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T5 lights or Chiller? Advice needed.


Mt. Dreamer

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I have a question about lighting choices, I'm hoping someone can answer.

I have a 360 gallon aquarium (96"Lx24"Wx36"T). It houses mainly 3 large marine angels and a few soft corals. I also have two anemones. Curently, I'm running dual 400 watt halides (20,000K). I also somtimes run dual 250watt metal halides (20,000K) with the 400 watts. My tank is experinceing a heat problem (83F-84F). Even with just running the 400 halides by them selves, the tank is too warm! Its not even summer yet.

I have been thinking about buying a chiller, however I'm not crazy about the idea. Its not the up front cost of a chiller, but rather the monthly electrical cost that scares me. Plus the heat in the room and noise they put out.

So... I'm thinking about changing my lighting to reduce the heat factor. I figure since my aquarium is mainly a "fish only system" light out put is not as critical. I was thinking of switching to a t5 TEK system (Sunlight Supply). Anyone have experince with this type of lights? Would they give off less heat? I would miss the stunning MH spectrum and shimmer. However I'm trying to lower my electic bill by less usage. I also try to make thing as simple as posssible without jeopardizing too much efficiency and quality.

Imput on these lights and chillers would be much apprecited.

Thanks...

Brian

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The still put out some heat but not to the degree that you get with the 400w setup. How about going with some 175w mh or just your 250w? Then you will still have the shimmer from the mh but less heat. As for the chillers if cost in the the problem then you can get a good chiller the is quiet and if done right you would not add heat to your home, the extra $$ for running it is not to bad.

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Thanks for the suggestions...

 

I'm now thinking my return pump mabe thowing off too much heat. It may be too large of a pump then what is really needed. It is a pan World Pump (PW-250PS) 1900gph External. From the sump it returns to (2) 1" Sea Swirls on the ends of the tank and (2) 3/4" loc Line fittings in the center of tank. I admit I dont understand how to caulate/size a needed water pump. I went with the biggest, not thinking about the heat. I maybe wrong in my thinking. The size maybe just right. Help!!

Does anyone have a 1HP inline Chiller (Pacific Coast) that they can give me feedback. I would like to know how often it is running, appox. monthly cost to run, heat and noisy. I have never had a chiller. When I hear/see 1HP, I freak. Seems like alot of electricity.

I'm not too crasy about using fans to cool a tank. This is mainly because of the noise and replacing water lost by increased evaporation. Not to mention mold problems.

I tried the 250watt MHs alone today and still the tank water went up 2 degrees. Before I turned the lights on the temp was 81.9 went I got home from work it was 84.3

My fish/corals are doing ok, but I'm worried that continued temp flux maybe tolerated only so much longer.

Again, I really dont like having too much plug in hardware. I try to make things simple. Electricity use is a big concern!!!

Thanks again

Brian

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A good fan, you shouldn't even be able to hear. Nature's way of cooling. My vote is many fan's:

Price, look's, power consumtion.

Auto top off, eliminate any work of refilling lost water and fairly inexpensive. I think that adding water regularly helps stabilize the tank.

If you add the fans you wouln't have mold because there is no stale, old, moist, air in there . The fans keep the air dryer than with no fans.

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I am suprised your tank is at 82 degrees without the lights on. So it does not suprise me that your tank would overheat with them on. What other equipment do you have that could be adding heat to your tank? It could be the return pump, but I don't think that pump should normally add that much heat to your tank. Do you have powerheads in the tank?

 

A few things I would do.

 

First, make sure you are reading the temp correctly. I would get a second thermometer to make sure that first one is not off. You might not have a heat issue at all.

 

Second, make sure you do not have a stuck heater. This seems to be a very common problem.

 

For me, I alway have a good quality temp. controller on the system. I think keeping temperature is very important so I don't skimp there.

 

For comparison, I had dual 400W in my 90 gallon. I had fans in the canopy that came on with the lights. I also had a large fan over the sump that was contected to a temp controller and turned on when the temp reached 81. This easily kept my tank at 79 - 80 during the winter. In then summer, when it got warmer, it was still able to keep the tank temp, but the increased evaporation. I noticed that my carpets in the basement were moist. I was lucky I noticed early, before it caused any damage. It was then, I purchased a chiller to keep evaporation down. So, be careful about evaporation. You might not have mold around the tank, but other parts of the house might.

 

Theron

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Thanks so much for the responses to my questions. Its nice to think fellow hobbiest would take the time to address my concerns. It is things like this that make me feel like I should become a member.

 

What do I have that maybe producing heat? (1) Tunze stream 6100, UV Sterilizer (Aqua Ultraviolet-57 Watt), dual MH 400watt, dual MH 250watt, Pan World 1900gph pump, Pan World pump 790gph (for skimmer), (2) 1" Sea Swirls, (3) Jager Heaters 250watt.

 

I unpluged my heaters last night. I did this to lower the heat in my tank to hopfully 79 degrees. Before unplugging heaters and lights off, temp was 84.3 (about 9:00PM). At about 6:00am Life Gard aquarium temp read: 82.6 Sump was one degee higher. I turned on my 250watt MH lights. At noon aquarium temp read:80.8 (if it stayed at this, I would be happy) Sump was 81.9

 

I keep my house temp at 62 degrees. Yesterday room temp was 70 degrees.

