Coralife Aqua Chill

[reeferaddict]

Hey folks... here's my 2 bits worth.... (1/2 a cent US..) I bought one of these a month ago... tank temp was fluctuating between 77 and 85 degrees, and summer was ahead yet! I have A/C so don't need a huge temp pulldown, (maybe 5 degrees C on a 90G). I have a 1/2 HP chiller that I need to get a titanium drop in coil for, then a temp controller... then I ran across this little unit. I hemmed and hawed and finally decided for the ease of use to go for it. A month later I could hardly be happier! This small chiller now keeps my tank consistently between 77 and 79 degrees, and has hardly run at all. The onboard temp controller is +- 2 degrees, but my range is as stated. I was worried I may have been underpowering for a chiller, and maybe I would be if I was running 400W lights, but so far this is one of the best investments I have made for my systems. Extremely easy to use and set up, comes with controller built in and an outlet capable of handling up to 600W of heaters. At $799 from Island Pet Zone in Duncan, I probably paid a few hundred more than jury rigging my 1/2 horse, but the ease of mind was well worth it! They also make a 1/4 horse for up to 125G.

[StirCrazy]

I think in the summer you still might find it underpowered. I have a 1/4 HP chiller in my 90, but I still wish I got the 1/2 HP

Steve

[reeferaddict]

It's more or less there just to combat the MH light and pump temp... the A/C will keep the house cool enough... my main concern was the 7+ degree variation... this has stopped.

[reeferaddict]

Oh yeah BTW... any news on that sand? :mrgreen:

[titus]

Hello,

Yes chiller can work wonders. Make sure you have good ventilation and clean the filter screen once in a while.

I wonder how hot it is in Canada now.... to have the need for AC. It has been hovering around 30 degree celcius in HK and I have only turned on the AC once. And summer hasn't even arrived.

But man, it was worst in Australia! You can pass out in like 15 minutes if not prepared for where I was. And they are having fall/winter season! Wonder how people there are going to handle a reef tank full of MHs.

Titus

[StirCrazy]

Oh yeah BTW... any news on that sand? :mrgreen:

Doh, I will get on that this week, forgot all about it.

Steve

[BCOrchidGuy]

A chiller would have saved my reef a few years ago.

Doug

[Johnny Reefer]

Call me stupid, but...what size did you buy?
How many watts does it consume?
What are you using to push water thru it?
I assume you are filtering the water first?
What are its dimensions? (Please)
Are you still happy with? (Gettin' pretty hot out this week)

My 4 month old 135 set up is not passing the hot weather test.
Was up to 84F at 8:00 AM today, and 86 at noon.
Had to shut the lights off and open the glass top.
Also have a fan blowing down on it from above.
Got it down to 84 again in the afternoon.
Now it's at 83F, but this can't continue and I need to do something.
(I don't run a sump, so that's why I was asking about the filtering.
Manufacturer recommends filtering the water. Damn. There's always something.) :smile:

Thanx much.

[StirCrazy]

Now it's at 83F, but this can't continue and I need to do something.
(I don't run a sump, so that's why I was asking about the filtering.
Manufacturer recommends filtering the water. Damn. There's always something.) :smile:

Thanx much.

you could run a chiller with out a sump if you have room under your stand for the chiller and a pump. it would be like adding a closed loop to your tank.

Steve

[Aquattro]

Mark, ideally you should throw the glass tops in the trash. They keep heat in and the light out. Also, one of the best cooling options is evaporation, although that gets toughto manage if you're gone for 4 weeks.
You need to get a sump, an overflow, a flaot valve for your new top of system, and you'll be all set! :razz:

[Jaws]

You need to get a sump, an overflow, a flaot valve for your new top of system, and you'll be all set! :razz:

It's that easy! :neutral:

[Johnny Reefer]

Mark, ideally you should throw the glass tops in the trash. They keep heat in and the light out. Also, one of the best cooling options is evaporation, although that gets toughto manage if you're gone for 4 weeks.
You need to get a sump, an overflow, a flaot valve for your new top of system, and you'll be all set! :razz:

Man, I bin thinkin' about this ALL day!
First off, before I forget, this is kinda gettin' off topic here. (Aqua Chill review). Being a newbie, I'm wonderin'...should I be moving this discussion to another forum? If so, how would I do that?

I hear ya about the glass tops, but I'll have to get a new lighting system first. The two strips I'm using now ain't gonna work sittin' on top with no glass tops. Was planning to go to MH next Feb. I guess I'll be bumpin' that ahead a bit.

