Chiller Recommendations

[AMurry24537]

I hope this is suitable place for this thread. The changing of seasons is upon us! As the weather starts to heat up in the northern hemisphere, I was hoping to get some chiller recommendations from all of you.

For reference, I live in an area where the summer temperature is usually about 90 degrees F and the humidity is pretty high. In the past, I've made do with fans, air conditioning, and frozen water bottles, but even so, I've often needed to house my axolotl in a large cooler (with all his aquarium equipment, of course) during the hottest months, which is not exactly ideal. I do also have an Ice Probe chiller, which does its best, but is still not quite up to snuff.

I'm looking to be able to chill a 20 gallon tank around 25-30 degrees, which I know is a big ask, but that would only be in extreme conditions.

I also don't really know a whole lot about how chillers usually work/how they're set up; I have a sponge filter, so I'd want something that can be set up without needing to attach to any other equipment. As a recent graduate with not much money, the cheaper the better!


Any info from those of you who have chillers would be appreciated!

 

[losfrijoles]

We have an AACH25HP by Hydrofarm. It's a 1/4hp refrigerant-based tank chiller. For the cooling you want to do you'll need something like that. Thermoelectric chillers won't do. Expect to spend $300-$600 and have some diy setup for the pipes.

You can combine it with a canister filter and it'll simplify your tank setup and improve the longevity of the chiller.

We used to have a $100 eBay thermoelectric unit on our 20 gallon. Even in a 23C house in the winter (Texas "winter"), it struggled to keep the tank below 20C and was constantly running, never quite getting it to 20C. We bought the big chiller and the difference was night and day. No trouble keeping the tank down to 16C and lower (when needed) and it only turns on every couple hours if we keep the house below 26C. Well worth the money and I expect it will last us many years with proper maintenance.