JBJ Arctica 1/5 HP Titanium Aquarium Chiller DBA-150

Great product, very well crafted and functions perfectly! Was exactly what we needed for our cool water aquarium. Installation was reasonable...if you already built in your own sump and plumbing this will be very straight forward. If you are new to installing this type of equipment, plan it out and take your time and you will have a great setup. I am using this on a 150 gallon aquarium with a 40 gallon sump. My heat load is driven by ambient room temperature, return pump, chiller pump, power heads, algae scrubber pump, aquarium lights, refugium lights, UV light and algae scrubber lights. Sum up your heat loads, go to the Arctica website and use their calculator to size a chiller for your system.

I use this for a 70 gal tank - no problem. Handles the load beautifully, running for less than 5 min per chill cycle.

We live in Florida and keeping our 200 gallon marine aquarium cool has always been a problem for us. We resisted buying a chiller for 20 years, but finally relented and decided to buy one. After researching other brands, we chose the JBJ Arctica series because they seemed to have the best quality, warranty, and owner reviews. <br><br>We shopped around online and found AquaCave.com had the best prices by far. Other stores offered to match anyone else's price, but they charged sales tax for Florida, which added another $50 or so to the bill. Buying from AquaCave, Florida residents don't have to pay sales tax, and of course they offer free shipping on big purchases. Our experience dealing with AquaCave was stellar. We had prompt communication, tracking of our package, and it only took three days to get here with their free shipping. Can't ask for better than that from an online supplier!<br><br>The chiller itself is very nice. Its retail box was shipped in a larger box and there was no damage to either. They warn you that hoses and hose clamps are not included. A quick trip to the hardware store for a few clamps and ten feet of 3/4" ID vinyl tubing solved that. Hooking up the unit was simple. We took off the hose from our sump pump to the tank return, then ran new tubing from the pump to the chiller and from the chiller to the tank return. Piece of cake. We ran the system for an hour or two to check for leaks. No problem. Plugged it in, did the calibration setting per the instructions, set desired the temperature, and it went to work.<br><br>It is fairly quiet, making a sound when it's running like a small refrigerator or air conditioner, which is basically what it is. The low humming sound when it is running doesn't bother us at all, and of course, it isn't running all the time. We initially set the temperature a degree below the tank temperature, then over the course of a week we lowered it by a degree every other day until we reached our desired setting. This was so as not to shock our fish with a sudden change. We were also able to turn up the thermostat in our house, so our air conditioner doesn't work as hard now and we aren't wearing sweaters indoors in the summertime! That should result in a net savings on our electric bill. Far better to run a small chiller unit than the whole house heat pump to keep the aquarium cool!<br><br>Note that you have to fill out the warranty card within 14 days of purchase and send it in. The company says you don't get the two year warranty unless you send in the card. We waited over a week to be sure the unit was working properly, then sent in our card.<br><br>We love this unit and heartily recommend both AquaCave and this JBJ Arctica chiller to anyone with an aquarium trying to keep their temperatures down. Our own system has several pumps, a UV sterilizer, and high intensity lighting, all of which add a tremendous amount of heat to the tank. Our only regret is that we didn't buy one of these many years ago. If you're keeping your house refrigerated to try to keep your aquarium cool, do yourself a favor and buy your tank a chiller. You'll save money in the long run and your fish and corals will be happier too.