Chiller questions
 

I am thinking about getting a chiller for a 30 gallon tank. I figure I probably won't get one because of the following two reasons, but I don't want to assume so I'll ask first.

I was concerned about noise, I assumed chillers would be noisy and I like silence.

I was also concerned about minimum flow rates, chillers I have looked at have been listed as for example "flow between 500 gph and 1000 gph". What if you want a lower flow? Will the line freeze up, or will the chiller just not work as efficiently?

I wouldn't call them noisy but they sure aren't quite. But thats only when they are on. I have mine in my room and I can sleep with it on.

I used an underpowered-powerhead:question: for the first little while and it just took longer to cool down. Then I bought a proper sized one and it works almost twice as well now. I might have just barely avoided freezing it up but I will never know.

Matt

I'm tagging along as I'm picking up a much needed chiller tonight.

I have an inline one (1/10Hp Pacific Coast) on my 55 and a really small drop in (Ice probe) in my 16 gal nano.

The one on my 55 is powered by a Mag5 with about 4"ft of head giving approx 310gph. The chiller is "supposed" to have a min of 500gph. It works well enough, but could act faster. I'm thinking of upgradeing the pump for that reason. Having said all that, the chiller has never shown signs of freezing. I think you're safe from freezing up.

As far as noise goes, it's as loud as a normal fan that you would use in your home on a medium/low setting. the only difference is that in a bed room the fan is always on and as such has a constant noise. A chiller will turn on and off. I guess it dpeneds on how "quite" you like things.