I know NOTHING about them, but now that I have T-5s, I'm 101% sure I'll need one this summer. My temp was 82 today with two hood fans running

What is the best brand out there?

How big are they? I have very limited space under the tank, and I'm thinking I won't be able to find a chiller to match my decorating motif :-)

Realistically, how noisy are they? Tank is in the living room. Am I going to get divorced over this, because my hubby can't hear the TV?????

Electricity . . . . are they serious energy hogs???

Suggestions, recommendations, comments, etc, much appreciated! Thanks!


Kimberly

Kittyj

I know they are expensive to run and blow out very hot air. I don't know about the noise as the only one I have had contact with was in a garage and I did not pay a lot of attention. Do you have fans on your sump also? This will help keep the tank cooler also? I assume the T-5 lights are build into a canopy? Give us more details. Someone with more experience with chillers will need to chime in.

Good Luck

Lori

Kimberly...give us a call since there is too much to type. BTW this would be a good topic for an upcoming meeting for everyone else that is struggling with heat....sorry phone just rang at the shop and it went like this "Don't think I'm crazy but I have a question.....[long pause] Can I put a dolphin in an aquarium?". Sorry, no joke, but I had to share that.

Scott, I was serious when I called about that Dolphin. I have a spare 10 gallon that I was hoping to put it in. :)

I have two 3.5" fans in the canopy, and I'm going to add a third this weekend. Yesterday, I put a garage fan on the sump, and it helped, but it's too big to stay down there. Plus I evaporated 5 gallons in one day. Ugh! It's always something!!!!!!!

Kittyj

We use the plastic clip fans you can buy almost anywhere on our tanks. It may evaporate a lot more water but might be a little better option than the chiller. Is the back of your canopy open so air can flow through it? Also, this is a bit extreme but you can take an empty two liter bottle and fill it with water and put on the cap. Freeze it and place it in your sump daily if needed or when you need additional cooling. Refreeze and reuse when it is needed. Some people I know in summer run their lights less than in Winter due to heat and also run them at night when it is cooler. Hope things work out.

Keep us posted

Lori

I've noticed it's not that uncommon for my tank hit it's peak temperatures in the spring and fall more than in the summer. I think this is because once it's hot all the time outside, we tend to turn on the central air and it makes the house not only cool, but drier, which help make for more evaporation and associated cooling. In the spring and fall, when you get those days when it jumps 40 degrees between morning and late afternoon we tend to keep the doors open (so the dog can go in and out) and the house is probably hotter and definitely more humid than once we close it up for the summer.

I've also found a cheap clip on fan over my sump will effectively drop the temp a degree or two, which is usually enough for me, as I usually don't worry too much if my tank gets to 82 in the summer. It does evaporate more water this way, but water is cheap and it give me more opportunity to replace other trace elements I need in my replacement water (calcium etc.).