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FAQs about Aquarium Chillers/Chilling Troubleshooting, Repair

Related Articles: Marine Tank Heating, Cool/Coldwater Marine Systems Coldwater Sharks,

Related FAQs: Chilling 1, Chilling 2, & FAQs on: Fans For Cooling, Chiller Rationale/Use, Selection, DIY, Installation, Maintenance, & Cool./Cold Marine Set-Up, Heating, Water TemperatureMetal Halide Heat Issues,

Chiller Over Cooling (bad sensor…and too big!) – 05/10/12
Hello all at WWM,
wwm: <Hello Devakalpa
> You guys and gals are just too good and the best in business!
wwm: <Ah! We thank you for the kind words
 I have some chiller related issues which I did not (or failed to) find in the relevant FAQs listed in your website. So please accept my apologies for the botheration.
wwm: <No worries mate
 I bought a Resun CL 650 chiller 2 days ago (1/4th HP). As I have a 24 gallon freshwater planted community tank currently,
wwm: <Mmm, too big for this
 I could have used something of less capacity,
wwm: <Indeed
 but I plan to switch to a 75g or a larger system in the near future.
wwm: <Even here, I think you could get by with a 1/5th HP unit…depending on the “pull down” needed
 I am more comfortable in Celsius, and the chiller is graduated in the same, so please bear with me.
wwm: <Not a problem
My tank's temperature was being pushed to 32 degrees C at times by the Indian summer (literally) and so I set the target temperature at 27 degrees, as I wanted to bring it down gradually. I used the powerhead of my Resun internal filter to push the water into the 'in' of the chiller and the 'push' was enough to reach the water back to the tank and fall in a steady stream.
wwm: <Hmm… It is best…in my experience…to “connect” a suitably sized pump via “tubing” to supply water to the chiller. Preferably placed in a sump if possible, with a valve plumbed inline on the output-side of the pump to temper water flow as/is needed
 This is rated at 1500 lph, but I doubt the capacity
wwm: <Agreed…for the reason just stated…and possibly a contributor to your problem
 as the intake is through the filter sponge and the outflow is not very gushing. Still it was working fine.
wwm: <Or is it…
 The chiller has a trigger threshold of 2 degrees C (which I think is bit high)
wwm: <Agreed
 and was running perfectly till this morning. It allowed the temperature to creep up to 29 degrees over a couple of hours from the last cut-off, the compressor kicked in and brought it down in about 10-15 mins. This morning I found the display of the chiller reading 34 degrees, the compressor 'on', the digital thermometer (independent) reading 24.4 and the water cold to the touch!
wwm: <Uh-oh
 (the surrounding air was 32). I switched it off immediately. I had switched it on and off several times but the same happens. The initial chiller display is almost the same with the thermometer's (give or take 0.2-3 degrees), it jumps to a value several degrees higher, the compressor kicks in but the temperature reading in the chiller goes on increasing, the water in the tank over cools.
wwm: <Sounds as if the temperature probe of the chiller is bad/lost its calibration
 My dealer has advised a recalibration/resetting the temperature display, failing which he will replace the unit. :).
wwm: <Good
 But I request your views on the following: a) Did this happen because the chiller's thermal sensor is malfunctioning?
wwm: <Very likely, yes
 b) Would you advise a Hailea chiller if I need to replace this? (it is shade costlier and that's the maximum I can afford)
wwm: <I am not familiar enough with either maker to provide a recommendation
 c) Is it too powerful for the current tank volume?
wwm: <The current ¼ hp unit…yes
 and d) Does water flow rate through the chiller has something to do here?
wwm: <Can’t say for sure without more data (flow recommendations for the unit/accurate flow measurement), but it likely does… Best to ensure a flow rate within the manufacturer’s recommendation
 Thanks in advance and sorry again for a long mail. You are doing a great service. Regards, Devakalpa India
wwm: <Happy to share… EricR South Carolina

