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Chillers and Bay Area (Peninsula): needed?

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richiev

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I'm originally from the Chicagoland area, and that's where I had my tanks. For those that don't know, Chicago does get cold in the winter, but also gets super hot in the summer (90-100F). Because of that, just about everyone has air conditioning. While outside the temp varies, indoors there it doesn't really, or at least it's well controlled. Here in the bay area we basically have no weather, so many like myself don't have any A/C.

However, as we all know sometimes it does get hot here. Given summer is approaching, and I'm now back in this aquarium hobby, I'm trying to get ahead of things and if needed buy a chiller now versus waiting until my tank has cooked and the used market has been emptied.

I'm then looking for some advice. If you're in the bay area, specifically the peninsula, most specifically if relevant Redwood City, do people actually need a chiller? Do fans alone solve this? Is it better to just put the couple hundred dollars on one of those crappy in-room AC units for the handful of days it is needed, and buy a couple ice packs?

Are used chillers worth the money, or do those things fall apart fast enough that they wouldn't be worth the ROI?
 
I have my frag system in an unattached garage that has zero insulation. It's got pretty hot last summer and all I have on the tank is a small office fan controlled by my apex. Tank never got above 80.
 
I live in Pleasanton and its gets hot here. I have a frag tank in the garage that gets cooled with a fan off of an Inkbird. Main tank in the house is controlled by the AC. When it gets really hot I use the frozen bottle method. I have a chiller but I disconnected it when i went from MH to LED.
 
Da_Neefer said:
For redwood City area, I'd just have a bunch of bottled water on hand that could be thrown in the freezer before a heatwave. Let melt in the sump and refreeze. In the east, south or north bay AC or a chiller would be something you'd need.
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I tried this and it really didn’t have any effect. I don’t know if I didn’t put enough bottle in or what but it also messed with the ato since the bottles displaced the water. I tested out putting a fan blowing across the top of the tank and within minutes there was a noticeable difference.
 
Flagg37 said:
I tried this and it really didn’t have any effect. I don’t know if I didn’t put enough bottle in or what but it also messed with the ato since the bottles displaced the water. I tested out putting a fan blowing across the top of the tank and within minutes there was a noticeable difference.
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I found fans worked better as well. Hope life is treating you well.
 
Flagg37 said:
I tried this and it really didn’t have any effect. I don’t know if I didn’t put enough bottle in or what but it also messed with the ato since the bottles displaced the water. I tested out putting a fan blowing across the top of the tank and within minutes there was a noticeable difference.
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Fans are what I use now but here in San Ramon it gets hotter and stays hotter for longer than the peninsula. I splurged and got the GHL ones. Figured water bottles are an easier/cheaper way due to such infrequent use. They used to work well for me minus the ATO issues.
 
@richiev -- glad to see another Chicagoan on here!

I think it depends on what you're keeping and how sensitive they are. I run my tanks in my detached office and in the garage. I run chillers on 6 of them (out of 14), ice probe on one... and wish the best to everyone else. Last summer, I thought I would reduce the chillers and put in a portable AC unit. These all work and everything fares mostly well.

Fans are definitely easier on the wallet and energy bills. If you can maintain your tank under 82F, most things will be fine. so that might be the way to go. That said, if you go the chiller route, used chillers are the way to go. Haven't had a problem yet so as long as they are the refrigerant driver ones like JBJ artica. I also have bought a new unit from eBay that are labeled for aquaponics for same price as an used JBJ...only diff is it's bulkier.

I live in Mt View.
 

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Another basic question, is the benefit of an aquarium specific fan that it has a nice form factor? I'm trying to understand what differentiates one of those versus a different clip on fan design + a temp controlled plug.
 
richiev said:
Another basic question, is the benefit of an aquarium specific fan that it has a nice form factor? I'm trying to understand what differentiates one of those versus a different clip on fan design + a temp controlled plug.
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I use one of the cheap clip on fans. See no plus or minus over the aquarium specific fans. Been in use for a couple years and going strong. Just have to clean them now and then just like any fan.
 
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