The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by md4958

Im assuming the point of a chiller is to cool the water, but do the lamps generate THAT much heat that they actually heat the water that much?? So Im assuming that in a saltwater tank a heater isnt necessary??

Does it heat up the water that much?
Sure.
Especially the smaller the tank is or the lower in height.
My 225 fish only is lit by four 4 - 36" Power Compact Units (96 W each).
That generates some heat but not much as Power Compacts run quite cool.
However, VHOs run hot.
Metal Halides run incredibly hot.
You can and should use fans to get some of that heat out of there (you can see that in the design of the last tank I pictured) but when you throw in the heat generated by recirculating pumps, UV, etc, it does raise your temperature quite a few degrees. Enough to make corals quite uncomfortable.

As for the heater, depends.
In South Florida, don't use them. Don't need them.
We will never have a low temperature concern.
The opposite is true. Just about everyone should have a chiller.
In the NE as an example, yeah, you would still need a heater for the cold winters.

I keep my house temperature at 75. Without my chiller, with cool Power Compacts but three pumps and a UV running the system, my temperature will rise to around 82-84.
The chiller maintains it at 77.

Many folks get away with reefs in some parts of the country without a chiller.
Most have one.
Depends on where you are and the temperature your water goes to.