Chiller Questions.

[kabboord]

First and foremost I must say it is great to be a Florida Gator. I haven’t really been poking around here that much, school has been busy, had a few minor problems with my tank but everything is cruising along.

My primary question is about Chillers. My 90 Gallon is in my living room, and for a while I’ve been displeased by the noise the tank creates. The two biggest sources were poor plumbing and my external pump. Well I’ve fixed the plumbing and went out and ordered one of those nifty Poseidon pumps which are supposed to be virtually silent. Here’s the rub. All winter (I like my house cold) I kept it at around 70-68 degrees, and my tank stuck at around 81-82 degrees (pinpoint wireless thermometers, really cool). Well now summer is rolling around, and I’m adding a pump which is supposed to add heat, so I decided to get a chiller. I figure its also a good idea if my air goes out or something along those lines. My first question is I’m guessing that by adding this pump and running my house at around 76 degrees my water would run probably around 85. So I need to bring my temp down 5 degrees. How strong of a chiller do I need? My next question is, what is the quietest chiller? With this new pump my tank should be virtually quiet, since I am paying all this money for a chiller I want one that is as quiet as possible.
Any input is appreciated.

Also I still need a replacement drive shaft for my Tunze 6100, any local merchants who stock these please contact me via PM. Thanks.

[david8956]

I run both halides and VHO's in a canopy (which also has fans), and I keep my house warm (A/C set on 81. Hey, I'm from here :) ) I have the smallest JBJ Arctica chiller made (1/10 hp) and it keeps my tank between 81 - 82 and doesn't work very hard to do it. Dead quiet too, no sound at all when it is running, however, it does put out heat into the room. I have 14' ceilings so the heat really isn't an issue for me, but in a smaller room you will need a ceiling fan running to dissipate the heat. I can't imagine you would need anything more than the next size larger than what I have.

(BTW - I REALLY like the Arctica chillers, make sure you at least consider this brand)

[Sk8r]

You may be able to keep cool by accelerating evaporation: a 5 dollar fan clipped on something in the sump area, blowing on the water. That might do the trick. But have your mind made up on a fall-back if that isn't enough---I know those Florida summers.

[NACLH2OFOOL]

I'll second the JBJ Arctica chillers. I have a 1/5th hp and it is super quiet. Most of the time I don't even realize that it's running.

[kabboord]

How big is your tank? What would it run at without the chiller?

[NACLH2OFOOL]

Mine's kind of a unique case since it's a 120 in-wall and the back side is in a closet. Because of that, my temps run quite a bit higher than if it was in an open area. Normally it would run 87-90 without the chiller in the summer. That's even with 400 cfm of exhaust fans evacuating the heat from my metal halides. I also run a bathroom type exhaust fan in the closet to reduce temps but the temp in the closet is still about 3-4 degrees above the house temp.

[luminary]

I had one custom built for my 225, so I'm not sure how it translates into the hp measurement. It's run by a 5000 BTU window AC unit and uses a 1 ton titanium coil. It's completely silent because the AC unit is mounted outside. It was a little more expensive than buying a chiller, but not much. The pluses are that the condensor is outside so no noise and no added heat to the room. The downside is it's pretty much designed for the tank, if you move the tank you'll need to pay an AC guy to transfer the chiller.

I never did an exact measurement of it's cooling ability, but it brought the tank water down 5 degrees in less than 30 minutes.

I'm not sure who might stock the drive shaft for the Tunze, but have you just asked Roger? He usually gets parts sent out pretty quickly.

[robthorn]

john at fish and other ichthy stuff is an authorized tunze dealer wouldn't he be the first one to ask? about the chiller I don't think I can answer any questions without getting kicked off so I will just chuckle a bit :)
I will tell matt/luminary that 6000 btu's is the same as 1/2 ton/ 1/2hp. when your dealing with something this small in refrigeration they are 1 for 1. when you get larger it is not the same and many formulas I have no clue about come into effect. like we have an a/c with a 10 hp compressor but it is a 20 ton air conditioning system. go figure I am sure it has to do with effieciences and things of that nature. so matt your unit is a 5/12th of a hp/ton.

[PelagicMagic]

what about for a 180g tank? Will a 1/3hp do the job?

[robthorn]

all depends on lighting and ambient temp. halides I would go 1/2 just for a little headroom 1/3 would probably do it but will run alot more. may cost more in electricity in the long run. t5's or vho and I would think 1/3 would be plenty.

[PelagicMagic]

3 250's MH

2 110 VHO

Mag 36 return

I am going to replace the 250's w/ 400's in a few months. Do you think with the a/c, and evap that the 1/3hp will work?

[robthorn]

my opinion would be a 1/2 especially since you are going to 400's. depending on what chiller you buy alot of them aren't priced that differently.