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chiller recommendations (1 Viewer)

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Cody

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Just AC the whole garage and turn it into your new fish tank building, duh. What else are you going to do with that big acrylic tank?!
 

webster1234

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I'm running a 1hp coralife chiller on my 400g system. It has operated flawlessly for the last 6 years. Keeps my tank at a steady 77 degrees.
 

steveb

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Teco chillers are another great brand that last a long time. Depending on gallonage they even have external heat pumps 2HP and up (although those are pretty expensive).



Specifically for your size probably
this one

or this one since part of aquarium is in garage
 

kris4647

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Teco. Their customer service is top notch.


For the money I’d check out Craigslist, there was a big coralife on there for $300.


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I put an 8K BTU portable A/C unit in my garage and in the middle of August it will easily keep it at 78F during the day. My house faces west and there's no insulation on the garage doors and get blasted by direct sun from 4pm to about 7:30 pm so they act like two giant heatsinks and it doesn't have any issues. This year will be even better as I added styrofoam insulation panels to the doors and tinted the garage door windows.
 

davidrod8

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1 1/2 hp eco plus commercial chiller. My 600g total volume system sits outside in a covered patio and works wonders. I have had techo in the past as well (much smaller) and was a workhorse.
 
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Thanks lots of choices here. Hoping to stay away from 220.
The portable a/c I have is a 110v. The only downside is having to vent it. I ended up getting a 6" louvered vend cover and mounted it in the garage door since I didn't want to drill through the brick or run the exhaust to the attic. Works really well for this. My next door neighbor mounted a window unit into the side door of his garage, then built a 10' x 10' enclosed space in that corner of the garage for working on his models.
 

Tenny

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The portable a/c I have is a 110v. The only downside is having to vent it. I ended up getting a 6" louvered vend cover and mounted it in the garage door since I didn't want to drill through the brick or run the exhaust to the attic. Works really well for this. My next door neighbor mounted a window unit into the side door of his garage, then built a 10' x 10' enclosed space in that corner of the garage for working on his models.
I installed a mini-split in my garage. Just a 12k BTU 220v one. I had a couple extra outlets installed and had a 220v plug outside the garage installed for my generator. I bought long shower curtains (see through) in that back area where the mini-split is so that if I'm working back there on something I can make it cool as needed. That's also where all my tools are. I keep the temp at 25c (77f) on auto. Will probably increase it to 26 or 27c now that summer is coming.

It's been great though, really like having the ability to cool that area down as necessary... and keep the humidity down in general.
 

RR-MAN

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considering adding a chiller since half my new system will be in the garage, total 500 gals what do you have that you like?

I would enclose part of the garage and install a mini-split unit.

Running a chiller in the garage in this Texas heat - chiller is gonna be running non stop.

By the way, did you sell the house?
 

steveb

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IRC @Andy had his chiller running outside and covered it with a vented enclosure (to keep the chiller dry). Plumbed through the wall.

I use a portable A/C in my fish room (closed off the tandem portion of my garage) and although it keeps the room at 74°F (tanks run around 78°F) year round the relative humidity stays around 75-80% in the winter and around 80-85% in the summer.

I usually get 2 years out of the portable A/C before they start having issues:

1) duty cycle related due to blower fan running all of the time
2) being exposed to humid air that contains salt

oh and if you do go the portable A/C route stay away from the

GE portables - Item #2759122Model #APCD10JASG

I tried 2 of them and on both of them the compressor fan came apart within a couple of days of being up and running.
 
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RobertP

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David, my entire setup is in the garage...about 330 gallons. Now the garage is insulated but still gets warm without AC in the summer. I have a portable AC unit set at 79 and it works great. Helps dehumidify the air and exhausts the hot air outside.
 
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