Chillers: Opinions?

[Cillana]

So I'm planning to set up a hillstream tank and I'm pondering if I might need a chiller. I live in southern Louisiana where it gets plenty hot and humid in the summer. I'm used to the heat and I like to save money on my electricity so I usually keep the A/C set around 78-80 in the summer. Also I'm in a townhouse and the tank will be in my bedroom upstairs where the heat likes to pool. The tank is only 20 gal so there's not much of a buffer against the heat. One of those CoolWorks MicroChillers (and thermostat controller) is within my budget. I don't have the tools or the guts to try drilling into my tank to install it, but I've seen it hooked up to an Aqua Clear HOB filter which I was thinking of using in addition to the powerheads anyway. Anybody here have experience with chillers? Is it worth the money? Will my fish appreciate it?

[Mad Duff]

I looked into chillers when I setup my Hillstream tank but decided to just mount a small desk fan above the tank so that it is blowing on to the water and this keep the temps down lovely.

You can get thermostat controllers that will allow you to plug the fan in to it and it will control the temperatures and switch the fan on and off when needed.

[Diana]

You are right that a 20 is not much bulk against changing temperatures. If you think that the tank will regularly get over 85*, then you could try the fan, but the chiller would be more sure.

[Cillana]

I guess I'll set it up without loaches and see how high the temp gets. I don't expect it to get over 85. I don't keep my house really hot in the summer because my rabbits don't like the heat either. So they wouldn't be suffering if the tank was regularly 75-80 in the summer?

[Marcos Mataratzis]

Problem with chillers are the price you pay for them and it consumes lots of electricity. I solved my temperature isue here by conecting my aquarium to my freezer. It was a cheaper solution in this DIY project:


Water is pumped from aquarium to my kitchen, crossing tru the varanda








Cold water comming to tank (about 23°C):


Ok, that´s is not a beautiful solution so I decided to go further:














Now it´s easier to do water changes here:




That was my solution for the high temperatures in Rio de Janeiro. Hope it can help you.

Marcos

[Jim Powers]

That's very cleaver, Marcos!!
I have heard of people making chillers using those small refrigerators that college students use in dorm rooms.
I have a 20 gallon (US) long hillstream thank that has a UV sterilizer on it. The UV was raising the temp slightly so, like Mad Duff, I mounted a small fan on a timer to blow air on the UV intake and outlet tubes. The fan is on a timer and runs approximately the same amount of time I have the lights on the tank. It lowers the temp about 2-3 degrees and keeps the tank around 75F at the highest.
If it were me and the chiller was affordable or I had access to one of those mini refrigerators, I would go that route.

[Marcos Mataratzis]

Hi Jim,

I also did that:



This is an 80W Peltier DIY chiller. Problem is that I live in Rio de Janeiro. Room temperature in summer here gets close to 35-40°C and never bellow 20°C even in winter.
This one is installed on my smaller tank but is not enough for it. Maybe if I lived in a cooler place it could worth it. Here I´m able to drop only 0,5 to 1,0°C of my 200 liter tank. I have a feeling that for a 100 liter tank it could work fine.

[doglover_50]

I keep saltwater tanks and am in Arizona, so this issue comes up a LOT because the lights for reef tanks really heat up tanks. Barring a LONG power outage at your condo where temps would rise over a sustained period, I suspect a fan would suffice for evaporative cooling.

As noted in prior post, the real expense is going to be your electricity over time to run the chiller--especially given electricity costs increases over the last year or two. OUCH!

Since you are setting up your tank now as cajun country must be starting to cool down, I think buying the chiller would be premature. I would wait until late spring/early summer, play around with evaporative cooling (set up with a timer is nice, and see how that does,THEN get a cooler as needed. You surely won't need a chiller for many months to come.

DL

[Dutch]

That's amazing Marcos! I think my girlfriend nearly got a stroke when she saw that. Lucky for her we only get a few warm days a year where I have to cool the tank a bit.

[Batch]

One of those CoolWorks MicroChillers (and thermostat controller) is within my budget. I don't have the tools or the guts to try drilling into my tank to install it, but I've seen it hooked up to an Aqua Clear HOB filter which I was thinking of using in addition to the powerheads anyway. Anybody here have experience with chillers? Is it worth the money? Will my fish appreciate it?

Hi, I use one on my 15gal long "nano"-tank. Without it and no fans the temp
started to get >86 deg F! The Microchiller brings it down 6-7 degrees. During the hottest part of the year (I turn off the AC during the day when noone is there), I combine it with a fan blowing directly on the top of the tank. Keeps it ~78-80 deg even when the room hits 90.

Batch