Chillers....

IMO I wouldn't buy a chiller unless it was rated for that size tank.....It will probably not do the job and have to run constantly too

WELLL...Yes and no...First of all...what's in your tank? 82 is not too hot.

2nd: What type of room is this tank in?

I have a 225g 54g 29g and 16g in one room...it started to get very warm in here...BELIEVE ME...I could not afford chillers for these..I bougt a $125 window a/c....It is working great, by keeping the room temp down, the tanks are staying cooler....

ALSO...Do you have any fans...before the window a/c...I put a small 4" fan ($&7) from Walmart in a couple of spots....on tank

You have to look up the chiller and see what it's rated for...I really have no clue...Once I saw the prices I stopped shopping for them

Won't run what? An A/c?

Do you have the fan blowing on the water?

What type of lights do you have? And how long do you keep them on?

OK, But that will have to runso why not the a/c....??

Just be sure it will handle your size tank, or you will be throwing money out the window...both on the chiller and electricity

I run a 1/10 chiller on my 120g, it was from my 60....It works but I keep the A/C set to like 86 on really hot days just in case it gets overloaded. It has not ran too many days yet thankfully this summer.

I would take the advice. If the chiller is not rated for your tank, you are wasting money. It will never be able to keep up. I tried to use a smaller chiller than I required once. It didn't work, and ran all the time.

we have a 180 with 3 250w MH on it. I put a couple icecap fans in the canopy to draw the air out and it rarely goes above 72. chillers can get pricy, and remember that the hot exhaust from a chiller will vent back into the room unless you plumb it into another room

+1.

An undersized chiller might as well be nothing.

Keeping the room temperature lower is the single cheapest option for what you are trying to do. If your grandparents won't run an AC unit (I presume because the human occupants of the room would be too cold) then I'm afraid a chiller is your only real option, if the temp is getting to 85 or 86, that's a real problem, and fans may not help you enough.

The size I'd use for a 125g would be a 1/3hp.

A 1/10 would be too small. It might trim a few degrees off, but it will run constantly, and you haven't even gotten to the hottest part fo the year yet.

I agree on getting a 1/3 HP for a 125....My point was that my chiller was not really as good as it needs to be so I have a backup plan....I will be looking for a 1/3 pretty soon

YES. I have a 1/4 on my 180 gallon tank. WORKS perfect. I picked mine up from craigslist and paid $300 for it. Then I paid another $100 to have it serviced just in case.
jbj Arctica Titanium Chiller.

Remeber that different companies rate their chillers for different size tanks because some companies chillers are garbage and only do half the job of a good quality chiller.

Example:
Aqua Euro makes a good nano chiller but their 1/4 chiller is weak, it is only rated for 170 gallon. $599 (WEAK and WONT LAST as LONG)

JBJ is a good company and their 1/4 Acrtica Titanium performs better, its rated for 260 gallons. $799 (STRONGER and LASTS LONGER)

you could go the REAL cheepie reddneck (no offense Quint) route and put frozen soda bottles in your sump. wouldn't work as good as a chiller though

How / who serviced it. is it just refrigerant? inquiring minds want to know.