Question about a chiller?

[james s_]

Ok im looking into buying a Aquamedic chiller AT5000 from "Russbriscoe". It is good up to 500 gal. I believe it is 1/2 HP or something.http://www.aqua-medic.com/chiller_AT5000.shtml">http://www.aqua-medic.com/chiller_AT5000.shtml</a> My system will be approx. 700 gallons including sump,refugium,etc.....

Question is will this chiller be too small for my system? My plan is to use fans for evaporative cooling controlled by AC3,and use the chiller as a backup to fans. I plan to set the chiller at 83 and control it using my AC3.Any thoughts on why I should or should not buy this chiller. Its big bucks so I only want to do this once.

 

[james s_]

I contacted Aquamedic,and they say the Manuf. of the unit is Aquatherm,a division of Hughes Industries.Even though these chillers are not available in the U.S. they are still servicable through Aquatherm,Which is good if I ever need to service it. Which I dont for $$$ sake.Anyone familiar with Aquatherm products?

 

[schwaggs]

I would think carefully before you expect to keep a 700 gallon system cool by evaporation. If you are planning a typical system with halides and lots of circulation, you will be evaporating quite a bit of water every day to keep it cool. I'm thinking 5 up to 10 gallons per day. Where is all this water going? On hot days, your AC will take some of it out but you will work your AC extra hard. On less than hot days, where is it going? Do you have a way to get that moisture out of the house?

Either your house will be a humid as a swamp or you will have to run dehumidifyer(s). These are costly to run as they are basically an air-to-air chiller. My question is, why not plan on using an aquarium chiller in the first place? Better yet, place the chiller outdoors to put the heat that is taken out of your tank right outside so your AC doesn't need to take the heat out of the house air.

That Aquamedic chiller is a great chiller. It is more efficient than most on the market but is a 1/2 horse chiller big enough for your system? I don't know, it depends on your lighting and circulation pumps. I can tell you rhat a 1/2 horse was barely big enough for my 500 gallon (total with fuge, sumps, frag tank, etc) system with 750W halides on the main tank and 500W of lights on the frag tank. I ended up getting a 1 HP unit and am very happy with it (bigger can be better) .

No matter what you get, compare the efficiency of the chiller you are getting. Divide the HP of chilling capacity by the amp draw to get HP/amp. the 1 HP unit I have draws 7.5 amps which is the most efficient chiller I could find at the time (last spring). Some 1/3 HP units draw more power than this 1HP unit. It cost more than some of the other 1 HP units on the market but I have made that cost up in electricity savings already...

Give me an idea of the lighting and pumps you have or will have on your system and I can help you compare it to my system so you can make an educated guess on if the 1/2 HP unit will work for you...

 

[james s_]

Sorry I left out quite a bit of info. Whole system will be 600 watts T5. And three dart pumps(return,CL,Skimmer).Plan on running 2-3 250 watt heaters,fuge light,and a powerhead here or there maybe. . Also I have a window in my fish room that I can open if need be,or I can install a window AC unit or a ERV if I have to keep the room cool.Of course I cant figure that out until I get the water circulating for a couple months and see how the humidity affects the room.The room will be completely sealed off from the rest of the basement..My basement stays cool even on days over 90.The sun stays on the front of the house where the basement is covered.So basically the chiller will be used as Emerg. use only just to keep the water from overheating which I dont honestly plan on happening.Well I hope. I plan on using two fans blowing over the t5's on each end and a fan blowing over the sump if the heat gets to a certain point.All programmed by my AC3 when I get it.What you think?

BTW,me Home AC system will not be used in this room.I dont want any of the odors or the moisture to get into the rest of the house.I have a humidifier that I can use if I absolutely have to but im hoping to do something more efficient either a ERV,or exhaust fans controlled on a humidistat.

 

[james s_]

Schwaggs,What 1 hp chiller are you using?

