Chillers..a few questions

[Ironreef]

For years I stressed on keeping temp under 78-80 more headache than its worth without a chiller. But if i were running a chiller I probally would keep my tank at 80. I guess that would be the midde of all the experts?? i run my tank now 78-84 depending on the time of morn/day. No probs for me.

[FISHme]

Champion Lighting has the 1/3 hp CustomSeaLife chiller on sale for $689.95.
FWIW

Golfish, here is a shot of the mag on the patio .

[Reinhold]

I prefer to look at the natural environment of the corals.

Diving in the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, I generally see water temps between 76 and 80 degrees F.

The water temps in the South Pacific and Chuuk Lagoon ranged between 80-84 degrees F. The corals are healthy and brilliant in coloration, and the daily temp variations range about 2-4 degrees.

I try to duplicate those temps in my tank.

[scubadude]

I know chillers will maintain a certain temp but can they maintain a certain range as well? Like if I put in 77 as what I want the chiller to maintain it will stay as close to 77 as possible...but could I put in a range instead of one specific temp? like 76-82 ? anyone w/chillers tell me your brand name and if you can do that. I realize that stability is a big deal but I will have a diverse reef....some Pacific corals, some Carribean etc etc.

[FISHme]

Scuba, the chiller would be set at a certain temp and you can set it to come on when the temp rises like 1 degree or mine goes up to 30 .
In other words if I set my temp at 79 the chiller will chill the water down to that temp and once it reaches that temp it will shut off . Then I can set the controller to what ever range I want ,say 84, I set it at 79 and set the controller to a 5 degree range. But once it reaches 84 derees the unit will turn on and return the water temp to 79. And so on and so forth.
In other words Unit comes on at 84 and shuts off at 79.
The controller also shows the temp of the tank . I have mine set at 79 now and you can see the temp of the tank is now 79 .

[FISHme]

Scuba, also , my controller is set to a 1 degree difference . It is set at 79 which means unit shuts off at 79 and kicks on at 80.

[scubadude]

where do you mount the probe that is indicating the temp of the tank? How long is the cord for that probe?

[FISHme]

The cord is 82" and the probe is 12" .There is a red mark 6" up on the probe where the water line should be.