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Chiller Time

:'(
So, one hot day, my tank hits over 86 degrees while I'm at work. I came home to a cloudy, murky tank and 100+ heads of frogspawn with no polyps on them. My old tank would get warm with the hot weather, but nothing like this -- a guess a combination of more water and hotter lights took the temp over the top. In the past the combination of the room air conditioner and a fan on the sump has kept the temp down - still a tad warm, but cool enough for the happiness of my tank. I don't think that's going to work this year and the hubby doesn't want to run the air continuously this summer. We both like the windows open.

So, we're in the market for a chiller. What do I look for? How large? What brands?Where? HELP!
 

mikem

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Sorry to hear this kat.
Chillers are rated by BTU. For laymen like us, they also have a horsepower rating which we understand better.
For a 180gallon tank, a 1/5 horsepower will handle up to 180 gallons. A 1/4 will handle in the 200's. A 1/3 or 1/2 horsepower will handle in the 300 to 350 gallon range.
Watch which one you buy. Some will need a controller if you don't already have an Aqua Controller or something similar.
I don't really know which brand would be better since I've only owned 3 different brands.
The best place to buy one (if you're looking for a new one) would be the PA grope buy coming up if you can wait that long. Or check out our other sponsors. I've bought used ones from fellow reefers. Theres no guarantee on these.
EBay has some good deals on these sometimes. The cost on shipping will be high, but the price you save is worth it. Heres an example from ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-3-HP-Prime-Modular-Chiller-2606B_W0QQitemZ280339586532QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item280339586532&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A5|65%3A12|39%3A2|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A200
 
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