Active Aqua Hydroponic Water Chiller, 0.25 HP, Pure Titanium, 40-92 Gallon

This chiller has been working great for my cold plunge setup. It keeps my 100+ gallon tub at 55°F consistently without any issues. It’s fairly quiet overall — you can definitely hear it running, but it’s not overly loud or distracting. Setup was straightforward, but buyers should know that it does not come with a pump, so you’ll need to purchase one separately. The unit itself feels sturdy and well built, even though the outer housing is plastic. One important thing: make sure you give it plenty of room for airflow. It throws off a good amount of heat from the back while cooling. I would absolutely buy it again. Five stars.

I was in need of a chiller for my 140-gallon cold plunge and, after some browsing and comparing, I decided on this one. I’m happy to say I’m not disappointed! I had no prior experience with chillers and wasn't sure how to set it up, but the instructions were clear, and it was easy to get going. The chiller runs as expected, keeping the tank cool and maintaining a steady 50 degrees. It operates for about 45 minutes twice a day to keep the temperature stable, and the cooling process is efficient. While it does make some noise for a few minutes when it's cooling down to the set temperature, I actually find it soothing—kind of like the comforting hum of the A/C kicking on in a hotel room while you're on vacation. The temperature is consistent and reliable, and overall, I’m really impressed with how well it works. It was definitely worth the investment and has made my cold plunge experience even better.

UPDATE #3 thermometer died. (a little over 1.5 years). I keep it in our enclosed patio (yes I know it says indoor only). I kept filters clean and was not exposed to liquid or dirt. I stored it for 2 months during winter months here in Florida. Turned it on and got the thermostat broke error. Will probably cost more than the unit is worth to have thermometer fixed. Must be the Florida humidity or fresh ai UPDATE #2 (contacted seller) They responded within a week and offered some suggestions but all where "common sense". Issue with paper coming out of the chiller unit and into the water they responded: "could have been some packaging material was left inside at manufacturer." but, they will NOT do anything about it since I have it on my screen-enclosed porch. (technically outside). They did not have any solution for the temperature gauge being wrong. Pretty disappointed because even if I did have the unit inside, these hoses slightly leak. Plus, condensation alone will dampen your floor. It's still chilling well though, but with the thermometer broken I have to rely on manual floating thermometer. Will not buy this cooler again because I refuse to put this wet leaking thing inside my home. I voided the warranty by putting it on my porch (like everyone does it seems). UPDATE 9 MONTHS - chiller still working well but all of a sudden the thermostat is exactly 10 degrees off (too high). Not a big issue as it's consistently 10 degrees exactly, just something to consider. (did not change location or anything else) BIG problem is it's spewing out small bits of what looks like thin brown paper. I'm going to take it apart and look at it, also will try to contact manufacturer. Will update with results. Able to keep my 100 gal cold plung at 55 degrees all day outside in Florida summer (under covered porch). Actually got it down to 48 without much problem! Unit is very quiet, chills quickly for it's size, attachments seem to fit well and do not leak. CONS (all very minor, just fyi stuff I wish i had known) - Unit is slightly different than pictures (hose locations, side power switch) - To turn off need to hold down for 6 seconds. Would like to have the power switch on top instead of way down on side. - Boost function doesn't seem to cool any quicker. - Hose attachments are cheap plastic, seems these would fail before mechanics but we'll see.

Had the chiller for about a month. I use it in my cold plunge 5 days a week. The system has a built in 2 degree dead band so if it’s set on 46 degrees the system won’t kick on again until the water reaches 48 degrees. That can be changed but it helps preserve the compressor life. I have it hooked up to a 90 gallon plunge and it works flawlessly so far. You’ll have to buy a separate pump. I included a picture of the online pump I use. It has 3 speed settings and has been a lot better than the pump the company suggests. The systems quiet and cools quickly. For the money I really don’t think you can find a better chiller. I actually found this on YouTube initially. A lot of guys were reviewing it so I figured I’d take a chance on it. Update: it’s been a year next month and the system hasn’t skipped a beat. Absolutely unbeatable. It stays on 24/7 for the price I’m really happy with this purchase. If it crapped out today I’d deff be buying another one

8 months in and the chiller is working great. One thing to note, the chiller does actually work to heat water as well as chill it. I have it installed in a cold plunge in Michigan and we have with high temps in the mid 20s right now. The chiller can't quite maintain the 50 degree set point, but it is very close at around 48 degrees. Back in January when temps were around 10 degrees all day long, the chiller kept the water around 43 degrees. It had no difficulty keeping the water cool last summer, but because of information in other reviews, I bought an aquarium heater thinking that the water might freeze in winter and that was unnecessary.