The top off system...ya, I know...your the third person already to suggest this. I've been reluctant to go this route because I'm worried that the float switch would malfunction when I'm not home. But I guess when one is not home , one is not home. Wether it's 500 miles away for 4 weeks, or 2 miles away for 40 minutes, it doesn't matter. The float switch doesn't know the whereabouts of the resident. If a malfunction is gonna happen it's gonna happen, regardless. If I do this, though, it would have to be THE BEST float switch available on the market.

So then, yes, it would stand to reason that if I set up a top off sytem, I could go with a sump and get rid of my canisters. But I'm curious to know why you suggested this in reference to my queries on the chiller? Do you mean that the sump itself acts as somewhat of a chiller because it is separate from the main tank and I possibly wouldn't need a chiller at all? Or, do you mean that the sump could be used as the pre chiller filter?

Also, re: sump...kinda late to be drilling holes in my tank. Those external overflow boxes, I've heard, can be risky and lose siphon. That would not be good. If anyone has any comments on overflow boxes, or any of this for that matter, please...I'm listening.

Thanx.

[Chaloupa]

I have a 65 reef and a 50 FOWLR....my tanks are getting hot with the weather....what is a general consensus on a chiller...what brand is the best/energy efficient...and available?? Any help would be appreciated!

[Johnny Reefer]

Chaloupa,
Have you got glass tops on them?
I opened my glass top 1/2 way and it made a HUGE difference. I can't take it off altogether, just yet. I have to get a new set of lights first. Then I'll be puttin' in a sump with an auto top off to deal with the extra evaporation without the glass top. (No top means more evaporation, I've learned). I'm hoping, though, that the lower temperature will sorta even that out.
At any rate, hopefully this will be enough to solve my overheating when the weather gets hot. Those chillers are crazy expensive and there huge, too. I suspect they probably draw alot of juice also. So, for now, I'm chillin' on the chiller.

Cheers.

PS. I'm also runnin' a wall mounted fan that is blowiing down onto the tank. Managed to maintain 78F over the weekend.

[Chaloupa]

Hey Johnny! Cheers to you!

no glass top, but we did have a custom stainless lid built, just to stop fish from jumping out and my son from dumping toys and other nastier things over the edge of the stairs into our tank..... have removed that and am going to aim a fan at it....so hopefully can keep it down (and pray no toys or "stuff" go over the edge!)...have lost our 2 cleaner shrimp due to the heat...SUCKS! I don't really care if the cost is up there....as we do plan on having this tank for a long long time...and when you add up what you have spent already in lighting/skimming/filters/tank and additives to mention a few...whats a few more hundred in the scheme of things?! we also had the lid built to slow the evaporation...but what does it really matter when you top up every other day...it doesn't make much difference! So here goes...lid off and lower temps!

[Johnny Reefer]

Right on! Here's to keepin it :cool: ! (Relatively).

[reeferaddict]

Nice to see a healthy discussion here... It DID start off as a review... but discussion in general is great... Definitely get rid of the glass tops everybody... BEFORE you run out and spend a few hun... (closer to a grand by the time you add a pump and/or plumbing). IMHO glass tops serve ZERO useful purpose in reef aquaria and have numerous downsides including heat, light blocking AND lack of evaporation... While evaporation may seem like a pain, it does naturally allow the tank to be cooler, allows for a fresher gas exchange, and allows us to easily dose necessary additives via water top off.

If there's one thing I've learned in my short time in this hobby it's this:

STABILITY and consistency in critical water parameters are key to success in maintaining a flourishing coral reef environment.

One of the key stability issues I faced every year was the tank running a wide temperature range during the summer months. With air conditioning running in the house it fluctuated 7 degrees + in a 24 hour period, and in most of the articles I have read ... for the most part.. the ocean may only fluctuate 2 - 4 degrees in the same time. I TOO ran with a glass cover at the start. A hood is fine, just stick a blow and a suck fan in either ends and you're good to go. Now I not only have an open top, but 2 sump/refugiums running topless as well. The extra unheated water volumes assist greatly in overall stability itself. So when it came to a chiller I was undecided which way to go. I had acquired a drop in 1/2 horse chiller but needed to buy the titanium coil and temperature controller to make it work the way I wanted - this was going to cost several hundred dollars and I had no clue as to how I was going to incorporate this monstrosity into my already expanding system.

When I saw this little unit in the store and I read the specs on it, I decided that for the money and ease of use that I would give this a try. Though small for my system, I decided that I would rarely need more than a 5 degree pulldown, but more importantly, keep my tank within the range of natural conditions. After having just gone through our first hot spell this year, I can say it passed with flying colours!