 

Still dont know which way to go: changing lights or chiller. I'm pretty sure fans are not for me.

Can someone educate me on how a chiller works? Do they run continualy? I would think that in order to keep up with the heat that the above items are producing, a chiller would run all the time.

 

Thanks Brian

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I have a 96X24X24 tank, 100 gallon sump and 55 gallon fuge. I run 3 - 400 watt MH over the display and 1 - 250 watt over the fuge ( for frags ). I don't think I could get by without my 1/2 HP Chiller. It was a known expense when I decided to go for a big tank. I run some pretty big pumps also. Sequence Barracuda for CLS. Iwaki 70RLT for the Skimmer, PCX-70 for the return, PCX-40 for the Chiller. I never see my heaters on except in the dead of winter. I tried the fans, 2 liter bottles of ice, etc. In the end the Chiller was the way to go. Peace of mind. Speaking of which, I think it is about time I took it offline and cleaned it again.

 

I don't have any experience with the Panworld pumps or the sea swirls. Maybe someone will chime in that has used them. If you decide to go the Chiller route, you will want to eliminate anything that is a major contributor to heat in the tank. I decided to remove all of my internal pumps.

 

Jay

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Hi Jay,

 

How much would you say your electric bill increased once you started using the chiller?

How often is it in the on mode?

If you were to buy a chiller for your same aquarium set-up again, would you still go with a 1/2HP or 1HP? I have read/told that its better to get a larger chiller (one size up then what maybe needed).

What would you compare the noise the chiller put out to?

What brand chiller do you have?

How long have you had it? Any problems?

 

thanks,

Brian

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Hi Jay,

 

How much would you say your electric bill increased once you started using the chiller?

 

That's a tough call. I added a bunch of pumps and upgraded my lights. I would say about $30.00/month but don't quote me.

 

How often is it in the on mode?

 

Not too often in the off season. A few minutes here and there. During the Summer it gets a workout. Especially if it is 100+ degrees.

 

If you were to buy a chiller for your same aquarium set-up again, would you still go with a 1/2HP or 1HP? I have read/told that its better to get a larger chiller (one size up then what maybe needed).

 

Bigger is usually better, but it may consume more electricity also. Even during the hottest days, it has no problem keeping up.

 

What would you compare the noise the chiller put out to?

 

A fan or a dishwasher. It is hard for me to judge. All of my equipment is in the garage, and like I said before, I have a lot of pumps.

 

What brand chiller do you have?

 

Pacific Coast Imports

 

How long have you had it? Any problems?

 

One year. No problems.

 

thanks,

Brian

 

If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask away.

 

Jay

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The temp in my aquarium has stayed steady at 81.5 for at least 5 hours now. (checked:4:00PM/5:30PM/8:15PM)

The only thing I can attribute this to is the fact I have not plugged back in my heaters since last night (appox 11:30PM). As far as lights on...just the two 250watt MH. They have been on since about 8:00AM today. I dont usally keep my lights on this long. However, I'm trying to get this heat thing under control which requires some testing to see what works. Things are a bit out of wack!

The heaters (4) are relatively new Jager 250watts. They are set at 79 degrees. The heater lights periodicaly do come on even when the water is above 79 degees. Usually this is after I have messed with them, but occasionally long after that. Does this seem normal?

 

Jay... your pumps,etc. is in your garage...the aquarium too? Ever have any problems with pipes leaking during really cold winter days/nights? If I do decide to get a chiller, I may keep it in my crawl space. This is not between floors, but rather below my house. My only concern would be if it got too cold it may crack the pipes and or chiller. How many gph is the chiller pump you use?

 

Brian

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I always wanted to never purchase a chiller, tried to save money...but I had t5's over my tank and in my small apartment the t5s made the ambient air way to warm and heated the tank up, so I waited for a good deal to come along and bought a chiller...I would recommend this purchase to anyone. The peace of mind that it offers is how Mastercard puts it as "Priceless", even though they are pricey.

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If you place your chiller in the crawlspace, it will cool all the time, even when not running. The chiller has a "radiator" inside with coolant tubes and a fan blowing through(heat exchanger). The crawlspace location is ideal; cool in the summer and not as cold as you might think in the winter. We have a Pacific Coast 1hp in the shop that only comes on during those few really hot days in the summer. Otherwise, our PCI 1/2hp chiller works great as long as it gets its regular service of filter cleaning and vacuuming out. R2R2

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Thanks to all who have helped me try to chill

 

Thanks so much for the advice and comments. The information has been very helpful and appreciated in making a difficult and costly decision easier.

The electrician (family friend) came out tonight to look at possibly adding a baker just for the chiller. He said it would be an easy job. Maybe for him. lol.

Now I have another decision to make, should I put the chiller in the garage or crawl space? If I put it in the garage, I would need an even bigger pump... More noisy. Does anyone know if there is a maxium amount of distance between the sump and pump intake? Thought that it would be nice to put the pump in the crawl space. This would give me more cabinet space and definitely reduce noise.

I didn't realize adding a chiller would entail so much planning. Maybe it just me being overly worried.

My fish/corals better thank me this summer for the headache I have this winter.

brian...aka:Mt. Dreamer

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