Chiller help

[bigsink]

I have a 75 gallon reef tank and 40 gallon sump with 2 175 W MH. The temp is slowly getting out of hand. It ranges from 81-83 when the lights are on. I get around 3 hrs of MH light before the Controller turns the light off at 83. I would like to keep the tank at 79 or 80 and get 8 hours of lighting. I am concerned with my SPS not getting enough light. This has been the case since June. I put an AC unit in the room, but it did not do the job. There are no windows in my fishroom to vent a portable AC unit properly. AC ran 24 hours a day and did not keep room under 83. It was a 9000 BTU unit in a 200 square foot fish room. I now want to go with a chiller. The ambient room temp is between 80-84 all day in the summer. I have fans running over the tank and the canopy is very well vented. Can anyone please chime in with chiller suggestions. Does a chiller need to have a place to drain like an AC unit? Would a drop in unit be better than a flow through unit? Price is not an issue, I just want to do the right thing. Thanks!

 

[pecan2phat]

A chiller does not need to drain like an AC unit though it does exhaust hot air into the room when the unit is operating. If your room is already 80-84 degrees, the chiller will increase the ambient temperature in the room to an uncomfortable situation.
Though you do not have many choices, I would go with a chiller and see if you can possibly plumb it outside of the fishroom through a wall. Your plumbing would be extended and would need a pressure rated pump but it would make a world of difference.
As for chillers, I would stick with Aqua Logic inline. Reliable american made chiller without having too much restriction. I purchased a Pacific Coast 1/4 hp chiller based on the specs and the nice plastic enclosure BUT....... the design is highly restrictive to water flow and basically negates all the pros of this chiller.

 

[bigsink]

pecan, thanks for the feedback. A chiller can be plumbed outside of the room with very little inconvenience. Could you please give me some advice on the pump I would need to use. I am currently using an eheim 1260 that is external from the sump and pushes water right back into the tank. If I had to run like 12 feet of plumbing, what type of pressure rated pump would I be looking at on a 1/4 hp inline chiller?

 

[pecan2phat]

I would recommend an external pump if you can drill your sump for the bulkhead (not sure if this is feasible for you).
There's 3 ways to do this.
1) You can change out your existing return pump (if external) and have one return line (if you utilize 2, if not then just the main line) plumbed to the chiller then back up to the tank.
2) You can use a separate pump that will run the water from one end of the sump to the other end where the return side is.
3) If you utilize a ReefKeeper or Aqua Controller, you can have the dedicated pump turn on .1 degree before the chiller set off temp to save energy.

I would stick with reliabilty such as an Iwaki WMD30RLT, never tried the panworld or bluelines. I've had an Iwaki running on a tank for over 14 yrs without a problem. This pump will give you about 500 gph.

 

[Pseudo]

Best pumps: Quiet, reliable, transfers less heat to tank water, pressure rated and resale value.

Gorman Rupp Industries (GRI)
Iwaki
Blueline

 

[PalmTree]

I've had 2 bluelines in the past and they are fantastic for pressure rated devices. I've cut down on the pressure equipment and I'm using a sequence dart and snapper right now. I still highly recommend the blueline pumps. They really are quite for the amount of water they push.

 

[PalmTree]

Forgot to mention that I've noticed that JBJ chillers are near silent when operating. If you don't want the heat to transfer into the room I would find a way to vent the hot air to the outside or locate the chiller to an area that is further away.