The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread

[fissure]

A chiller also depends on your setup. I had 600 watts of halides running over a 120 with no heat issues due to the fact I had 200 more gallons of water in the basement connected into the system. There are lots of ways to get around having a chiller, but there are some times that having one is the easiest. Although they are power hungry and expensive to run.

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by fissure

Although they are power hungry and expensive to run.

That they are.
Mine is a 1/3 HP.
I estimate it costs me about $35 a month to run it.
Cost me $600 "wholesale". Runs closer to $1K retail.

However, plenty of newer chillers in the market for smaller set ups (mine is 225 G) that are not as expensive and don't cost as much to run.
The run costs are more related to the temperature drop required.

One thing I have learned from my years in the business/hobby, always go bigger than you need.
Bigger on everything.
Bigger lighting.
Bigger heater.
Bigger UV.
Bigger Protein Skimmer.
Bigger chiller.
Bigger wet dry/filter.
Bigger all.
Bigger, is and will always be better.

Oh, and last but not least, bigger tank. (remember what happens to us all in the cigar hobby with humidors - we always end up with a bigger one and then want yet a bigger one - well, same thing in the fish hobby)

I have now been dreaming of a 400 gallon for a while but my wife wakes me up in the middle of it and hits me over the head.