[Rin]

Well, I just upgraded my two ALS Sunbursts to Iwasaki 6.5K (250 watts). I had to send my icecaps in to be retuned for the new bulbs.

Wow, what a difference. I like the new bulbs. Just one little problem...TEMPERATURE.

I've been gradually increasing the time that the Iwasakis are on and today I went to 6 hours. The temp got up to 88°F. (yikes) The ALS Sunbursts never got the temperature above 82°F.

I already have 1 4" fan on the hood and the hood is completely enclosed. I don't really want to drill another hole for another fan. I think I'm going to invest in a chiller.

I have a 75 gallon tank with ~10 gallons in the sump. I'm going to upgrade the sump to a refugium so space in the stand may soon become an issue. (Although the refugium itself will be quite spacious.)

I want my mean temperature to be between 78° - 80°. What sort of chiller should I get--inline, drop-in? How big should it be? How many watts will it draw when it starts up? Which manufacturers are the most dependable? Can anyone point me to some information on sizing chillers for aquariums?

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thank You,

[myreef]

I would get a 1/4" inline chiller. I have had 2 chillers...an Aquanetics 1/6 and the one I have currently a 1/3 CSL, both inline. I had the aquanetics for 5 years without ever having a problem. I bought the CSL as the old one was underpowered on my 150. Www.aquanetics.com has a good sizing chart. If you are on the upper range of a chiller, I would recommend going to the next size up. That's what I did with my new one. My temp runs between 77-79 and my chiller is not on that much at all anymore.

One thing to keep in mind is that chillers put out tremendous heat. I used to have my old chiller in my stand, but moved it to the garage and it worked much better, since the heat from the chiller was not also contributing to the heat in the tank. So keep that in mind. HTH

[Rin]

Thanks,

How much does pressure drop off on the typical in-line chiller? Can I safely assume that the chiller is only going to add a couple of extra feet of head pressure? Should I expect to upgrade my pump to maintain the same flow rate?

[myreef]

ou may have to replace your pump, you may not. You will have to see what the chiller flow thru rates are. On my CSL 1/3, they recommended between 1500-200 GPH. I put a MAG 18 on it and have it then pumping back to my tank return. SO I am probably getting about 1000-1200 on my return line, but I am getting the required flow thru on my chiller. HTH