Pacific or Prime Chiller?

[sac10918]

Does anyone have a recommendation as to wether the pacific chiller or the prime chiller (by current-usa) is a better choice for a 24 gallon? I would ideally like to have the feature which the heater can be plugged into so that if the heater gets stuck on, the tank wont heat up too much because the chiller will counteract this.....similar to a thermostat I guess.
Does anyone know if these chillers have this feature? I am looking at the 1/10 hp version.

 

[scsinet]

I don't know of this feature, but I don't have any experience with either of the brands you mentioned.
JBJ is coming out with their Artica Nano next month I think, that'll be a good chiller. You can run your heater off a temp controller if you want that safety net. Just set the heater for the hottest you'd ever want the tank normally + 2 degrees, and regulate the temp with your controller.

 

[sac10918]

where can i get a temp controller?

 

[sugarfox03]

Good question! I have the same size tank, and I need to bump my temp down about 4-6 degrees, if not more. My tank is still cycling, and I keep my lights off while I'm gone. I came home today (about 30 mins) and and my temp was at 83.9, the lights havent been on at all today!! I have a fan blowing on it, my ac is down to 70-72, it is nowhere near a window...I dont know what else to do other than buy a darn chiller. I cant get my MH light now. I cant wait to see what the nano chiller is going to be like, even though I dont really want to wait too long to get a chiller.
-Melody

 

[sac10918]

Hey Melody,
I saw your other thread about the tank temp and you definately need a chiller too. My tank does not swing as much as yours does, but I know its goign to be getting a heck of a a lot hotter around here soon enough. I believe we need a 1/10 HP chiller. I am looking iton either prime, or pacific...but can't decide which is better. I know that current-usa is releasing a nano chiller at the end of this month. I wonder how effective it will be and how much it will cost because I also have a 12 gallon which needs just a few degrees of chilling. As far as the metal halides, I would wait for them and get the chiller instead. You can keep some really great corals with compacts. In my 12 gallon aquapod I have lots of zoos, a frogspawn which is doing great near the top, a pulsing xenia, many mushrooms, etc. Those are good starter corals too, and you could upgrade to the halides in a few months.

 

[sugarfox03]

Yeah, I'm going to hold off on that MH until I get a bigger tank. I am going to stick with the stock lights in my AquaPod and just keep what will do well in that. I'm also going to set up a 29 gal towards the end of summer (trying to build it onto the top of my entertainment center, but havent worked out all of that yet.) But I will have T5 lights on that, and hopefully it wont get too hot, I heard those stay pretty cool. I may also be buying another window AC unit as I dont think the single one is doing a good enough job. I have a little over 300 sq ft studio apartment and just a little unit, and a ceiling fan which doesnt do any good. The Nano chiller looks like it will work, but I dont really want to be the guinea pig and be one of the first to buy one, and it not work (my luck!) I'd rather spend the couple extra bucks, and buy one I know will work. Let me know if you find anything that sounds good!

-Melody

 

[scsinet]

Sugar,
Something isn't right... if your house is 70-72 degrees and you are not running your lights, then something else is heating that water... a lot. What kind of pumps are you using, and are you using anything else.. UV, etc that may be introducing heat? Do you have heaters hooked up? Are you certain they are working properly? Try unplugging them for a few days.
Also, is your tank pretty well sealed up? Encourage some evaporation by leaving glass tops, etc off and letting the tank "breathe."
Don't get me wrong, I advocate a chiller for ANY reef environment, but that seems like an awful lot of rise for an unlit tank.
Lastly, I encourage anyone looking at chillers to get a quality unit and get the absolute biggest chiller you can afford, even it means foregoing a desired fish, etc for a bit. Reason? Once you get that reef fully stocked, you'll start dreaming of a bigger tank... and the less often you have to invest in a chiller, the better. Getting a big one now is a lot cheaper than having to buy an all new one in a couple years.

 

[scsinet]

Originally Posted by SugarFox03
Yeah, I'm going to hold off on that MH until I get a bigger tank. I am going to stick with the stock lights in my AquaPod and just keep what will do well in that. I'm also going to set up a 29 gal towards the end of summer (trying to build it onto the top of my entertainment center, but havent worked out all of that yet.) But I will have T5 lights on that, and hopefully it wont get too hot, I heard those stay pretty cool. I may also be buying another window AC unit as I dont think the single one is doing a good enough job. I have a little over 300 sq ft studio apartment and just a little unit, and a ceiling fan which doesnt do any good. The Nano chiller looks like it will work, but I dont really want to be the guinea pig and be one of the first to buy one, and it not work (my luck!) I'd rather spend the couple extra bucks, and buy one I know will work. Let me know if you find anything that sounds good!

