chilling alternatives

[smellsfishy]

After i realized my used chiller was ill, i began to research for cooling alternatives. While there are a lot of ideas out there the ones i have tried have yielded limited results. Lets face it, chillers aren't cheap and neither is the power to run them.
Hotter temps are a cumin so, for every reefers sake lets start a thread/poll of ideas for small and/or large systems. Please include high and lowest temps achieved and pull down amounts when available.

[mark]

Still considering some type of geo-cooling loop or central air for the house but until then relying on evaporation. Currently some different threads on RC on cooling loops.

Normally run 2-3" muffin fans 24/7 and that keeps things around 79°. Couple of weeks ago the house got into the low 80°s, tank 84° so added a 7" muffin fan (85watts) and tank stabilized high 70's. As the house started to cool put the large muffin on the same timer as the MH and seemed okay for a while but now as still cooling outside, find will need to put it on a thermostat since tank down to 74° yesterday even with MH on for a few hours.

Other than the noise another negative is humidity in the the mechanical room, I'm running about 60%. In winter since evap was lower ran about 50%.

Tank is 145g with 75g basement sump (run about 1/2 volume), 2-250w MH 8 hours and 2-40W NO fluorescents on for 12.5 hours. Both the CL and return pumps are external with the skimmer pump internal (Sedra 5000, 50W).

[Xtasia]

For ghetto reefers like me... frozen pop bottles of RO water + slave labour.

[smellsfishy]

the second best i've tried so far. other than humidity increaseing fans.
Geo-thermal loop baried about 2 1/2-3' down, just under 300' of 3/4" hose in a figure8 type configureation, in a 50' area. It produces a steady, respectful 1.5-2 degree drop from input to output with a 9.5 mag (900gph). slower flow will produce lower temps and running intermitant on/off, which allows for more cooling time in ground, will drop over 10c on startup.
drawbacks.
manual labor "ouch" i used a spade, advice is get your utility marked out on your property and rent a trench digger.
As the ground warms up the drop temps will reduce.
The more pipe in the ground the more time it has to cool however once the ground around the pipe warms the transfer drops.
Slower flow means more drop but will reduce the amount of tank temp drop.
in the summer the ground will warm up thus lowering the amouint of cooling, I expect this system will rock inn the winter.
In the winter the ground will freeze thus increaseing the risk of cracked pipes and fitting and since the water goes into/out of the sump, well enough said. Insulate all pipes out of the ground, probably not the best idea if you live in saskatchewan or praireies, i grewup there i know how cold it can get.
The calculation of size of tank, hose needed, average ground temps, etc. is mind boggling.
my system is a 180g upstairs/ 1400 watts MH/150g sump in basement /4600gph closed loop/5800gph return/external diy skimmer with mag 3600 recirculating dual beckets/no chiller/ lots of fans,geo-thermal aand it holds at 81 degrees max but expect it to not be enough mid-summer.

On my list of to do's. just completed increase to a 150g sump which not only eliminated micro bubbles but stabalizes temp up/downs, and puts more water in a cooler area helping more.
ventilation fan in the fishroom/half-basement.

[mark]

smellsfishy, might want to help out on the RC thread with your real life experience. It's a somewhat typical, lots of responses from experts with no practical. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=7444970#post7444970

Still liking the loop idea and have access to a Ditchwitch but that's a whole lot of pipe in the ground.

I've got a small bathroom fan in my mechanical room venting outside, without it my RH will go up to about 70%. Didn't have any condensation over winter on the walls or in joist space (only a little on the window) but is something I'm mindful of.

[OCDP]

For ghetto reefers like me... frozen pop bottles of RO water + slave labour.

ditto, I just use ice packs, or ice bags, whatever. Also, I make the top-off water a bit cooler to help bring the temp down... there's no way I'd invest in anything for my 20g tank (chillers, etc..) ghetto styles for me!

[dunl]

How big of a tank would pop bottles take you?

[smellsfishy]

i've got a 180g and a 150g sump, 3 -2L milk jugs do nothing for me, maybe 1/2 degree if you look long enough. i used to do that on my 75g and 1 jug would pull down 2degrees for about 2 hours, can't remember what i had for lighting, but it wasn't much.

[Sebae]

Any one know where to buy stainless tubing ? 25-50 '