Right after we have spent the kid's
college funds on setting everything up, from the lights to the sumps,
its only then that we discover that we forgot one last thing, keeping
the tank cool enough with having all those heat producing pieces of equipment including those small thermo nuclear devices that we call "reef lights".
For reef aquariums, including fish only systems, An average water temperature maintained at
82 degrees will provide the same environment that your corals, fish and
invertebrates came from, which would be tropical coral reefs. As long
as the temperature range during a 24 hour period remains between 80 to
84, your livestock will do just fine. Remember, the corals, fish and
inverts are ectotherms, meaning that they are dependent upon their
surrounding temperature (the water) to maintain their own correct body
temperatures for their metabolisms, digestion and proper functioning of
their immune systems, why we are still told to this day that our
aquariums should be in the 70's is beyond me. I have yet to be on an
indo-pacific reef that was ever in the 70's.
Being that a chiller is a major investment in money, I would at first
try other cooling methods before trying to explain yet another major
purchase to the spouse or to the kids on why they have to live on
peanut butter for the next year. If you do find that you can not keep
the temperature below the upper 80's, then a chiller may be your only
other option.
Within the links below, I will also try to give you some other
options for cooling, most if not all involve do it yourself projects. Although I may link to online stores, it is only done to show what is available and is not an endorsement from me.
Recommended Water Temperatures
( Please read before you buy a chiller! )
Aquarium water cooling methods : Some basic methods that can be used when only a few degrees of cooling is needed, most involve some "do it yourself" skills for installation
and/or plumbing. When dealing with electrical components, such as fans,
your safety should be the first consideration taken.
Fans & Venting - Simple and effective in all circumstances, whether
your aquarium has an enclosed hood or not, by simply blowing air onto
the water and/or drawing hot air out of an enclosed hood system will
give you evaporative cooling, much like what happens when we blow on
beverages that are to hot to drink. This method will of course
increase water evaporation which means you will have to top off the
aquarium system with more freshwater as needed.
Room
Air Conditioners - If the room you have the aquarium in has its own air
conditioner, such as a window unit. You can adjust that room to run
cooler than the rest of the house. If you can direct the air flow
towards the aquarium, all the better.
Frozen water
filled soda bottles - I have seen the use of contained blocks of
ice set floating in a sump as a way to cool the water. This may be fine
for an emergency method to save your pets, but it is not something that
I would want to do on a daily basis for the rest of my aquarium's life.
You also have no control over just how chilled your aquarium gets with
this method either, unless you have all day to sit around and monitor
it. Not my idea of enjoying a hobby to say the least.
Chillers :
There are of course various brands and models to choose from,
which brand to use, is a decision that I will leave to you of course.
But please do research each of them as they do vary in capacity and
features. Asking for opinions from others who have the brand you are
interested in may also save you a good deal of grief as well.
A few things to consider when selecting a chiller are its capacity,
electrical usage and ease of use. Most chillers have come a long way in
noise reduction as they tended to be quite loud previously.
Capacity - While it may be tempting for what ever reason(s) to
get a smaller or larger rated unit, I would not do so simply because a
smaller rated (for your aquarium's size) chiller would most likely have
to work near constantly as it struggles to cool down a water volume it
was not designed for. This could lead to the unit wearing out much
faster as well as wasting a great deal of electricity. Using a
unit rated for aquarium sizes larger than your aquarium would most
likely lead to rapid temperature changes within your aquarium, placing
your pets at risk.
Electrical usage - If all other cooling
methods have failed to maintain your temperature properly, and a
chiller is a "must have" piece of equipment, do be aware that they do
draw a good amount of electricity and is something you will have to
expect when you receive your electric bill.
Temperature
range - This is one that I feel you should pay close attention to.
There are a good many models that you can only select a temperature
range setting between 76 to 81 degrees. If we are trying to maintain 82
to 84 as we should be, and the unit is properly matched to the
aquariums size, then it may be impossible to stay within our target
range. As such, if you have no other choice, I would set the unit to
its maximum 80 or 81 which is not that greatly off our target
temperature and should be fine. On the bright side, the higher setting
will mean that the unit is not running as often.
Installation for chillers should be fairly simple as they almost always
have their own internal water pumps, requiring you to do nothing more
than rig up two hoses running into and out of your aquarium's water.
Being an electrical, fan blown device, they do generate a good amount
of heat themselves and would not place such units under the aquarium or
in enclosed aquarium stands, doing so would defeat the whole purpose of
using a chiller.
This mirror is being hosted with the permissions of the original content creator for preservation and educational purposes.
