1/4hp chiller on a very small tank? good or bad?

[rz1a]

im getting the equipment ready for my 75g tank and i just got my 1/4hp chiller.

before i setup my 75, im wondering if i can put the 1/4hp chiller on a 28g with half of a 20g tank sump being used?

i dont know the total volume of water, but i imagine its not that much.

will this mess up the chiller in anyway? my tank always runs at 83 degrees because of the metal halide fixture

my friend rick says it would be okay, just that the chiller wont be on as much. i thought i heard people say that you have to get the chiller rated for the amount of water you had

[captexas]

It's a bit overkill for that much water volume, but it won't hurt the chiller. The issue with rating is making sure you buy a chiller capable of not just handling the tank size/water volume, but the range in temperature drop needed. You don't want to buy too small of a chiller and have it run 100% of the time or run and not be capable of dropping the temperature enough to make a difference.

[rz1a]

a bit overkill for 28g with 20g sump, right? i think im going to try it out. my other friend thinks that the tank is going to be coming on and off more frequently because theres not much water so it wont be at a stable temp for too long

[Texreefer]

do you need a chiller on that size tank?? the only isssue would be with the chiller short cycling. it COULD seriously shorten the life of the chiller if you run it that way too long.... I would not use it unless absolutely necessary.

[Bill S]

Yeah, I'd be concerned about the short cycle. While it's not the optimum thing to do for your reef, I'd set it so it runs long enough to change the water by say 2 degrees, rather than 1 degree, which is normal.

[rz1a]

i had wanted to use it because the tank is 83 degrees and im keeping SPS. hmm, so then its best to just not use it?

[ErikH]

Fans blowing across the surface of the water. Do that rather than kill your chiller!

[captexas]

I think if you run the chiller a bit longer as Bill states it would be ok. I would assume the main heat source is your halide and that as you aren't running the halide 24 hours a day the chiller will probably only have to cycle a few times during that lighting period anyways. You can always just try it and if the chiller is only turning on for a very short period of time take it off and save it for your bigger tank.

If you go with fans instead of the chiller, just be prepared with a lot of fresh top off water as you will have a lot of evaporation. I added a fan to my sump now that it's getting warmer and instead of adding water every 5 days I'm having to do it every 2 days and that's on my little 45g. Do you have a fan blowing on the metal halide light or in your hood? I have a small fan that is on a timer based on my metal halide light time cycle that blows straight at it. The fan starts when the light comes on and then runs for about an hour or so after it turns off. This helps circulate some of that heat out of the hood and away from the surface of the water.

[rz1a]

its an all-in-one fixture but i have a fan blowing on top of the fixture plus it has a built in fan that removes the heat from the fixture. its an open top tank. i have an ATO so it shouldnt be too bad