Web Listing  1/9/12
How do I list a compressor for the Current USA Prime Tower chillier model 2646 on your web site?  This compressor is hard to find.
Matsushita Compressor : DG73C12...
As per your web site "hard to find" compressor Aquarium Chillers  < http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ChilrCurr.htm>
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ChilrCurr.htm
METRO FOOD EQUIPMENT |
200 Wyse Road Dartmouth NS B3A 1M9
Ph 902-466-7800 Fax 902-466-78888 Email sales@businessreach.ca
<Will post next to Chiller repairs. Bob Fenner>

Arctica Chiller Not Turning On -- 08/09/10
Hi,
<<Hello>>
First of all I want to thank you for your awesome website.
<<A collective effort--welcome>>
You guys
<<And gals'¦>>
have got me through some crazy problems.
<<Redeeming to know>>
I need help with my JBJ Arctica 1/5 HP chiller. It was working fine last night and now this morning it's not even turning on. I thought it might be the fuse and I changed that and still nothing. Any idea on what my next step should be and if it's even worth fixing?
<<I'm guessing the unit is out of warranty? You can try contacting these folks (http://www.jbjchillers.com/contents/en-us/contactus.html) and see if they can help. Else, contact a local heating/air-conditioning company and see if they will come have a look at the unit. As for 'worth fixing'... You will have to determine that--based on the age of the unit vs. estimated repair costs. Perhaps the problem is only a simple switching device gone bad--unless the unit is quite old; it's likely worth the expense to have it checked out. Chiller units 'should' run for many years (especially if routinely serviced)--I have an old (discontinued) CSL chiller hooked up to my reef tank that's been chugging away under my house for almost ten years now>>
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
<<Happy to share'¦ EricR>>

Heat/Chiller, pump sel.  6/18/08 Hi WWM, Does anyone know which pump produces less heat Sedra 9000 or Sequence ReeFlo Dart Pump, 3600 GPH? <The Dart will likely impart less heat into your water.> This is for my sump. I have a Cali ray tank and all of the sudden my chiller isn't up to par like last summer and I think its because I switched pumps form Sequence ReeFlo Dart Pump, 3600 GPH to Sedra 9000. I am trying to narrow the problem down. <I would have the chiller looked at. An appropriately sized chiller should not have issues keeping up with the heat produced by this pump. Have you noticed the chiller running longer or coming on more often? Chillers are merely air conditioners for our water, they need to be serviced from time to time. An air-conditioner tech in your area will likely be able to help. Please help me if you can Thanks Michelle <Welcome, Scott V.>

Re: Heat/Chiller 6/19/08 Yes it is running non-stop it never used to. Do they fill them with something? <Yes, just your standard R134 refrigerant for most of today's chillers. Although you can fill this yourself, I would take it to a qualified AC tech. There very well could be a leak letting refrigerant escape or other factors that they will recognize. Good luck, Scott V.>

Electric Volts... trouble  -- 07/24/07 Hi I have a 130 gallon 2-California round stingray tank. <Chilled...?> Fish and live sand only... soon to be in their new 300 gallon. Well yesterday the baby ray 3" stopped eating and has been lethargic. All day today I've been debating weather or not to quarantine him. <?> I have 1 other California round ray in the tank she is fine. Eating and acting ray-like. So all water levels are fine <?> no scratches, the rays are 1 year old and have had nothing new added to the tank, except a chiller 2 weeks ago. <Ah, good> I feed grass shrimp on occasion (after being quarantined for 1 week and treated for parasites) and give the rays vitamins from Mazuri. <Very good> So all day I was trying to figure out what could be wrong. Well at the end of the day I did a water change and I had a cut on my finger and I felt electric shocks on my finger (from the chiller) is this the reason my ray is sick? <Definitely could be> And what should I do? <Two things for sure. Install a GFCI, AND find/fix the source of stray current... Here likely an ungrounded outlet... can be easily checked... See WWM re GFIs> Or is it because of the shrimp? Is there any good medications for this? <...? For what...?> The larger ray is fine. Please help!! I love the little guy!! Thanks for your time <Do you understand the above? You might be badly shocked/electrocuted as well... Bob Fenner> Michelle
 

