[reeferaddict]

Nice to see a healthy discussion here... It DID start off as a review... but discussion in general is great... Definitely get rid of the glass tops everybody... BEFORE you run out and spend a few hun... (closer to a grand by the time you add a pump and/or plumbing). IMHO glass tops serve ZERO useful purpose in reef aquaria and have numerous downsides including heat, light blocking AND lack of evaporation... While evaporation may seem like a pain, it does naturally allow the tank to be cooler, allows for a fresher gas exchange, and allows us to easily dose necessary additives via water top off.

If there's one thing I've learned in my short time in this hobby it's this:

STABILITY and consistency in critical water parameters are key to success in maintaining a flourishing coral reef environment.

One of the key stability issues I faced every year was the tank running a wide temperature range during the summer months. With air conditioning running in the house it fluctuated 7 degrees + in a 24 hour period, and in most of the articles I have read ... for the most part.. the ocean may only fluctuate 2 - 4 degrees in the same time. I TOO ran with a glass cover at the start. A hood is fine, just stick a blow and a suck fan in either ends and you're good to go. Now I not only have an open top, but 2 sump/refugiums running topless as well. The extra unheated water volumes assist greatly in overall stability itself. So when it came to a chiller I was undecided which way to go. I had acquired a drop in 1/2 horse chiller but needed to buy the titanium coil and temperature controller to make it work the way I wanted - this was going to cost several hundred dollars and I had no clue as to how I was going to incorporate this monstrosity into my already expanding system.

When I saw this little unit in the store and I read the specs on it, I decided that for the money and ease of use that I would give this a try. Though small for my system, I decided that I would rarely need more than a 5 degree pulldown, but more importantly, keep my tank within the range of natural conditions. After having just gone through our first hot spell this year, I can say it passed with flying colours!

Almost every time I look at the easy to read bright red LCD display it reads 78... in the morning this may be 77... and during the heat of the day, all pumps firing, and 500 watts of light 3 inches from the surface, it may read 79... 80 on those really hot days, but that's it... never 81... never 76... so I have completely licked my whole temperature stability with this device. My corals are very thankful as THIS year they aren't stressed for the summer for the first time.

An added bonus to temperature stability is the subsequent predictability of evaporation quantities. In my case, this allows additive solutions to be mixed at up to weekly amounts and dosed continuously to best approximate NSW conditions. Remember to use test kits and determine bioload requirements before you dose though... for me this is more "up front" work to help maintenance easier over the long haul... the chiller has helped to make that whole process simpler for me, and like I said... my system loves it.