Question: Affordable Chillers?

[Elliriyanna]

I would like to save up and set up a 20 long and get another axolotl. But I decided I will not get another until I can afford a chiller. Does anyone know any affordable chillers for a tank this size?

Hoping to order from Amazon since their customer service is good if anything goes wrong.

 

[jamessamlev]

No such thing, chillers cost usually at least £100

 

[cabbysarus]

There are other ways to chill the water other than having an official chiller. These are typically projects and take a little time to get just right, but it's significantly less expensive

 

[Elliriyanna]

Ok by affordable I mean $100-$200 ... Not the $300-$500 I keep seeing.

I tried a lot of the DIY ones and it just couldn't keep her cool enough. And I won't risk that again.

 

[cabbysarus]

My office water cooler chiller does almost too good of a job I have to turn it off a lot because the water is too cold

 

[ChristineB]

I've seen DIY chillers made from coils of hose or tubing running through a mini fridge. The tank water chills as it passes through, and there's usually a dial to turn mini fridges more or less cold. If you need precision it's probably still cheaper to add a thermostat than to buy a more compact aquarium chiller.

 

[Arcadian]

I have a Hailea HC-100A chiller and it's a fantastic little machine. Pretty hard to get hold of in the UK seeing as we only seem to get warm weather for about 7 days a year but I was finding it tiring trying to lower my tank temperature in the only room it can possibly be in. Its such a relief now, I can leave it and know that it will be at a constant cool temperature - Spyro loves it too.

As I say, I got it from Amazon and managed to get everything needed (chiller, hose, hose clips, pump) for under £300. Not sure about pricing for the US though.

Hailea are definitely the most affordable though.

 

[killerrx4]

In my climate my tanks would see up to 30 deg c in peak of summer.
I use a hailea 150A 1/10hp on an 80L tank set to 18 deg c. This has been running for around 4 years & no issues.
Also have a 200L tank cooled with a hailea 500a 1/2hp in the same conditions. This one is only a year or so old but runs sweet.

My advice is to buy one larger than you think you need. The 150a is rated on paper for upto 400L, while it could keep my 200L tank cooled, it ran for hours and cycled off for maybe 30 mins before coming on again. The 500a on the same tank in peak summer runs more like 10 mins every hour or 2.

 

[Elliriyanna]

It says a 1/10 HP one will chill 40 gallons by 15 degrees ... even in the heat of summer that would bring my 20 long down by 30 degrees ... to about 50 degrees but if I remember correctly as long as they are not frozen and are eating you really cant go too cold right