Fans VS. Chillers

[zoidberg]

this is my first tank it's 140 gallons currently running 2 175 watt mh's and 3 t12 vho's, planning to upgrade to 2 250 mh's. with the higher temps on it's way i'm trying to find the most cost effective way of keeping temps down. so how many of you out there keep their tanks within tolerable temps using just fans?

 

[vangvace]

Fans are more cost effective (evap vs wattage use) however depending on how hot the ambient room temperature is a chiller would be a better option.

How hot are you running now?
How hot was it last summer? (if applicable)
Do you have the room?

 

[mnat]

Chillers because they can be set at a certain temperature provide a more stable temperature overall which is always good. Fans can be a quick and easy fix if setup properly. If you are using a clip on fan, you are going to get more evaporation which is going to lead to changes in salinity.

 

[zoidberg]

Right now i am currently not running my ac my tank is in the largest room in my condo the ambient temp currently is around the high 60's and my tank hovers around 77-78 but yesterday with the higher temps and my ambient around 72 my tank reached 81. and the system is only two months old. i'm not to worried about evap my AC3 does an excellent job topping off and keeping my salinaty stable.

 

[depitch039]

If you are increasing the wattage of your MH bulbs the chiller will be needed.

T5's are lower wattage and much less heat so a fan will be enough to cool down tank.

Just another suggestion.

 

[Gecko]

Chiller vote here, I have T5's and I still needed a chiller. Anyway as mentioned earlier, it’s just the best way to stabilize water temperatures.

 

[Baxreefs]

IMO, if your run 250s, you will need to run the AC during lighted hours with fans in order not to need a chiller. The comments on stability are right on too, a chiller is more stable in terms of temp and SG. Fans will add humidity too.

 

[jimroth]

I've only ever used fans. It's easiest if the tank is open-top. I'm keeping a chiller handy though, just in case!

 

[bmoney]

have only used fans on my 265 with ac-jr to control the temp. When the temp goes up the fan comes on at set temp in the ac-jr and it brings it down the fan shuts off.