Chiller Pump Is Overheating My Tank! -- 07/14/07 Hello there, <<Hiya Stephen>> I have a brand new Blueline hd-20 external pump that is being used to pump water through my chiller and re-circulate the return water in the tank. As seen here http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o46/mynd/AquaPod/chiller-2.jpg http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o46/mynd/AquaPod/chiller-1.jpg <<I see it>> The distance is short, the pump is super quiet and is working like a charm. <<Have heard many good things about these pumps>> However, the casing on the pump is really hot and when I mean hot I mean you cannot touch it for more than 5 seconds in some places. <<Typical of a pump that does not employ a cooling fan'¦and one reason it is so 'quiet'>> Because of this, when the water was in the tank tonight at 8pm it was 72 degrees. <<Hmm...I have to wonder why you think you need the chiller>> By 9pm after adding the water and priming the pump the temperature via the chiller/heater rose to 77. Here it is 12:36am and the temperature in the tank in the basement which is 75 degree, with no lights on in the tank and no salt in the water (just distilled water) with no filtration in the tank at all has risen to 79 degrees. <<Quite a jump, but your picture shows this pump hooked to a pretty small tank. You would likely not realize this kind of increase on a larger system>> Now, the chiller has come on and is cooling the water back down to 77. <<Doing its job then'¦>> I think the external pump is heating up the water. <<Yup'¦>> This does not seem normal. <<Why not'¦it is quite 'normal' for the heat energy generated by the pump to be transferred to the water>> If the temperature of the casing does get this hot and it is going to continue to heat my water up and turn on the chiller now, what is going to happen when the lights are on for 10 hours? <<Indeed'¦but did you even determine the need for the chiller/this pump beforehand?>> The Chiller should not even be coming on now, <<'¦?>> it's going to be on 20-hours a day. I just need you to tell me if this is normal behavior for this type of external pump? <<It is>> Suggestions are welcome. <<Try placing a small desktop fan to blow on the pump'¦this should cool the casing by a few degrees and limit some of the heat transfer (though you will now have to deal with the noise of the fan)>> Also, there is no problem with the pump. It is not making any noise, not shaking, nothing out of the ordinary. It is brand new and other then the heat seems to be working perfectly. <<Even 'with' the heat, I'm sure it is working as intended/designed>> What to do? <<Try running the tank without the chiller/just a fan to blow across the surface of the water'¦you may discover you could have saved yourself some trouble/money>> Kind regards,
Stephen
<<Be chatting. EricR>>

Re: Chiller Pump Is Overheating My Tank! - 07/14/07 Thanks for the quick reply. <<Quite welcome>> Just to verify things. The reason I have the chiller and external pump is not only to cool the tank but to allow 240GPH extra circulation back into the tank as you can see here: http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o46/mynd/AquaPod/grommetized-1.jpg <<Ah yes'¦did get this from your earlier query>> This Chiller also acts as a heater which auto changes based on the temperature you set it for. This means no heater in the tank either. As you can see I am keeping it simple, heh. <<Indeed, and I do understand the desire to keep ancillary equipment out of such a small display>> I went ahead and purchased a little fan from Lowes: <<Excellent>> http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=3084-48819-FB1 0-5Q. Works like a charm and I can now easily put my hand on the pump forever. <<Sometimes the most simple of resolutions'¦>> The chiller has stopped coming on except for maybe once all day and the temperature in the tank has remained a semi constant 77-78 degrees with all the lights running too. <<Yay!>> Thanks for the information, advice and for giving me a bit of comfort about the pump. <<Was my pleasure to assist>> If you post this please include the response and links if you can for anyone that wants to see this in progress and its outcome. <<No worries...we do post all'¦>> http://www.njreefers.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=3223.0 Kind regards,
Stephen
<<Cheers mate. Eric Russell>>

