or should I plan for just 3' of pumping since gravity pulls the other 3'?

I'm probably over complicating this.

crichard6069 · #4 09/13/2007, 11:01 AM

I'm reading about pumps as I go - The mag 500 looks like the one. I can set it up as an inline pump and it pumps 350gph at 4'.

Stupid question time on that now.

How the heck do I prime it? I'm assuming it won't just "suck" the water from the tank. I'm guessing I need to get a siphon started or something.

Pbrown3701 · #5 09/13/2007, 11:51 AM

If you are pumping from the tank down to the skimmer and back to the tank, you will have very little head. You are looking at like 1 ft of head.

The pump will tell you the flowrate at 0 head. It should also come with a chart that tells you the flowrate at 1ft, etc. I think the mag500 may be a little much. I would just run a maxijet powerhead....it will definitely be smaller and quieter.

Put the powerhead in the tank to pump the water out...then you won't have to prime it. If you use an external pump, then you will have to supply water to the pump via siphon to get it started.

crichard6069 · #6 09/13/2007, 11:54 AM

Interesting - A power head will have enough power to pump water from the tank down to the floor and then back up to the tank? I'm all for that - just saved me some $$$.

RicGio · #7 09/13/2007, 12:06 PM

Check That Fish Place for cheapest chiller prices. PM me if you want a 20% off coupon code.

crichard6069 · #8 09/13/2007, 12:10 PM

Foster and Smith has the Prime Chiller on sale for $239 - that's why I've finally decided to buy it (well, on top of my 88 degree tank temperature).

I settled on the Rio 1400 for apump - I'll put it inside my tank (in the back of the aquapod). We'll see how that works. Hopefully good, cause I'm going broke on this darn hobby. :-P

DarG · #9 09/13/2007, 12:21 PM

Do yourself a favor and dont skimp on a cheap pump. You dont want a pump to fail in the middle of the night or while away at work. Your chiller will end up short cycling on and off and very possibly damaging your chillers compressor. Buy a reliable, durable pump. Dont just get the cheapest pump you can find.