Skimmer and Chiller Advice Appreciated

[parrdog]

G'day Guys,

I am currently in the planning process of my first reef tank. I'm just checking that my skimmer and chiller options will be good choices.

Firstly, the display tank will be 4.5x3.5x2 feet (225 gal). I'm not sure what the total system volume will be yet as the sump is yet to be designed

The tank will be moderately stocked with LPS. I don't plan on keeping SPS at the moment but who knows down the track hey.

I plan on using a carbon dosing regime.

The skimmer I have been quoted is the Tunze Master Doc 9420 Skimmer. It is rated for tanks up to 528 gal.

I also have my eye on the Hailea 1000A 1HP Chiller.

Will these be sufficient for my tank and will the skimmer will powerful enough to handle the carbon dosing?

Thankyou very much for your help,
Jamie.

[Daniel Reef]

I plan on buying a Teco Sea Chill for my 90g tank. I heard that it was a good chiller.

[hankclaussen]

I personally would not look at mfg. ratings on skimmers, I would look at air intake. If it were my tank, I would want (even with only lps) an absolute minimum of 1,000 liters/hour of air for the skimmer.

The chiller is probably double what you'll need.

[Chris27]

That skimmer may work well, however there are better performing ones out there for a similar amount of money. Take a look at the Red Dragon equipped models (BK and Vertex Alpha), ATB, or Octopus Super Reef models, they all pull much more air, use half the electricity, and have great customer reviews. Tunze makes a great product, but sorry to say, the technology of that skimmer is a bit outdated.

Good Luck and Welcome to the money pit - I mean SW hobby!

[parrdog]

Thanks guys for the replies, they helped me alot.

Cheers,
Jamie.

[lordofthereef]

I would consider setting up your system and seeing temperatures before you go fork out the cash for a chiller (unless you don't really mind the cash up front). I find many people think they will need a chiller and end up not using it, only to sell it for less than half of what they paid less than a year down the road. As far as the size of the chiller, it should be good for that size system. You could even go smaller if you wanted IMO, but this way it will have a shorter run time if it does need to kick on.

[parrdog]

Thanks mate, good advice.

Jamie.

[Ron Reefman]

Jamie,

Your chiller is more than enough... unless you keep your house at 95 degrees F. The skimmer may not be the newest, but it will certainly do the job unless you are planing on 50+ fish.

[ChadTheSpike]

The chiller you have planned is def. overpowered (unless you plan on having like 3 1000W MH lights a couple of inches from the water...), not a bad thing as that means it will run for a shorter period of time when it runs, but I would go for a more economical unit. FWIW, I ran a 3/4 HP chiller on ~100 gal. of volume (WAY overpowered), and it drove me crazy because the larger unit was so loud, another benefit of smaller units is they are quieter.

I second the TECO chiller, I have owned a hand full of chillers, and this one is my favorite by far. The company also has very good customer service which is always a bonus in my book.

[parrdog]

Thanks again for the extra advice, going on what you guys have said, I'm now looking at the new super reef octopus skimmers and I'll go for a 3/4 hp chiller instead of a 1 hp one.

Thanks again,
Jamie.

[fatdaddy]

Unless you don't have AC, you can go without a chiller. I run my house at 78-80 during the summer, and I get enough evaporation to keep my tank at a steady 80. I do have fans that blow on the surface which are attached to the light relay. My 110g has 2x250 watt metal halides.

The evaporation also increases kalk additions, so I also score bonus points.

It's very easy to blow $$ in this hobby, and plenty of LFS and online stores ready to accept it. Before I outlay cash now, I think of what I can engineer to avoid it. It's part of the fun.

225g sounds sweet.

[parrdog]

Thankyou very much to everyone who is replying, I really appreciate the help it is giving me.

Jamie.