What does everyone think about chillers? Is it a must have? Can we get away with a fan blowing on the surface on hot days. Any brand to stay away from? I'm looking at a pacific coast imports CL650. My tank and sump are indoors. I do how AC for the house I could turn on for the few weeks we have hot days.

I definitely use one in Camarillo! Depends if you can keep the tank temp down with your AC running in your house.

I never have run one. Even when I had 2 X 400 De Mh on the tank, I still didn't have one. I just opened the windows behind the tank and turned on a fan.

Crusty Old Shellback wrote:I never have run one. Even when I had 2 X 400 De Mh on the tank, I still didn't have one. I just opened the windows behind the tank and turned on a fan.

Crusty, you should tell him your setup when you answer like this.

His setup is over 400 gallons and are window access near the tank.

My setup is in the middle of the living room with little ventilation and less volume. Also, Camarillo can be up to 10+ degrees warmer that Oxnard in the summer.

Ok I have a 50 gallon reef with +/- 10 gallon sump. I have never ran a chiller nor ever plan on running one. I set up a fan that blows across the entire top of my tank and evaporative cooling seems to work just fine. I do increase the temperature of my tank to reduce fluctuation and the amount of time the fan turns on. If you are going to spend the money on a chiller... dont get an apex and a cheap fan and a decent ATO and you will be set

Nike,
I never ran one on my 45G hex that sat in front of a window facing south and no AC when I lived in an aparment. I never ran one on my 72G bowfront either. Both of which ran MH lights. ;)I never ran one in San Diego either on any of my tanks where I was inland and it got a lot hotter than Oxnard or cam.

I agree that Cam can be 10 degrees hotter at times during the summer.A good fan and circulation works wonders.

It all depends on where you live, or if you live in a cooler environment how much extra $ you have just to have 1 more failsafe in place. I lost my first reef tank when I moved the Solvang and it got to 120f outside and the tank got over 100f. A chiller is a must have in that location.

In Lompoc, I have never had a need for my chiller due to warm weather, but it has saved my tank on one occasion where my controller (Digital Aquatics) port locked up and kept the heater on (even though the heater was also set to 78). So the heater was obviously bad and the controller was making it work properly for a while, but when the port stuck on over night, I woke up at 6am to my apartment very hot and humid and the chiller running constantly trying to cool the tank below 80 while fighting a stuck heater. If it were not for the chiller, I would not have noticed and gone out the door to work and come home to a dead tank. So that is where the extra fail safe comes in to play, but it is a very expensive fail safe.

It also depends on your canopy. My 24 I had up needed a chiller to keep it in check, it kept over 82 and was climbing every few days without it. Once I took the top off, it was good to go, the Chiller didn't run anymore. If I were you, I'd get a jbj artica used from one of the locals. Great if you do end up needing it. Apex is a must though. I would put it more important than a chiller. Especially since you can try evaporative cooling first before dropping the money on a chiller.

dwolson2 wrote:It also depends on your canopy. My 24 I had up needed a chiller to keep it in check, it kept over 82 and was climbing every few days without it. Once I took the top off, it was good to go, the Chiller didn't run anymore. If I were you, I'd get a jbj artica used from one of the locals. Great if you do end up needing it. Apex is a must though. I would put it more important than a chiller. Especially since you can try evaporative cooling first before dropping the money on a chiller.

First of all, I don't run a fan and my tank has a canopy isn't not ventilated. The new tank will fix this issue but I will still run the chiller as backup via the controller. There isn't much difference in the power bill as the controller takes care of the settings. Of course everyone's tank and home is different. My office tank runs great because there is climate control but my house doesn't have AC.

I would still recommend a chiller if you live in an area that is hotter than near the beach but if you run the AC in your home then that solves that problem. Again every setup is different.

I ran my 45G with a closed canopy for years without a chiller and in a hot area. I had a fan on the back to help pull out the heat. I only had to float ice in the tank a few times.

You can sucessfully run a tank without a chiller. Lot's of people have done it and continue to do so. It all depends on how much money you want to spend or save. The ocean dosen't have a chiller.