Alright, so this thing is awesome, once you work through all the kinks. I followed all the instructions to set it up for the first time and, no matter how hard I cranked those fittings, I had water leaks. After using giant pliers to tighten it to the point where I could just use a towel to dry up what leaked (instead of a shop vac), I finally plugged it in and kicked it on. Well, it read the temperature of my test bucket just fine...and did a fine job heating it up, lol. After like twenty minutes of cussing, I decided to pop off the front. I was shining my flashlight around when a huge piece fell off the side of the compressor...what? Read the side "compressor starter capacitor"...well hey, that looks important. I snapped it back where it went and !bam! cooling power unlocked. I also saw the cable harness with connector for the control board was strung up right below my in/out fittings, which were leaking, so I moved it out of the way and zip tied it. Poor placement there. Once I knew it worked, I covered the threads and fittings with high vacuum grease. No more leaks! So, this thing showed up with serious issues and is probably the reason for most of the bad reviews. If your fittings leak, apply high vacuum grease (petroleum jelly works in a pinch). If your chiller doesn't cool, check to see if the compressor starter capacitor has fallen off and snap it back into place. All I needed to fix this was a phillips screwdriver, grease, and some Q-tips to get the grease on the back side of the rubber stoppers on the fittings. I still give this 4 stars because the current asking price of $320 for the 1/4 HP model is insane and cheaper than the 1/10 HP. If you're even a little handy, you can fix this very simple device and probably get many years of use out of it. The capacitor may jiggle loose someday, but if it stops cooling, I'll probably know why and can fix in seconds. It works so well, it only stays on for like 30 seconds at a time for my 10 gallon tank. Overkill...but why pay more for less?

Follow up June 2022: This chiller is still going strong. We've now upgraded to a 60 gallon tank and it cools it easily. Our original setup with a pump got dirty really quickly. We eventually upgraded to an HW-404B canister filter and put that in front of the chiller (the canister filter pushes water into the chiller). This greatly improved the cleanliness issue and we haven't had to clean the chiller pipes in over a year. This would be worth $500...it's probably the best chiller out there. If you buy this, I strongly suggest putting a canister filter in front of it to save yourself the trouble of cleaning it. Original review: We use this for chilling our axolotl tank in the summer heat of Texas. This thing is a beast! We only have it on a 20-gallon tank right now (Yes we bought one size too big) but it can take the temperature down from 20C to 16C in about 15 minutes. Our last cooler was a thermoelectric chiller and was constantly on, burning 120W. Though this chiller takes more power when it's turned on, it does not turn on very often and only stays on for a few minutes at a time. Our power bill is either lower or unchanged (really hard to tell) compared to the thermoelectric unit. We got this for about $300, so don't pay $500 or $600 for it. It seems to go on sale pretty frequently. The chiller is also pretty quiet, it sounds like a mini fridge when it turns on and the only noise is the fan. The only downside we've had is that this required some assembly to be useful in the tank. Definitely not an out of the box solution. We use this with a 550gph pump and a PVC spray bar we made which cuts down on the water flow in the tank (water currents stress axolotls). Our PVC intake that we made has a cylindrical sponge and I would recommend that anybody using this for an aquarium have at least one sponge filter on the intake.

Works as described

Great Chiller keeps 100 Gallon Reservoir and 12 5 gallon Pails DWC at a Constant 67 degrees F Even when it's hot in the grow tents! Awesome Investment!

Product arrived quickly and as described I ordered 3 had a few weeks now working well

Not sure how I survived without this!