Chiller Failed - Total Wipeout - Need Recommendation For New Unit

[Meaty24]

I have (had) a beautiful 175 gallon reef tank with tons of coral and fish. I got home from my business trip, and the temp was 102. A total loss. Needless to say, I am absolutely devistated. Two questions:

(1) I need a new chiller. And recommendations for brand or size? I was thinking a JBJ Arctica Titanium Chiller DBM-250 1/3HP. Is that big enough? I have crazy lights (heat!) and a few pumps. Is that the best brand?

(2) Is my live rock still alive? I don't want to throw out 175 pounds of live rock if I don't have to. Also, will I lose my cycle if I want to drain all the water and put in all new water?

 

[isgon26]

i would go with atleast a 1/2hp for that size tank. Although the 1/3 might work. Do you have a sump if so what size?

 

[qy7400]

102..WOW sorry to hear you lost everything.

Under normal conditions 1/3 should do the job, do you know why the tank hit 102? Did you have fans in the canopy that failed as well? I'd find out what really caused the spike to make sure a 1/3 will no run non stop.

The rocks are not garbage but will have a lot of die off so expect a full 45 days to re-cycle the tank, maybe add a few small pieces from an established tank to re populate the critters.

Again real sorry to hear.

 

[marrone]

The LR is still alive and some of the corals maybe too. What you should do is run the tank and bring the temp back down, leave the lights off until you get a new chiller so the temp wouldn't go back up. I would then remove all the dead livestock, corals, fish and inverts, and do a good size water change. Check you levels and do a couple of water changes, not the whole tank as that could really stock what is left of your biological system.

 

[anthony27]

Marrone is correct.

 

[Meaty24]

Not sure how big the sump is, but it is pretty big. It takes up most of the underneath of the stand. I don't have fans on top of the tank, but I have the light high off the tank.

The chiller blows a lot of hot exhaust. I was away and all the windows were closed in my apt. I bet between my 1200 watts of metal halides, the pumps and the chiller, the ambient temp. was about 102 in the apartment. The chiller just crapped out.

So, even with all the death, you think some of the corals may come back? And, don't do a full water change? Maybe 50%?

 

[cthoughts1]

Meaty, very sorry for your loss. That really is devastating.. I don't know what it is about these tanks, they always seem to know when we go away.

As far as the chiller I would get a 1/2 chiller just to play it safe, but a 1/3 should do fine. I have a jbj chiller just like a few other members on here, and I really like it a lot.

In terms of the water, I wouldn't drain it, I'd keep it. Monitor the levels to see how much die off you have on the rocks, I don't think you will go through a new cycle. That being said I wouldn't add any fish for a couple of weeks while you monitor your levels just to make sure. Try to pick out the remains of whatever fish you may see and if your hermits and snails didn't make it, I'd add a whole new cleaning crew. I wish you luck.

 

[daisy]

In terms of the water change - try this -

about one third one day, then a 25% change the next day, another 25% the next. You don't want to shock the system - you want to bring things back to normal parameters slowly.

Yes, Marrone is right that not everything may have died. Most stuff may be gone, but perhaps not all. After the water changes, keeping the skeletons in for a little while to see what's still got living tissue is not a bad idea.

just fyi, a friend of mine had a "total" tank crash, allowed his system to recover slowly, removed the skeletons of dead corals, and months later, found new coral growing out from the places where the once-living corals had encrusted on his live rock!!! He now has some colonies of the corals he thought were dead and gone!

It takes time, but it's not impossible. Best of luck and so sorry for your losses.

 

[Meaty24]

Thanks for all the advice. I hate to admit how upset I am. This tank has been my baby and was finally looking like a show tank. I probably had 10 grand of live stock. It doesn't look like anything survived. I guess I will go with the JBJ 1/2. It is only $150 more in price, and I guess in the long run, it is worth it. Does your chillers blow a ton of hot air into your room? That was my big issue. The air conditioners blew cold air, the chiller blew hot, my electric bills were off the cart, and I was always hot in my apartment. I hope the JBJ will be better. Thoughts?

 

[marrone]

I think you need to vent the chiller, some people even put it outside, which is hard to do in an apartment unless you have a terrace or are on the bottom floor and you can put it in the back yard.

 

[Meaty24]

I wish i could vent. Unfortunately, the tank is in a spot where there is no access to the outside.

 

[KathyC]

No access at all? One of the guys on here had his chiller on his balcony and ran hoses to & from the tank. It does require a much stronger pump to get the water back and forth but it emilinated the heat the chillers put out.

My tanks are in the basement and each ran with it's own chiller for a while, but like your issue, the room heated up too much. We tried venting the chiller through a housing we built from duct work - including 2 6" fans within the duct work to draw the heat outside, but the duct work generated too much heat and we had to abandon that idea too.
btw- we'd measured the heat my bigger chiller - 1/4 hp - put out and it was about 105 degrees

I finally pitched the chillers entirely and got a portable air conditioner that vents out through the window. It will be running from now through the fall 24/7. I keep it on 74 at night and 70 or 72 during the day and it keeps both me and the tanks very comfortable.

So very sorry for your losses!

 

[pdnyc69]

i have a 150 and a 56 gallon tank plumbed into a 125 gallon sump. the 1/3 hp chiller was not enough. temp went up to 86. i hooked up an additional 1/2 hp chiller. i would say atleast 1/2hp chiller for your tank

 

[pmoneyt]

Meaty the first thing you should do is invest in a controller. Then set it up that if the temp gets too high it will shut ur lights off, same if the tank gets too cold it will shut the chiller off.

I have that programmed in my ACIII as a backup to my chiller, heater or bad temp probe. Then cost is much less than what you will have to put out to replace what was losted.

I can help you out with setting it up if you decide to get one.

 

[Meaty24]

Has anyone had any experience with a Tradewind Chiller?

 

[dj ze]

maybe you should think of other lighting options i have the same tank and also ran halides swapped them for led's and never had a heat issue again

 

[DrHarryLopez]

All I can say is that sucks! Sorry about ur lost

 

[Josh]

I recently replaced a failed Pacific Coast chiller with the 1/4hp JBJ Arctica. It is a great unit, very quiet. I have a small fan that blows hot air from the back of the chiller up to a bathroom exhaust fan that I built into the wall that connects to a heat exhaust line in my kitchen. It works very well and it seems to be a lot cooler in my apartment now. You should consider using some dryer hosing to vent the chiller to the outside, it will be a lot more efficient for you in the long run.

 

[pecan2phat]

Can you air condition the room instead? Large chillers enclosed in th same room as the display tank or even in a remote sump room is almost defeating the purpose due to the hot air vented from the chiller.
Also, make sure that you have a 20 amp outlet for that size chiller or it will be another frustrating problem when the breaker trips everytime the chiller cycles.

 

[cali_reef]

How hot did the room got? 102'F sounds really high, like a heater got stuck or something.