Almost every time I look at the easy to read bright red LCD display it reads 78... in the morning this may be 77... and during the heat of the day, all pumps firing, and 500 watts of light 3 inches from the surface, it may read 79... 80 on those really hot days, but that's it... never 81... never 76... so I have completely licked my whole temperature stability with this device. My corals are very thankful as THIS year they aren't stressed for the summer for the first time.

An added bonus to temperature stability is the subsequent predictability of evaporation quantities. In my case, this allows additive solutions to be mixed at up to weekly amounts and dosed continuously to best approximate NSW conditions. Remember to use test kits and determine bioload requirements before you dose though... for me this is more "up front" work to help maintenance easier over the long haul... the chiller has helped to make that whole process simpler for me, and like I said... my system loves it.

[raquel]

I have never had a full glass top. Before coralife came out with legs to hold up their light hoods, I used thick strips of glass (3-4 inches wide) to lay across the top of the tank and they held up my lights.

HTH, Raquel

[Johnny Reefer]

I used thick strips of glass (3-4 inches wide) to lay across the top of the tank and they held up my lights.


I thought of that, but then I would have had two open lightstrips close to the water surface.
Anyway, upgrades done. Glass top gone. New Coralife Aqualight Pro installed. New sump with Auto Top-Off installed. Two fans running from above tank. No chiller. Results? Overheating solved. (The tank actually gets a tad warmer at night, when the fans are off).

Cheers.

[raquel]

Wow, good job!

I bet you sleep better at night even though your wallet may have been hit hard.

Raq

[reeferaddict]

It's now plumbed into my 135 and 72.... all this nice weather, and I still have yet to hit 80 degrees....

[Johnny Reefer]

Hey Jim,

How's this chiller workin' out for ya?
Still satisfied?
Any problems?
Is it quiet?
What's the wattage?

Thanx much and cheers,

[Johnny Reefer]

Well I've purchased a 1/4 HP Coralife Aqua Chill chiller.
Haven't got it running yet as I'm still in the upgrades planning/waiting stage.
I have a question, however, in the meantime.
The manual does not state how many watts this baby consumes, nor does it say so on the unit itself. (Strike One). I would like to know this. I did a Google search for conversion tables and found a site that lists "horsepower hours" in the "from" column so am I correct to choose "watt hours" in the "to" column?

In doing so, I get that a 1/4 HP = 186.5 watts.
Does this sound correct? I was expecting more.

Thanx much,

[Johnny Reefer]

I just got a reply from Coralife as follows....

"The ¼ horse chiller consumes 455 watts on a 115 volt circuit with normal running capacity (intake fully open and not clogged)."

....for those that might be interested.

Cheers,

[Johnny Reefer]

I fired up my chiller about 4 weeks ago and I'm a bit puzzled. The water temp was at about 82F. I set the chiller for 79F with a 2 degree differential. For the first evening the chiller kicked on and off a number of times and pulled the temp down to 79F. (Nice and quiet, BTW). But here's the thing....I haven't heard it kick in since, and yet the tank temp remains 78-79F. :question:
Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience with a Coralife chiller....or any chiller, for that matter. I also have a 300W heater running off the chiller.

Any ideas?

Thanx much,

[christyf5]

Is the temp you're getting the reading on the chiller or a thermometer? You may have to check the temp with a normal thermometer and then "calibrate" the chiller to that temperature. I know my chiller was off by a degree or so when I first got it.

[muck]

Maybe the heater has a thermostat that is a bit off. Did you notice if your heater was running off and on before (when it shouldn't have)? Now that the chiller thermostat is controling the heater, maybe that fixed the problem..??

Just thinking out loud here.. :mrgreen:

[Johnny Reefer]

Is the temp you're getting the reading on the chiller or a thermometer?
Both. Actually three readings. The chiller reads 78/79....I have a pinpoint probe in the sump that is at 78.5....and I have a pinpoint probe in the display tank that reads 77.5.

Maybe the heater has a thermostat that is a bit off. Did you notice if your heater was running off and on before (when it shouldn't have)? Now that the chiller thermostat is controling the heater, maybe that fixed the problem..??

Just thinking out loud here.. :mrgreen:
I should also mention that in addition to the 300W heater off the chiller I have a 200W heater plugged in as a heater normally would. Whenever I look I never see the 300W heater on and the 200W heater is always on. Both are in the sump.

It's weird. I guess it's doing the job but I never hear it. I'd like to hear the chiller kick in just once, just so I know it's alive.

Cheers,

[Redrover]

Hooked up my chiller yesterday as tank temp. reached 86f, three hrs. later tank temp. dropped to 82f
This morning tank temp 78f and has maintained that set up temp.
Chiller:
1/4 HP...
Pump Outflow-476 gal/hr
Recommended up to 180 gal