Jalli Chiller  4/27/07 Hi Bob, Scott from Blue Marlin again. <Hey Scotter> I got a call the other day from a frantic home owner about a leaking chiller on a 350 gallon reef tank!!!!  Upon inspection, the previous maintenance company installed the chiller (which replaced a west coast aquatics chiller) but clearly couldn't quite get the supply fitting to tighten up so they smeared the whole thing with some sort of goop that hardened but obviously didn't work because it leaks.   <Bunk!> The chiller has only one small label on it that was writing in Japanese,  or similar Asian text, so it has been hard to figure out what brand it is.  I finally had the homeowner call his previous maintenance company to ask and they said that it was a Jalli Corporation brand.  I didn't even know they existed.  Do you know if they have a website or contact information so I can order new fittings?  Am trying to get the homeowner to install a JBJ or similar chiller, but they spent about $1,000 on this Jalli thing so I can appreciate their unwillingness to spend more. So any help would be much appreciated. Thanks -- Scott C. Wirtz Owner Blue Marlin Aquatic Creations <Yeeikes... I would likely try cutting off (gingerly) the existing material (try crushing the bits with channel locks... if this doesn't split the material, sawing with a hacksaw blade in three parallel lines, about equi-distant across the threads... yes, will foul up a bit, but can be Siliconed over with new thread to thread couplers...) I would also call Todd Gabriel at Custom Aquatic: www.customaquatics.com as I think they handle or used to handle this line. Good luck. Bob Fenner>

New chiller install - Temperature swings Being in Arizona, and using as much lighting as one can stuff into canopy, I have always struggled with temperature related issues. Using fans, I achieved a stable 84 degrees. With exception of the rare spike, and lots of algae, I have not had many problems with this temp. I finally decided the fan attrition rate was too high, and have purchased a 1/4 hp chiller (around 120 gallons of water to cool). I would like to get to that magical number of 78 degrees, with the occasional swing to 79 or 80 on the 115 degree days. My question is: what is a safe amount to drop the temp from day to day without causing stress to the corals or fish? Should I do this over a couple of weeks, or a couple of days? Thanks! <Hi. I would aim to drop the temperature over a period of a few days. Lower it one (1) degree every day until you achieve the temperature that you want. 79 degrees F. sounds like a good temperature.> Take Care, Graham Stephan Wetwebmedia.com Crew 

- Chiller can't keep up! - I currently have a 110 Gallon tank with 2 x 250 watt Metal Halides and 2 x 03 Actinics PC.  I am having, what I think is a problem.  My tank temp. goes from 78 in the morning, then when the light start turning on it will reach about 84 degrees. <A six degree swing is pretty sizable and stressful.> I think that is too much fluctuation in temp.  I currently have a 1/5 chiller, which runs about 12+ hours a day. <I guess it can't keep up w/ the tank, unless it's plumbed incorrectly or you have it in the aquarium cabinet.> What should I do?  Buy a bigger chiller (1/3 or ½)? <I'd start by removing all or part of the cover (if one) and using a cheap fan to blow across the surface of the water. My 120 that runs 2x400w MH and 220w of VHO actinics uses only a 9.99 Wal-Mart fan for all its cooling needs. Try it!> If so, in-line or coil, which one is better on electricity and chilling? <In line's are better.> My current electricity bill is 200 + a month. <Ouch! Good luck! -Kevin> Help and thanks in advance. Michael

Water cooling, Harmful metals 7/11/05 I'm trying to set up a cooling device for my aquarium because it is reaching temperatures of 80 F plus in the summer and was wondering if there are any problems with using an aluminum coil chiller. <Ah, yes... aluminum is toxic in concentration, and unless there is a thermal exchange mechanism, exposing system water to the air as in "swamp cooling" will add too much pollution. Bob Fenner>

