My $400 mistake

[ninjamyst]

I am an idiot. For the past 3 months, I been trying to cool down my 200g tank. My AC is blasting all day but the tank is still 82 degrees. I added two fans, drop huge ice cubes in the morning, and still 82 degrees. I finally bought a $400 chiller and hooked it up and it worked!!! It's loud and it took a solid 5 hours to drop it down to 78 but it worked. Then I notice the chiller is very cool and has an outlet for a heater so it can turn on the heater too if the temperature gets too low. That means I can have the chiller hooked up all year. Amazing.

So I went to take out the 300w heater which is hidden from view in a tight spot in the sump. That's when I noticed the heater is on.

So this whole time, the heater been on despite the tank being above 78 degrees and I been literally fighting the heater the entire time.

I turned off the chiller and the heater and my tank stays a cool 77 degrees now all day.

I am an idiot. And I been in this hobby for 10+ years....

I will keep the chiller for emergency power loss ...

 

[Saltyreef]

Dang. You should use an additional heater controller and plug your current one into it as a failsafe.

 

[bjsreefer]

I’d say this isn’t a mistake at all! Chillers and heaters can be used in conjunction to keep those temp swings low and bring the temp down too. Anecdotally meat corals color up a bit cooler. Thats why I installed my JBJ and set my water for 74-75° with an inkbird keeping watch and control over both the chiller and the heater. Chin up! You may not have NEEDED it, but you will now benefit for having it by limiting your temp swings and having exquisite control over your tank!

 

[JumboShrimp]

Round One: Heater vs. Chiller, in head-to-head competition!

 

[KrisReef]

I am an idiot. For the past 3 months, I been trying to cool down my 200g tank. My AC is blasting all day but the tank is still 82 degrees. I added two fans, drop huge ice cubes in the morning, and still 82 degrees. I finally bought a $400 chiller and hooked it up and it worked!!! It's loud and it took a solid 5 hours to drop it down to 78 but it worked. Then I notice the chiller is very cool and has an outlet for a heater so it can turn on the heater too if the temperature gets too low. That means I can have the chiller hooked up all year. Amazing.

So I went to take out the 300w heater which is hidden from view in a tight spot in the sump. That's when I noticed the heater is on.

So this whole time, the heater been on despite the tank being above 78 degrees and I been literally fighting the heater the entire time.

I turned off the chiller and the heater and my tank stays a cool 77 degrees now all day.

I am an idiot. And I been in this hobby for 10+ years....

I will keep the chiller for emergency power loss ...

If you hadn’t bought the chiller you would not have found the heater, and it was well worth 400$ to solve the issue. Now you have a great system to avoid future temperature control problems.

Win !

 

[BryanM]

Yeah, I agree with the above... $400 to solve the real problem you didn't realize you had isn't all that bad really.

 

[ninjamyst]

Dang. You should use an additional heater controller and plug your current one into it as a failsafe.

I didn't want to disclose this part as it makes me sound even more like an idiot but I have an inkbird controller and I thought this heater was plugged into it. But what was plugged into it was actually a small pump that I used to circulate water in my sump.

I am such an idiot....

But in my defense, I was diagnosed with skin cancer beginning of the year and kind of neglected my tank. Just slowly getting it back in shape in the last month or so

 

[bjsreefer]

Dang. You should use an additional heater controller and plug your current one into it as a failsafe.

I didn't want to disclose this part as it makes me sound even more like an idiot but I have an inkbird controller and I thought this heater was plugged into it. But what was plugged into it was actually a small pump that I used to circulate water in my sump.

I am such an idiot....

But in my defense, I was diagnosed with skin cancer beginning of the year and kind of neglected my tank. Just slowly getting it back in shape in the last month or so

It’s an easy to make mistake, even if you WERENT going through all of that! Don’t feel bad or disparage yourself! And you ended up net plus one chiller so you’re good!