Hello my fellow Reefers!
I been in the hobby for almost 26 years in a couple days and have flushed many of wallets of money down the toilet buying equipment that just wasn't what it was advertised as and being a quality product. I know with saltwater you cant expect even some of the best equipment to last more than a few years. I'm finding that I need a chiller at my recent living space for my aquarium. Its the one piece of equipment I never have purchased over the years. I had an issue this past weekend here in Northeast Ohio where we went from 45 degree days into a weekend that was 84 to 86. Enough to take my reef tank from 77 degrees to 83 degrees quickly. I ran my apartment AC Unit for a bit to pull it back down but because of the tank location in the farthest room the AC was freezing out the main living room while the air getting into the tank location wasn't quite doing much. And the room that the tank is in I cant add an AC due to the window design. Thus now thinking about seriously buying a chiller. Many brands I have already looked at online. Most look to be made in the far east and a "few" were American made. Regardless, a piece of equipment running 500+ bucks I would want something to last and work. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Also, being the type of guy that is mechanically inclined, I also thought about buying a mini fridge with a freezer. Possibly get some copper 1/2 inch line and place a 5 to 6 foot coil inside and just add hose connections drilling through the wall of the fridge to pump water through it. I quickly priced a self build around 300 to 350 complete. But I think I want to try the chiller first depending on feedback.
Any suggestions from those of you that have chillers I would appreciate it.
Happy Reefing.
I been in the hobby for almost 26 years in a couple days and have flushed many of wallets of money down the toilet buying equipment that just wasn't what it was advertised as and being a quality product. I know with saltwater you cant expect even some of the best equipment to last more than a few years. I'm finding that I need a chiller at my recent living space for my aquarium. Its the one piece of equipment I never have purchased over the years. I had an issue this past weekend here in Northeast Ohio where we went from 45 degree days into a weekend that was 84 to 86. Enough to take my reef tank from 77 degrees to 83 degrees quickly. I ran my apartment AC Unit for a bit to pull it back down but because of the tank location in the farthest room the AC was freezing out the main living room while the air getting into the tank location wasn't quite doing much. And the room that the tank is in I cant add an AC due to the window design. Thus now thinking about seriously buying a chiller. Many brands I have already looked at online. Most look to be made in the far east and a "few" were American made. Regardless, a piece of equipment running 500+ bucks I would want something to last and work. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Also, being the type of guy that is mechanically inclined, I also thought about buying a mini fridge with a freezer. Possibly get some copper 1/2 inch line and place a 5 to 6 foot coil inside and just add hose connections drilling through the wall of the fridge to pump water through it. I quickly priced a self build around 300 to 350 complete. But I think I want to try the chiller first depending on feedback.
Any suggestions from those of you that have chillers I would appreciate it.
Happy Reefing.