[Samper]

I need two chillers.

The first is for the 180....total system volume around 225 gallons. I don't know how I am going to do this. I have some space behind the cabinet but I know this is not recommended since it is closed off. I have lots of fans circulating air back there but am still seeing high temps for this time of year. I could mount it underneath the secretaries office cabinet but feeding water to it 30 feet away is going to be an issue. I have basically nowhere to route exhaust and a small space to work with behind the cabinet. Any ideas? Cost on this one is not really a problem.

The second is for my 75 gallon...Cost is an issue. I can put one in the basement underneath the display and route the water up to the display but again feeding the chiller will be hard.

I have never run one of these and don't really know where to start but I am going to need them this summer. What do you guys suggest I do?

[Poseidon]

For the 180, would evaporative cooling be effective? Could you make a drip plate, and have fans blowing over it?

For the home tank, is there room in the basement for a sump? It may be more efficient to move the sump to the basement floor, use the concrete as a heatsink, and then add a larger pump to get the water back to the tank. (It was for me anyway.)

[Samper]

Could you draw up what you mean for the 180? I think I have an idea what you mean but have no idea how to incorporate it.

As for my system I may move the sump to the basement. I have a mag 36 that might work well for this application. Heck I might even go with a much larger sump.....

[Poseidon]

I can do one better.... Here is a link to one in action. Here is the link to the whole system.

The downside is that evaporative cooling won't work if the humidity gets to high. Is the stand vented, I can't remember?

[Samper]

The stand sits in the lobby and gets plenty of air flow from doors opening all day. The lobby is pretty well climate controlled despite the constant in and out traffic. The entire back side of the display is open on both the stand and canopy with a few additional vents around the entire stand as a whole. Although there is a 1.5' space between the stand and the back wall the entire front and right side of the system is closed off to prevent any unwanted access. All air leaving the system has to go up and over the back of the entire 14' long stand. Currently I have three fans in operation behind the aquarium. One blows into the sump, one blows into the canopy and one sits on the floor behind everything blowing straight up towards the ceiling. I had hoped this would move enough air around and out. When I'm back there working I can definately feel air movement but have no idea what my evaporation averages out to. I've had that ATO in operation since day one.

I haven't registered for the site you linked and can't yet see the entire system in operation. I will do so. From what I can see there is an acrylic plate with a bunch of holes in it. There is eggcrate and gutter guard underneath it. The drain empties onto this plate where the water trickles down through that chamber. The fan mounted to the left...I assume it is blowing air inside that chamber and the air exits the open top. I think I could rig something like this up but it is going to require redoing some plumbing and some rearranging of equipment.