Re: DIY chiller

[Neptune]

Ahhhh....this is an old topic that has not come up in a while.  You will need something quite a bit bigger than a dorm fridge to cool a decent size tank.  Plus, copper is a no no...it will leach into the water and kill any invertebrates.  Most chillers use Titanium or high grade stainless steel.  Compare the BTU's of a dorm fridge to a commercial aquarium chiller, and you'll see what I mean about size.  Many have thought of this, tried this, and come to this conclusion.  I'm not trying to be an ass or kill your idea.  Just a little FYI.  I'm a great big fan of DIY.  There is almost always a way of DIY which is cheaper and sometimes better, but this is a hard one.  My 125 gallon reef with 500 watts of MH lighting gets hot.  I have it in the basement which helps and a fan which blows across the water when the temp gets up there.  A/C is a must in my house.  FWIW   Craig ----- Original Message ----- From: Ron Earl To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 10:09 PM Subject: DIY chiller I was just thinking about making my own chiller and wondered if anyone has done this and what their outcome was.   I was planning on the "traditional" method.  that being a small dorm room fridge with a copper coil inside.  I don't think one of these would be to difficult, but then again I don't really want to find out the hard way.   TIA,   Ron