Chiller performance   8/24/06 Hello! Hope you can offer me some technical help here. As I explained in the previous e-mail, my chiller broke down a couple of weeks ago and I lost almost everything in my tank. Now I had it fixed (the compressor was replaced and the heat exchanger lines flushed out of any debris) and is working again but after some research I read many warnings about short cycling of the compressor if the unit too big for the aquarium volume. The chiller I have is a Resun CL-650, a 1/4 hp unit and my tank a 55gal + 10 gal refugium, will this be what killed my chiller? <Mmm, doubtful> I don't recall the frequency of the on-off cycles previously (it have been working for more than a year) but now I am and the compressor kicks in for more or less 15 minutes to pull down 2deg from 84deg to 82deg set point and then shut off for about 20 minutes and the cycle repeats (this with an air temp of +/- 91deg in my living room) would this cycle be considered short cycling? <Is rather short, but shouldn't be a problem here. Bob Fenner>

Chiller Type/Placement - 09/29/06 Being in Alaska, I have never had much need for chillers, but know I am being asked to put a 100g saltwater tank in the hallway of an office building. <<Okay>> All of the offices have huge inefficient windows making the offices cold, so they crank the heat up.  The hallway doesn't lose much heat so it is always over 80-85 degrees. <<Uncomfortable>> This puts my tank averaging 92 degrees. <<Yikes!>> The tank is a self-contained one, meaning there is a false wall in the tank and there is an overflow system into the back where there is a pre-filter, a skimmer, and a wet/dry trickle, then a pump returning it to the tank. <<Yes...am familiar with (if not a fan of) the design>> Nothing ever leaves the tank.  I would rather not drill bulkheads, but have read that the drop-in chillers should be drop kicked. <<I've only ever used in-line chillers but have heard the drop-in design is "less than efficient" as well>> Also I read that even if I use an in-line chiller, the heat pulled from the tank will increase the temp in the room and will heat the tank etc.  A vicious cycle.  What are your thoughts? <<Mostly truth here.  I initially installed my chiller under the tank...didn't have problems with keeping the tank cool (the chiller did a very good job of this), but the chiller pumped a bunch of heat in to the room...ended up relocating/plumbing the unit from under the house in the crawlspace.  To be quite honest, it sounds like you have a "much less than ideal location" here for a tank.  You will need a fairly large chiller (I'm estimating 1/2hp in-line...3/4hp drop-in) to get the "pull-down" it appears you will need.  You can locate the chiller under/next to the tank and still maintain temperature (in the tank) in my opinion, but the heat/noise pumped in to the hall will be terrible (who would want to stand out there and view this tank under such conditions?!)  Unless you have means of remotely locating a chiller, I'm not sure placing this tank here is plausible under current conditions.  Regards, Eric Russell>>.

Octopus and Chilling Incident Hi Bob, I tried frozen shrimp (the ones that are for human consumption) which was totally rejected by the octopus. I then tried some small frozen fish which was also ignored. Today I will start feeding it with live oysters which will be staying in the other tank and fed to it at a rate of 3-4 / day. The only question is how can I know that it is well fed .. or perhaps overfed.. <Do look for small live crabs... If the animal is very small (like the size of your thumb), small live crustaceans of other sorts> Do you still have your octopus in that tank ? How long have you been keeping it ? <Have never kept these cephalopods, other than in retail settings> A really interesting animal.. I think that in the next edition of your book you should include more information about it.. as well as some cool water marine fishes.. (as usually our website is at your disposal for this purpose). I hope that till then we will have acquired enough information to justify a chapter in your "Bible" !! <Thank you for this. Some friends and I are writing some related works together... the next on "The Best Fishes for Marine Aquariums"... and the following work will likely be on "non-fishes"... will accumulate your note here for this latter title> You will read full details in the August update of our site but I would like to let you know in advance (for your book.. ) While on a business trip the thermostat of the chiller stuck in the "on" position and the water temperature dropped from 21 C to 4 C where it stayed for 12 hours. My son stopped the chiller and allowed the temperature to reach 21C in 20 hours. No fish or invertebrate losses !! <Amazing how tough aquatic life can be when it starts in good health. Bob Fenner> George

