Eheim has entered the aquarium cooler market with its new device the Climacontrol+. A refrigerant cooler, it’s designed not only to kick in when the water temperature gets too hot but due to the built-in 300-watt heater, it will also heat the water if the aquarium gets too cold. Three models make up the range to rapidly cool fresh and saltwater aquariums from 500-2000 liters ( 132-528 gallons,) but they can of course be used on much smaller tank volumes too, if necessary.
For those who’ve used them, nothing cools an overheating aquarium like a chiller does, and one with a built-in heater enjoys the best of both worlds as a temperature can be set via digital thermostat and the chiller will then work to cool or heat as required to hold exactly that temperature at all times, or at least within half a degree of it. Combined units negate the fighting that’s possible with separate heaters and coolers working off separate thermostats, and it also means that one less electrical socket is required too.
Eheim digital
But this is 2022, so we’re glad to see that Eheim has also added app control and email notifications to warn you if the temperature goes outside of your set values. And combined with a smart auto feeder, canister filter, lighting, and even a CO2 solenoid these smart devices join to create the Eheim Digital family of products, all of which can be controlled on the same app.
As coolers go the Climacontrol+ has a pretty fresh look, and its makers have done well to make it look like the genuine love child of an Eheim Professionel filter and a chiller. It’s square, bulky, and heavy like all refrigerant coolers are, but all three models should still fit in spaces just over 12”x12”, and that’s pretty compact as chillers go. Climacontrol+ doesn’t have the added option of built-in UVC, although Eheim already produces the reeflexUV which could easily be fitted inline to either the inlet or outlet of the unit. The recommended flow rate is between 500 and 800lph, (132 and 211 gph,) and it comes with a very respectable three-year warranty.
Eheim has come late to the dedicated reefing market but it’s good to see the invention of the Eheim Digital brand and the new products being integrated into it. With the “e” series external power filters, Eheim has been producing DC controllable filters for some time and we would love to see them add new “e” return pumps and “e” wave-making pumps to the digital line-up. Pumps should be the one thing they excel at, after all. Their Incpiria Reef and Marine aquarium lines are underrepresented in the hobby too.
The Eheim brand is now 73 years young and for much of that time, it’s been synonymous with German-engineered quality and innovation. So an Eheim branded chiller should no doubt appeal to many of its long-term fans, especially those whose first foray into fishkeeping came via a tropical freshwater tank and those unmistakeable green canister filters.
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