got ethical husbandry?

What chiller hp for my tank?

dragnflyjunk

dragnflyjunk

Guest
BARcard
Hi guys,

Haven't had a lot of experience with chillers. See a lot of opinions on hp for my tank but would like more input.

Specs:
57g Oceanic Illuminata
approx 24g sump
May also have sump support a nano 10g later down the line

I hear 1/5 or 1/4hp is good enough?
Is 1/8 or 1/10 also sufficient?

I live in SF. Haven't had a real hot summer (yet).
Tank controlled by Apex Lite and is set to shut MH off at 80F.
Been getting around 80 a lot more now that summer is near.

What temp should I keep tank to if want to keep SPS or LPS?
76-78?
77-79?

Appreciate the input!

Thanks
 
if you live in SF you may be able to get away with aiming a fan at your sump water or tank water and let evaporation work to cool your tank.
I keep my tank at 78 degrees like that with no problem.
 
Thanks for the posts... What's ecap? is that a chiller brand?

I'm good with the idea of a fan... but (they say) if I'm going to expand into SPS or LPS... best to get a chiller... wondering if anyone is heavy into SPS or LPS who lives in SF who never had the need for a chiller or just used fans to keep their water at 78...

My MH are off and only the actinics are on and it's already 78.8 and easily goes to 79 ...

Would love to hear more thoughts :)
 
Sorry. Stupid auto spell. Meant evap, like evaporation. I'm in sf, my tank gets up to 82 sometimes with no chiller or fans, haven't seen it higher than that really, and no worse for the wear. Honestly though, I'd like to have a chiller just to make sure. Haven't bought one mainly due to cost.
 
Oh gotcha :)

So in your opinion even if it gets to 82, your corals do fine?
I know some ppl who've had a lot of their corals die last summer when the heat went up to the 90's in the city... which meant that the tank could've easily gone to 82 or maybe a lil more if no fans...

What's the ideal temp for corals? At least from a pure academics standpoint?

Thanks!
 
It is really setup dependent on how hot your tank will get. I lived in SF until last year and my chiller definitely came in handy. Even SF will get a week of 90 something degree temperature a year. In my setup I could not get by with just a fan.
 
As some people have said, fans may help. Other factors contribute to the importance of a chiller - which part of the city, how well your apartment holds heat, if you have AC, etc.

If you're going mainly SPS, even in the city, I'd get the chiller for sure. It should rarely turn on as the city rarely gets up to the 90s. If it does though, you really don't want to lose all your SPS due to a day or two of heat. Unfortunately when it hit the mid to upper 80s recently, my apartment holds heat well and even with T5s, the tank overheated. Lost all my SPS. I got a chiller and it rarely turns on, but I have peace of mind I won't lost my corals due to heat. I'm using a 1/10hp chiller for my 65. Some folks may have larger chillers for such size tanks. We haven't had a major heat wave since I got my chiller, but I expect it to work well enough to cool the tank.

Good luck.
 
Thanks for the advice guys!

Yeah the hot days in SF are few and far between... but man, when it does hit, it hits hard... and my place does keep the heat in once it sets in... no AC unfortunately (I'm in the city! who needs AC =p )

But yeah... scouring places to get a good deal. Not sure if a temporary stop gap would be a cooling fan... but my tank is a 57g w a 25g sump... and thinking of adding another 10g later that the sump supports... so assuming the basis of any chiller is the total water quantity then perhaps I should keep an eye out for a 1/6 or a 1/8 hp...

Thanks again!
 
1/10th should be more then fine for a 57g IMHO. I used to run a 1/10 when I lived in Dallas on a 58 Oceanic without any problems and it gets way hotter there then here.
 
When you say 1/10 is more than enough for the 57g... should I take into consideration the sump volume as well? If I do, it should be total of 85g or so... If that's the case, will a 1/10 still be ok?

Thanks
 
I used a 1/10 HP chiller on my 60 gallon display tank (29 gallon sump) in southern California with no problems. It was easy to run the flexible tubes for the chiller pump through the sump... slightly more planning to move water from the chiller up to the display tank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top