Chiller Questions.

I am thinking of getting a chiller for my now much smaller tank I'm building.There is a guy about 20 miles from me that has a 1/4 hp for sale but he used it for hydroponics-I didn't even ask.He said it only had "organics not chemicals run through it" and ran it for 7 days with fresh water to flush it out.There is also a guy about 90 miles from me selling a 1/3 hp drop in chiller that was used on his 180 gallon reef.So my questions are:
1.Would anyone trust the 1/4 hp chiller at all?
2.And if so how could I clean it so I don't have to worry about it?
3.How good is a drop in coil chiller?
As always thank you all for the help,
Daniel

 

Anyone?

 

Drop in's are ok if you can hide the coil (IE in the sump). As far as the 1/4hp, I would run some bleach water through it and flush it completely, then let it dry---you should then be ok. You did not mention how big your new tank is going to be. There is a pretty big difference in cooling capacity between a 1/4 and a 1/3.

 

The new tank is 75-down from 150.I'm hoping to get something big enough so when I upgrade later won't have to buy a new one.

 

Well a 1/4 hp is plenty on a 75. I am running a 1/3 on my 150g and it is just enough with my halides. I almost went with a 1/4 hp and I am glad I didnt. I would have run the crap out of that thing. It really depends on your future plans. If you put the 1/3 on that 75, it wony hurt anything. It would bring it down FAST. But kinda overkill if you never upgrade.

 

Is there much of a difference between the coil and and a flow through?

 

Performance is about the same. Drop in is just a little more unsightly. Mine is a flow through. I just sent the return pump into the chiller, then from the chiller into the tank. Chiller sits on the side of the cabinet. I like it cause it has a red led live temp read-out.

 

Vety nice.I really appreciate all of your help.;D

 

Anytime, My pleasure...Good luck.

 

I was wondering this same thing, so I won't start a repeat thread. Not trying to steal this one. Would a 1/4 hp chiller be good for a 55g? It's a flow through chiller, I am looking at.