Temperature Fluctuations- needs add-on controller for chiller 6/18/03 Hello Crew of Great Wetness!   <I'm not that happy to see you, but cheers anyway <G>> I have a question regarding temperature.  I had to purchase a chiller because my setup was forcing tank temperatures above 84 degrees in a house that has an ambient temp. of 78 degrees!  The chiller comes on at 79 degrees, runs for about 20 minutes, then shuts off when the temp. hits 81 degrees.  This is automatic, at least the 2 degree difference between when it kicks on and when it shuts off is automatic, I don't have control of it, I just set it for 80 degrees.  The happens about every 3 hours or so.  Is this 2 degree fluctuation between 79 and 81 too much based on the frequency?   <2 degrees is tolerable. DO add on a digital controller if you prefer though for finer control> I don't think I could do anything to change this...Thank you Paul <best regards, Anthony>

Not Moving Query Before Answering.. Making a Tank Quieter and Cooler 4/6/05 (Whose Take?) Hi. I sent this e-mail to you last week and since I received no response, I thought maybe my Spam Blocker got it. So I am going to resend from a different e-mail address.  <Sorry that you didn't get a reply. With the huge volume of mail that we get, once in a while one gets blocked, bounced, lost, etc. Thanks for giving us a second chance!> I appreciate any help you can give me. (I have looked at other questions and answers on your site and they tend to conclude that: there is no quiet way to cool a tank with a chiller and the JBJ chiller is probably the best on the market today. So maybe my questions below are not worth responding to.)  <All questions deserve a reply! Most chillers are noisy, but it is not hopeless.> I have two questions that are related. Let me start by describing my current setup. I have a 135 gallon reef aquarium with a 30 gallon sump. It is six feet long with 4 VHO lights (kept about 3 inches above the glass) and is used as a room partition with dedicated outlets in the cabinet under the tank. I had a custom cabinet built with the air vents on the 4 doors below, on both sides. I have a single return that is powered by a Mag 9.5 (950 GPH) pump. In addition to the return pump, in the sump I have a Aqua Medic Turboflotor protein skimmer powered by a Rio pump and also a smaller 200 gph Rio pump for more power through the skimmer. Finally I have a drop-in 1/4 HP Delta chiller with the coil placed in the sump. The tank is doing great.  <Sounds like a very nice set-up. Submersible pumps like the Rio and Mag add a surprising amount of heat!> I moved into an a/c apartment about 1 ½ [??] ago, which we keep about 68-72 degrees. Even in the winter my tank runs hot. The chiller is set to run when the temperature of the water is 77 degrees and it seems to be running 4-6 hours a day, mostly when the lights are on (which is around 11 hours per day). Without the chiller on, the tank will go above 85 degrees during the day and come down to around only 82 degrees at night. In the summer the temperature goes even higher.  <77 degrees is a bit on the low side for a target temperature. Most folks run their reef tanks at 80-82 degrees. In the summer I often tolerate up to 85. It is much more important to avoid spikes greater than about 5 degrees. Adding vents and fans to the cabinet and hood will help a lot. I had a very similar set-up and never needed a chiller.> Question 1: My wife complains about the noise since the tank is right in the middle of the living room/den. Any way that I can make the setup quieter?  <Since this is an apartment, you can't move the chiller to the basement. You can place the chiller on a vibration dampening pad.> Question 2: The chiller seems to be not performing well. I bought it about 3 years ago. I try to keep the water at about 77-79 degrees. Over the past couple of months, I have seen the tank go to 85 plus degrees and hear the chiller running but the coil is not very cold. (The grills are kept fairly clean and clear.) If I play with the chiller (jiggle the adjustable coil hose or turn the chiller off and back on) it seems to kick in better. With summer approaching I am getting nervous. Any ideas what I can do to cool the tank? Should I buy a new cooler that might work better? Is there a chiller out there that would also make the tank a little quieter.  <I am not sure which chiller will be quieter. I would have a pro look at your current chiller. It is often hard to find refrigeration or AC folks that will look at a chiller, but if you shop around you will find one.> Additional question to my earlier e-mail: If I get the JBL in-line chiller, with my set-up do you think I can get a Mag 12 (1200 GPH) pump, send the water first through the cooler and then straight back to the tank or do you think it is better to have another pump in the sump that sends the water to the chiller and back to the sump? Is the heat from adding another pump to the sump defeating the purpose of a chiller? <I would suggest one large external pump to supply both the chiller and the tank. This will reduce the heat being transferred to the tank. Running through the chiller to the tank will cost you a great deal of flow and may exceed the maximum pressure recommended by the manufacturer.> Thank you for your help. David <Glad to help!>

