Coralife Aqua Chill

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by reef_raf

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!

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.