Dont buy a chiller ... use a heat exchenger

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by Money pit

What do you guys think of using something like this?
http://www.newegg.ca/Water-Liquid-Co...ategory/ID-575
If you could extend the lines and put them in the sump, it may work.
Would also have to replace the heatblock/pump for something saltwater compatible.

This might work for very small tanks, but need to watch for toxic materials that your water will come in to contact with. Salt water will oxidize metals quickly, if its all plastic this not an issue.

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

Well, I've got a 230g system, so would need a lot of coil then. No room in my tanks either with the live rock and corals, esp if the tubing was stiff,... would make quite a mess with my sps.

So, unless I can find some thinner wall tubing that is also less stiff, probably wouldn't work for me. Is there such a thing as thin wall airline tubing? Plus if it all costs too much, would kind of defeat the purpose, too.

I do have a chiller, but was just wondering whether I could lower my cooling costs (electricity) during the summer.

I looked at the pictures of your system and looks like there is some room in the sump, to the left of your chiller.
Here is another idea, ;
You can use this kit from eBay,
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Version-...item20e5c235f3
to place a 2L soda bottle in your sump and, pump cold water through it and use it as a cooling "coil/heat exchanger".
The walls of a 2L soda bottle are thin and providing your cold water temp is below 15C it will help your chiller a lot.
This is still cost effective $18 with free shipping. Instead of buying 200 feet of tubing.
I did not try this, myself, but looks very promising.
jmtcw.

[WarDog]

Originally Posted by Money pit

What do you guys think of using something like this?
http://www.newegg.ca/Water-Liquid-Co...ategory/ID-575
If you could extend the lines and put them in the sump, it may work.
Would also have to replace the heatblock/pump for something saltwater compatible.

Computer water cooling would never work on a tank. You might get away with a small nano under 10 gals but I doubt that would even work. I've built 3 computers with water cooling so I have dabbled in it. The heat exchanger in these systems is only 1 or 2 sq. inches in size. You would need several dozen radiators and fans to feed a submerged coil in the sump. This would far exceed the cost of a properly sized chiller. Here is my last build with a double radiator and a waterblock on the cpu. It allows me to run at 27C during the hot summers.

[PoonTang]

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned using ground source cooling. Think of a ground source heat pump in reverse. Would cost you zero to run and is the greenest of all options. Simply t-off of your return pump and run it out to cooling coils buried out in your lawn and then back into your sump. There is actually a chapter in j Sprung's books on how to do it.