Making a Tank Quieter and Cooler Hi. I sent this e-mail to you last week and since I received no response, I thought maybe my Spam Blocker got it. So I am going to resend from a different e-mail address. <Don't know what happened David, I did send the response.> <<And Marina posted on Dailies.>> I appreciate any help you can give me. (I have looked at other questions and answers on your site and they tend to conclude that: there is no quiet way to cool a tank with a chiller and the JBL chiller is probably the best on the market today. So maybe my questions below are not worth responding to.) <<NEVER the case!>> I have two questions that are related. Let me start by describing my current setup. I have a 135 gallon reef aquarium with a 30 gallon sump. It is six feet long with 4 VHO lights (kept about 3 inches above the glass) and is used as a room partition with dedicated outlets in the cabinet under the tank. I had a custom cabinet built with the air vents on the 4 doors below, on both sides.  I have a single return that is powered by a Mag 9.5 (950 GPH) pump. In addition to the return pump, in the sump I have a Aqua Medic Turboflotor protein skimmer powered by a Rio pump and also a smaller 200 gph Rio pump for more power through the skimmer. Finally I have a drop-in 1/4 HP Delta chiller with the coil placed in the sump. The tank is doing great.  I moved into an a/c apartment about 1½ [??] ago, which we keep about 68-72 degrees. Even in the winter my tank runs hot. The chiller is set to run when the temperature of the water is 77 degrees and it seems to be running 4-6 hours a day, mostly when the lights are on (which is around 11 hours per day).  Without the chiller on, the tank will go above 85 degrees during the day and come down to around only 82 degrees at night. In the summer the temperature goes even higher.  <David, your chiller may need a Freon charge. Any A/C guy can do this.> Question 1: My wife complains about the noise since the tank is right in the middle of the living room/den. Any way that I can make the setup quieter? <Ask the wife to leave?:):) Joking. Try lining the interior of the cabinet with insulating Styrofoam. That should help.> Question 2: The chiller seems to be not performing well. I bought it about 3 years ago. I try to keep the water at about 77-79 degrees. Over the past couple of months, I have seen the tank go to 85 plus degrees and hear the chiller running but the coil is not very cold. (The grills are kept fairly clean and clear.) If I play with the chiller (jiggle the adjustable coil hose or turn the chiller off and back on) it seems to kick in better.  With summer approaching I am getting nervous. Any ideas what I can do to cool the tank? Should I buy a new cooler that might work better? Is there a chiller out there that would also make the tank a little quieter?  <As above, check the Freon level.> (Additional question to my earlier e-mail)  If I get the JBL in-line chiller, with my set-up do you think I can get a Mag 12 (1200 GPH) pump, send the water first through the cooler and then straight back to the tank or do you think it is better to have another pump in the sump that sends the water to the chiller and back to the sump? Is the heat from adding another pump to the sump defeating the purpose of a chiller? <Any additional pumps is going to add a little additional heat to the tank. Thing is if you pump the water through the chiller and into the tank you will get a significant flow drop. I think I would use another pump to pump water from the sump to the chiller and back into the sump and use the existing pump for flow back into the tank.> Thank you for your help. <You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)> 



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