Chiller recommendations

[wremmrg]

As the weather is warming up, it is clear I need a chiller for a 55 gallon aquarium. Any recommendations? And Being someone who never had to use a chiller before, any insight as anything extra I would need, anything to make set up easier, etc would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Leslieks]

I have a 20 gallon and I use a clip on fan I bought at Walmart. It cools the water more than 10 degrees. It has gone from 74 degrees to 60 and it does it very quickly. I have heard fans made for aquariums barley cool it down at all. I think you could use two fans one on each side and it would work just fine. As long as you're careful and make sure the fans can't fall in the water. Chillers are very expensive so that's just a cheaper alternative if you were looking for one.

 

[Hayleyy]

Chillers are really expensive, but necessary if the fan method doesn't work for you.
I use the brand hailea. The easiest thing to do it hook it up to a canister filter. If you don't use one I'd recommend a small sunsun branded one, they're super cheap and you can use it in addition to whatever filter you use (if you want to use it as your primary filter you would want a larger one, mine is a HW-602B. The B means it has an included pump which you would need).
You can also just put a pump in the aquarium and hook the chiller up to that but pumps can raise tank temps so your chiller would work a lil harder.

 

[wremmrg]

I have been using two fans, one at each end of the aquarium with a slight fluctuation in temp everyday. Guessing that a chiller may be needed. currently been running a turtle med 30 external canister filter (up to 160 GPH) and an aqua tech 30 gallon (150 GPH) filters. they are not fully able to handle the bio load and my understanding is that the chiller restricts the flow of an external canister filter. Guess an upgrade in filtration is in order.

 

[Hayleyy]

Yes it'll slow down the flow rate, so you're better off getting a filter with a suitable or slightly higher flow.

 

[Stormynyte]

I bought two small fans that mount to the wall at Walmart. They look like a small desk fan but can move about 180 degrees in either direction. We used the mount it came with and screwed in two nice size screws to ensure they don't fall. These cost me about $16. each and took my tank temp from 75 to 66. But unfortunately, I live in Florida and had to come up with another idea now that summer has peeked at 115 outside!! The tank is starting to bounce to 68 midday. My chiller is being made now by the hubby. So if you live in a cooler state these little fans should work great!