After buying that new Metal Halide Pendant or Power Compact Light Fixture to make your reef tank look incredible, you realize that the temperature in your pride and joy has gotten dangerously high. In today's reef tanks, high output lighting, power heads, and system pumps all add heat to your system. It's time to purchase a chiller.

Selecting the right chiller for your tank is not as easy as cross referencing gallons with the temperature drop you want to achieve. There are several things you have to consider.

For example the specs for the Micro state that it can drop a 32 gallon tank 10°. If you check the temperature of your tank in the morning and it is 80°, the Micro can lower it to 70° in that situation, as the day goes on with lights on and ambient room temperature rising you may see the tank only dropping to 75°. This is because the tank would be 85° if there were no chiller, the micro is still achieving a 10° drop.

Consider the following when choosing a Chiller.

1.Total Gallons in the system - this includes the tank itself and the sump

2. Temperature Drop - The number of degrees you want the aquarium to drop. You cannot say I want my 29 gallon tank to drop from 80° to 70° so I need a Micro. Factors such as ambient room temperature and equipment used in the system can raise the temperature to above 80°, which will affect the chiller.

3. Total Wattage of equipment used in system - Many items of aquarium equipment actively heat the system’s water. If your tank uses a large number of equipment such as pumps, and/or extensive fluorescent or metal halide (HQI) lighting, it is strongly recommended that you use the next model up from that shown in the charts.

4. Placement of tank - is the tank getting direct sunlight, or in an area that gets warm.

5. Ambient Temperature of the room - Higher room temperature will add to aquarium warmth.

5. Amount of Live Rock - Live Rock is a natural insulator, it will hold on to heat making the chiller's job more difficult.

6 Ventilation - the chiller needs good ventilation on all sides and underneath to perform it's best.

7. Flow Rate - Flow rate is very important. You must chose the pump you need to use with your chiller very carefully. For example, a RIO 800 can put out 211 gph, but this is at zero head (which means the water does not have to travel up through any tubing), at 4 feet of head the gph drops down to 60. You must take into consideration that the flow rates of pumps will greatly decrease as the head increases.
Determine the required flow rate for the chiller you are considering. For example, the Micro requires a flow rate of 2-3 gallons per minute. This means that the pump should push the water into and out of the chiller and back into the tank at 120 - 180 gph. You should be able to fill a one gallon jug 2-3 times in a minute.

Never try to operate the cooler on a larger aquarium or attempt to reach a lower temperature than specified. If units are used inappropriately in this way, they will not function properly and their warranty will be invalidated.

If you have any questions as to which Chiller would be best for your aquarium please call FRITZ at 1-800-955-1323

Be sure to have the following info ready for us when you call:

1. Total gallons in system
2. Total wattage of lights
3. Equipment used in system (power heads, system pumps, uv sterilizers, etc.)
4. Ambient temperature of room aquaria is located in
5. Current temperature of tank
6. Temperature you would like to achieve
7. Where chiller will be housed (needs adequate ventilation)

Model	Micro	CA200	CA240	CA680	CA2000
Volts/Hz	115/60	115/60	115/60	115/60	115/60
Amps	1	2.2	3.5	3.5	6.9
Watts	115	250	300	400	800
Flow Rate	3 gpm	5-7 gpm	6-8 gpm	6-8 gpm	9-10 gpm
Weight (Lbs/Kg)	6.27/2.8	35.3/16	39.7/18	46.3/21	99.2/45
Ecological Refrigerant	none!	R134A	R134A	R134A	R134A
Noise Level (dBA)	39	42	42	42	59
Tank Size 10Í Chill	32	80	130	300	800
Tank Size 20Í Chill	22	55	80	200	400

*1 year Fritz Warranty/Service on all model