Coralife Aqua Chill

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by reef_raf

You need to get a sump, an overflow, a flaot valve for your new top of system, and you'll be all set!

It's that easy!

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by reef_raf

Mark, ideally you should throw the glass tops in the trash. They keep heat in and the light out. Also, one of the best cooling options is evaporation, although that gets toughto manage if you're gone for 4 weeks.
You need to get a sump, an overflow, a flaot valve for your new top of system, and you'll be all set!

Man, I bin thinkin' about this ALL day!
First off, before I forget, this is kinda gettin' off topic here. (Aqua Chill review). Being a newbie, I'm wonderin'...should I be moving this discussion to another forum? If so, how would I do that?

I hear ya about the glass tops, but I'll have to get a new lighting system first. The two strips I'm using now ain't gonna work sittin' on top with no glass tops. Was planning to go to MH next Feb. I guess I'll be bumpin' that ahead a bit.

The top off system...ya, I know...your the third person already to suggest this. I've been reluctant to go this route because I'm worried that the float switch would malfunction when I'm not home. But I guess when one is not home , one is not home. Wether it's 500 miles away for 4 weeks, or 2 miles away for 40 minutes, it doesn't matter. The float switch doesn't know the whereabouts of the resident. If a malfunction is gonna happen it's gonna happen, regardless. If I do this, though, it would have to be THE BEST float switch available on the market.

So then, yes, it would stand to reason that if I set up a top off sytem, I could go with a sump and get rid of my canisters. But I'm curious to know why you suggested this in reference to my queries on the chiller? Do you mean that the sump itself acts as somewhat of a chiller because it is separate from the main tank and I possibly wouldn't need a chiller at all? Or, do you mean that the sump could be used as the pre chiller filter?

Also, re: sump...kinda late to be drilling holes in my tank. Those external overflow boxes, I've heard, can be risky and lose siphon. That would not be good. If anyone has any comments on overflow boxes, or any of this for that matter, please...I'm listening.

Thanx.

[Chaloupa]

I have a 65 reef and a 50 FOWLR....my tanks are getting hot with the weather....what is a general consensus on a chiller...what brand is the best/energy efficient...and available?? Any help would be appreciated!

[Johnny Reefer]

Chaloupa,
Have you got glass tops on them?
I opened my glass top 1/2 way and it made a HUGE difference. I can't take it off altogether, just yet. I have to get a new set of lights first. Then I'll be puttin' in a sump with an auto top off to deal with the extra evaporation without the glass top. (No top means more evaporation, I've learned). I'm hoping, though, that the lower temperature will sorta even that out.
At any rate, hopefully this will be enough to solve my overheating when the weather gets hot. Those chillers are crazy expensive and there huge, too. I suspect they probably draw alot of juice also. So, for now, I'm chillin' on the chiller.

Cheers.

PS. I'm also runnin' a wall mounted fan that is blowiing down onto the tank. Managed to maintain 78F over the weekend.

[Chaloupa]

Hey Johnny! Cheers to you!

no glass top, but we did have a custom stainless lid built, just to stop fish from jumping out and my son from dumping toys and other nastier things over the edge of the stairs into our tank..... have removed that and am going to aim a fan at it....so hopefully can keep it down (and pray no toys or "stuff" go over the edge!)...have lost our 2 cleaner shrimp due to the heat...SUCKS! I don't really care if the cost is up there....as we do plan on having this tank for a long long time...and when you add up what you have spent already in lighting/skimming/filters/tank and additives to mention a few...whats a few more hundred in the scheme of things?! we also had the lid built to slow the evaporation...but what does it really matter when you top up every other day...it doesn't make much difference! So here goes...lid off and lower temps!

[Johnny Reefer]

Right on! Here's to keepin it ! (Relatively).

[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.

[raquel]

I have never had a full glass top. Before coralife came out with legs to hold up their light hoods, I used thick strips of glass (3-4 inches wide) to lay across the top of the tank and they held up my lights.

HTH, Raquel

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by raquel

I used thick strips of glass (3-4 inches wide) to lay across the top of the tank and they held up my lights.

I thought of that, but then I would have had two open lightstrips close to the water surface.
Anyway, upgrades done. Glass top gone. New Coralife Aqualight Pro installed. New sump with Auto Top-Off installed. Two fans running from above tank. No chiller. Results? Overheating solved. (The tank actually gets a tad warmer at night, when the fans are off).

Cheers.

[raquel]

Wow, good job!

I bet you sleep better at night even though your wallet may have been hit hard.

Raq