-Melody

True on the guinea pig factor. On the other side, JBJ is pretty good at building chillers so I doubt they'll have problems.
Keep in mind that ceiling fans won't help your tank any. If I were you, I'd try the window AC you are talking about. If that works for you, it's WAY cheaper than a chiller and it'll help keep you comfortable as well!

 

[scsinet]

Originally Posted by sac10918
Hey Melody,
I saw your other thread about the tank temp and you definately need a chiller too. My tank does not swing as much as yours does, but I know its goign to be getting a heck of a a lot hotter around here soon enough. I believe we need a 1/10 HP chiller. I am looking iton either prime, or pacific...but can't decide which is better. I know that current-usa is releasing a nano chiller at the end of this month. I wonder how effective it will be and how much it will cost because I also have a 12 gallon which needs just a few degrees of chilling. As far as the metal halides, I would wait for them and get the chiller instead. You can keep some really great corals with compacts. In my 12 gallon aquapod I have lots of zoos, a frogspawn which is doing great near the top, a pulsing xenia, many mushrooms, etc. Those are good starter corals too, and you could upgrade to the halides in a few months.
Temperature controllers are available at just about any of the big aquarium online retailers. What size tank are you putting the 1/10 on?
Also, for your 12 gallon, look at the Iceprobe. You'll have to drill the tank but they are perfect for that size and cheap (100 bucks or so). If your nano is a JBJ Nano Cube, there is a site that sells custom chill kits for them.. we're not supposed to post links [cough] nano tuners [cough].

 

[sugarfox03]

Originally Posted by SCSInet
Sugar,
Something isn't right... if your house is 70-72 degrees and you are not running your lights, then something else is heating that water... a lot. What kind of pumps are you using, and are you using anything else.. UV, etc that may be introducing heat? Do you have heaters hooked up? Are you certain they are working properly? Try unplugging them for a few days.
Also, is your tank pretty well sealed up? Encourage some evaporation by leaving glass tops, etc off and letting the tank "breathe."
Don't get me wrong, I advocate a chiller for ANY reef environment, but that seems like an awful lot of rise for an unlit tank.
Lastly, I encourage anyone looking at chillers to get a quality unit and get the absolute biggest chiller you can afford, even it means foregoing a desired fish, etc for a bit. Reason? Once you get that reef fully stocked, you'll start dreaming of a bigger tank... and the less often you have to invest in a chiller, the better. Getting a big one now is a lot cheaper than having to buy an all new one in a couple years.

My tank is a stock 24 gal AquaPod Nano, no extra anything on it. I have a MaxiJet 1200 sitting next to it, but I dont think thats causing any problems, its not plugged in.

I dont know what is going on, unless my AC unit isnt reading the right temps, thats the only thing I can think of. I am not home from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, so I have no idea how hot it gets in there midday (my room is just a studio behind the main house.) I put extra shades on the windows on the west side of my room (there's two) thinking maybe some heat or too much sunlight was getting in through my bamboo blinds. Maybe that will help also. And as soon as I get around to it, I'm going to put another small fan on the tank. I cannot leave the top open as I have kitties and the hair would get all inside the tank. I have only had this tank 3 weeks (tomorrow), and the temps have been on the high side all but 1 day, when they didnt go above 79 (with the lights on!) That was a miracle day, I dont know the reason behind it, but it hasnt happened since. I'm going to go to Home Depot this weekend and see what a new ac unit would cost. Thanks for the info though!

-Melody

 

[acrylic51]

I love my Prime chiller with dual stage.....Temp controllers can be purchased from any good store or online place. The place your planning to buy your chiller from should carry them as well......I should expand some I use the Prime in-line chiller instead of the drop in

 

[scsinet]

Get yourself a thermometer that records high and low temperatures. I think Lacrosse Tech makes some.... if Lowe's or the Depot doesn't carry them, try some of the artsy fartsy stores in a mall like Brookstone or Sharper Image... they are pretty cheap... 30 bucks or less for a basic one. Reset the temps every morning and it'll keep track of how hot the room temperature got during the time you were away.

 

[sugarfox03]

Thats a good idea, I never thought of that! I will look for one this weekend (dont have time during the week.) Thanks!

-Melody