 

[schwaggs]

I use the Current USA comercial 1HP chiller http://www.current-usa.com/chillercommercial.html">http://www.current-usa.com/chillercommercial.html</a>. I see they have changed the specs and that it now draws 9.1 AMPs but that is still lower than almost all other chillers in the 1/2 to 1HP size.

When I setup my 500 gallon system in my basement, I planned on using evaporation to keep it cool. I learned that while evaporation can keep the system cool, that the moisture that is put in the air causes problems. You WILL need to figure out how you are going to remove the moisture. Aggrivating this condition will be the lack of AC in your fish room. Your basement may be consistantly cool now, but I bet it heats up pretty fast with a 700 gallon system with all those lights down there...

I started my system with fans to keep it cool. Fans can be setup to keep things cool and it works pretty well in the winter. In the winter, the moisture isn't that much of a problem since the system does not need much cooling and the moisture put in the air can be dissipated throughout the overly dry, winter home. The problem arrises in the spring, summer and fall. Without a way to remove that moisture in your home, you will have problems.

My suggestion is to do the same thing I did (what a surprise :roll: ). Buy a chiller that can keep your entire system cool and use the fans as a backup to the chiller as well as program your ACIII to cut your lights when your system overheats. Place the chiller outdoors to prevent your basement from heating up and aggrivating the cooling problem. DO NOT underestimate the amount of heat a chiller puts out.

If you plan on going this route, I don't think a 1/2 HP chiller will keep your system cool... My 1HP keeps my system at the temp I set it and with the ACIII, it its within .3 degrees of my setpoint at all times. It runs about 15 mins per hour in the summer with the lights on. It rarely runs when the lights are off. I have my frag tank on a reverse lighting cycle to the rest of the system to balance out the heat load (also reduces the heater run time in the winter).

 

[james s_]

My lights I have dont put off any heat,so Im not too worried about that. Plus Im going to run them approx. 12-16" from the tank.Was your tank in a dedicated fish room? Do you have a window that you can open?

hmmm now you got me thinking that the chiller wont be enough for backup.
I dont really want to invest in a larger chiller,it will cost three times what im getting this chiller for.Ill have to ask around a bit and see what I can do. Thanks

 

[kwl1763]

Couldn't agree more. Same on my 600G. I don't evaporative cool with any fans at all. It's humid enough as it is without that you have to figure out how to deal with it. I have a fan vented outside on a humidistat that runs a lot!!!

I have a big 3/4 horsepower chiller for mine however I have yet to hook it up. My basement stays in the 74-75 degree range naturally and that keeps my tank comfortably between 80-82 degrees. I'm not concerned with keeping mine within .3 degrees or anything. I keep it within a 1.5 degree swing and everything is fine. I plan on hooking it up but mainly for insurance! But either way evaporative cooling is not the way to go on big tanks. it causes way to many humidity issues.

I personally think what your looking at is fine as long as the room it will be in stays relatively cool (like below 78)

 

[james s_]

Got ya Im just trying to figure out the most cost effective way of doing this while I have the time to think about it.My basement stays cool just like yours naturally,So I dont expect my tank will go much above 80-82 in the first place.Thats why I was thinking that a 1/2 HP would be fine for emerg. backup if the tank ever did go above 83. Im thinking about buying one of these units to handle the Humidity issues.http://www.renewaire.com/">http://www.renewaire.com/</a>

I still plan on using fans blowing thru my T5 lights and one blowing over my sump if need be.It works too well and is very cost effective.Of course all this is just heresay for now until I actually get this thing up and going.Too many decisions to make when you have this much time to think about it.

 

[kwl1763]

You'll have to play the humidity thing by ear. get a monitor. If it's above about 40% on a regular basis something needs to be done! Again why would you want to cause evaporation? See what happens. If you need to cool then try just blowing on your lights. Then as a last resort blow on your sump if neccessary but the more you evaporate the more you have to get rid of somehow!