Chillers

[mbingha]

Ok, so after checking my temperature in my nanocube, I definately need a chiller. Its almost 90 degrees after having the lights on for 8 hours. What chiller would you reccomend, in the way of budget, efficiency, and noise? This is for the 12 gallon Nano.
 
Thanks!

 

[levinjac]

90 degrees is alot do you have frozen r/o water

 

[smartorl]

What lights are you running, the stock ones?
 
Do you have anything in the tank now? Ninety is high.
 
My lfs had one that someone upgraded and was trying to sell that I considered but it was so HOT!
 
You could try a few things, having something set so the lid is slightly ajar. Powerheads that agite the water surface may help a little but probably not enough to get you where you need to be.
 
Maybe some of the nano people will have suggestions. With a larger, conventional tank I would suggest fan but I really don't know how that would apply here.

 

[levinjac]

throw some ice cubes in there and take off the lid lower your air and run 3 fans across the top of the water this worked for me

 

[levinjac]

and turn off all lights

 

[mbingha]

I'm running stock lights, but it gets 80 degrees in my house durring the day since I'm not there, even with the temp in the house down it still gets mid 80's. The tank just has live rock in it right now, so I'm not overly concerned about putting frozen RO water in, or anything, I'm just looking for a long term solution.

 

[meowzer]

LOL...don't throw regular ice in there.....if you do not have ro ice, put some ice in a baggie and float it.....you need to drop the temp....but take it easy
 
If you can get the lid off, running a fan across the top of the water will help a lot....and YES....turn your lights out for now....
 
you probably have to run them less for now while you figure out some other options.....

 

[levinjac]

Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/380246/chillers#post_3308956
LOL...don't throw regular ice in there.....if you do not have ro ice, put some ice in a baggie and float it.....you need to drop the temp....but take it easy
 
If you can get the lid off, running a fan across the top of the water will help a lot....and YES....turn your lights out for now....
 
you probably have to run them less for now while you figure out some other options.....
that is what i meant but I did use regular ice in a bag

 

[mbingha]

 
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/380246/chillers#post_3308956
LOL...don't throw regular ice in there.....if you do not have ro ice, put some ice in a baggie and float it.....you need to drop the temp....but take it easy
 
If you can get the lid off, running a fan across the top of the water will help a lot....and YES....turn your lights out for now....
 
you probably have to run them less for now while you figure out some other options.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by levinjac http:///forum/thread/380246/chillers#post_3308959
that is what i meant but I did use regular ice in a bag
I don't have any fish in the tank, just live rock at the moment.

 

[saxman]

The following is an excerpt regarding temperature from a thread elsewhere regarding "plug-n-play" systems:

 
2. ALL of these systems typically run at 80*F, which is at least 6*F too warm even for tropical SH. this is a very important factor, as SH tend to be prone to bacterial infections, especially at warmer temps due to an increase in bacterial count. You may hear "SH are found in 80*F water in the wild", but you must remember that the bacterial concentration in a closed system is infinitely greater than that of the ocean.
THE FIX:
Get a chiller. this is the best and most reliable way to go.
there is an Integrated Chill Assist (ICA) offered by NANOTUNERS, however, this is a tuff mod to acomplish, and it's not really a true chiller in the sense it runs 24/7 and there's no temp set. what it does is cool the tank down at night to give you a lower "baseline" temp in the AM.
However, you can get a temp reduction of about 2*F-3*F by swapping out the stock pump for a cooler-running model (e.g. get a pump that consumes fewer Watts). this will also help with the flow problem (see #3). I've found that Maxi-Jets are a good bet here. it only takes about 10 mins to swap out the pump. depending on your flow scheme, a MJ 400 or MJ 600 are good choices.
Also, if you have one of the "open sump" designs where the top of the filtration area is open, run a fan over it. Leave the "feeding lid" open. if you have a glass covered HQI model, remove the cover and run a fan over the water surface to increase evaporative cooling.
 
OK, so chiller-wise, we've been using the Current Prime Chillers either 1/15 hp or 1/10 hp for our NC's. Since your ambient temp is on the high side, the 1/10 hp would work less to pull your tank down to an acceptable temp, but for a NC12, a 1/15 hp should work. Depending on your flow requirements, you may be able to push the water thru the chiller with your return pump (again, look into swapping it out for a more efficient pump), or you'll need to add a second small pump to supply the chiller.
 
Another thing to do is change your lighting schedule so they only run during the evening when you're home and it's cooler.
 
HTH

 

[sloppyjoseph]

I was at about 80 with the feeder lid propped open. I upgraded my pump to a unit that used half the power and now my temps are at a steady 76-78. I'd try that before spending money on a chiller.

 

[saxman]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SloppyJoseph http:///forum/thread/380246/chillers#post_3309528
I was at about 80 with the feeder lid propped open. I upgraded my pump to a unit that used half the power and now my temps are at a steady 76-78. I'd try that before spending money on a chiller.
The OP's AMBIENT temp is 80*F, and his setup has been running at 90*F...so do the math. If swapping out the pump results in a 3*F drop (which is about average for a re-pump job), the tank is still going to be running at 87*F, which is still too warm. We keep SH, and we used to fret tank temps in the summer, but once we began running chillers, it was a huge load off our minds. We also found that by running chillers with dual temp controllers in conjunction with heaters, that temp swings are a thing of the past.
 
I do agree however, that the first thing to do is to swap out the pump and at least get a BIT of relief for the system.

 

[mbingha]

Thanks for the replies... I'm really dreading spending 400+ on a chiller, however its better to spend the money to do it right than to spend that much on livestock and have it die....