chilling

[Michele]

It is summer once again and my tank is getting hot. I did a little thing on consumer reports and calculated that I need 30,000 BTU to cool the room that my tank is in. Unfortunately for the tank, we have gone with an open floor concept in a part of my old colonial that was renovated.

I have a 120 gallong tank, with 2 quiet one pumps that are inline with the sump.

I have been looking at drop in chillers and in line chillers (that I assume I can plumb into my pumps).

Any ideas?

Should I just buy a big airconidtioner and point it at the tank? There is a window that is 10 feet away?

Only buy corals that can withstand the 1-2 weeks of heat we have all summer in NH?

Bite the bullet and buy a chiller... and then which one?????

[Casey]

Michele how hot does it get? Tank? room? I would put one in the window the fish will love it and so will you

[Doug1]

Michele whats the long term temp in the tank like and what are your max temps?

[Geoff]

if your tank stays close to the room temp then i would get an A/C for you, and the fish will like it also. it your heat is also caused by the lights in the canopy then maybe go with many on/off periods during the course of the day. just think about it as really big clouds.

G~

[seamonkey]

Ok out of interest what for size house do you have that you would need a 30,000btu ac unit. I live in a 2200sq ft of living space house and have 10' ceilings and I only have a 18,000btu to cool my downstairs and I can keep the house at 70 degrees like its nothing. I hope your not taking into account the heat the tank puts off because that actualy won't fall into play. Honestly if you need an ac unit that big you would be better off putting in central air.

[Doug1]

Good Point, window AC maxs out at what 12-15K btu
If the tank temp easily stays in acceptable range except for a few weeks a year, I would look at sump fans or something, unless you fall into a sweet deal on a chiller, otherwise you prolly looking at $500 + for chiller, as well as the hassle of locating it out of the way and retaining efficiency.
Like wise a couple Hi Capacity window units will set you back close to a grand I would think. If you don't have high humidity with the high temps perhaps an evaporative(swamp) cooler might be a cost effective alternative. HTH

[Michele]

thanks everyone for your replies.

I used the consumer reports calculator that takes into account windows etc... that's how I got 30,000. My hubbie has also been very against AC. The actual space that I need to cool is about 900 square feet and there is a window across from the tank.

I keep my 120G tank at 78. I thas hit 88 degrees during a heat wave.

thanks ot all of you, I bit the bullet and bought the AC unit tonight. My hubbie still likes the idea of the chiller.... but then he doesn't have to do any set up etc (or pay for it!). He voted for moving the sump to the basement, increasing it's size to 65 gallons and adding the chiller....... more work than I can think of in the summer.... but moving the sump may be fun this winter!

[Doug1]

that will prolly work, I imagine the basement stays cooler, plus the evap cooling factor etc. Any possibility of a 6" Walmart clip on fan for the hot days?

[seamonkey]

If I were you I would definatley get a fan also. I listened to every ones post's about how much they help so I set my 12" up to blow over the tank on the hot days and it has helped quite a bit.

What size ac unit did you go with? I ask because if you got a 30,000 btu I am gonna say in the long run the chiller would have been cheaper. A 30k ac unit only comes in 220 witch is a plus but even so that thing will raise you eletric bill by atleast 30 to 50 dollars a month. my 18,000 raised mine almost 20 a month when I use it regularly. Just for your info My downstairs and stairwell where I cool with the ac unit is 1178 sqft of living space. and I can keep the temp around 75 to 77 degrees with no problem. Also did the consumer report calculater take into account the r value of your insulation?