WOW Im blown away by the response of my wife. Might need a Controller
 

Well Doug dropped over to check my tank. Thanks Doug and I get a phone call from my wife saying listen mister you best sort out that Temp problem. I'm not having my favorite Fish freeze because of you.:redface: well Now Tammy is starting to think that she own the tank .......:redface: So I think it may be time for the wallet to open up again for a controller. and some of my timer's the batteries are zonking out too for the lights.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm. now people who are running tanks 60" with 3 MH can you chime in to explain on how easy is it to run a controller. with all your lights spread out across the room. and what did you end up spending on the controller and any hidden costs along with extra equipment that was needed

Not sure what you are trying to acomplish but this is what I did for my 155 BF. I used those Noma block heater timers for each MH and T5 balast. Got them when they were on sale for $8 each bought 6. I use them on all my tanks as they are water proof.

Well Im trying to make it more and more auto for the misses its pretty much automatic now and plus she is having a grerat time taking care of it FINALLY she is starting to love this hobby..... all she has to do is feed and take the brush and wipe of the collection cup of the skimmer the timers was a fluke that the one of the timers that i have the white ones from Canadian tire. its batteries keep the times set.

I have 3x400w MH on my 200. I use an Aquacontroller 3 to control my lights, pumps, fans and heater. The controller turns the fans and heater on and off to maintain the target temp. In the summer, the controller turns off the MH sequentially if the temp gets too high. Saved my corals from getting cooked several times last year.

If you want to control the lights and heater only, an Aquacontroller Jr would probably be fine. I started with that and then upgraded to the AC3 because there is an iPhone app for it that let's me monitor and control the tank remotely, important for me because I travel lots.

I bought my AC3 used on RC and am very happy with it. I have 2 DC8's for a total of 16 controllable outlets. It has temp and pH probes. If you are willing to spring for it, the new Apex controller looks very nice and has excellent reviews.

Not sure which timers you currently have, but if they're the digital type, then the batteries (button battery) are only in there as a backup to keep the settings & time if there's a power failure. That way you don't need to reset the programming after a power outage. That's one of the reasons I prefer them over the mechanical types. The digitals might not work properly without a button battery installed, but that's just a matter of changing them once a year or so. If you have few power outages, they should last for a long time.

I made a 4 outlet controller from a Siemens Logo I got off Ebay really cheap. They are pretty much infinately adjustable and programable relays. 4 outputs, I switch my 3 MH, 2 on then the middle on 30 min later, and off in sequence too. And I got moonlights, 11pm-3:30AM. And a fan on a timer.

All depends on how DIY do you want to get, and what all do you want it to do. My setup cost me $70, including plugs and 4 11/16" elec box and cover.

Aquacontroller Jr. for the three MH, moonlights and dosing pumps.
Block heater timers for T-5's and fans.

Oh crap, I forgot the heaters are on controller too.

Hey Mike that is the ones that i have there like 18 bucks at cdn tire i have had them for 4 tears so ya its been pretty good to me , some things in this hobby that you tend to forget when they are going good... So once i get home in 2 weeks THANK GOD. Tammy bought me soem batteries for the 4 times that i have.

but looking at getting may be a temp controller may be or cut back on the plugs that I have. just looking at making it a little neater in the fish room and some less red tape too.

I run an aquatronica. Its super easy, you just plug everything in, set the times you want stuff to turn on and off and you're done. Double redundancy for the heater just set it and the controller deals with it, turns it on when its too cold, turns it off when its too hot. If the heater gets stuck on, the controller takes care of it. However if the heater doesn't work, you're screwed although you do get an alarm that lets you know the temp is subpar.

I think it was about $700 or so for the full setup at ocean aquatics and I recently bought a second powerbar. I also have the aquatronica dosing pump.

The profiluxes sound like great controllers too and I've seen a few basic setups for good deals. I can't remember who it was that had them though, maybe Aqua-Digital?

Ya Christy i was talking to Mike who is Aqua Digital however its still alot of money for a controller too. just trying to see what is the best route to go.

you're totally right, it is pricey. have you looked to see if anyone is selling a used one around here or other boards? lots of people seem to be getting out of the hobby lately, you might have some luck there.

I am currently running a 60" long 180gal tank. I use an AC jr. works great! Controls lights and has programming that is good for winter and summer. I have it set up so the light begin to shut off as the temp climbs, also is you want it can control a fan and has a PH probe to control a calcium reactor. As far as a budget controller that takes care of basic needs I think it will be hard to find anything that compares at the price.

OH OK NOW I SEE, I had no idea about the controlers that everyone is talking about. I might have to look into something like this too.

what if?
 

just wondering, if everything runs off of a single controller, what happens when the controller fails, or the power goes out etc.etc.
any experiences with this senario? to me its like having everthing plugged into one GFI outlet, and when it pops yikes!
:idea:

Mike Mike Mike Just go for the Best and get the Profilux. Supper easy and can control everything.
The number 1 reason I went with the profilux was because it is one of the only controllers that had a solution for my high AMP chiller.
but other than that. It can :
Control heating and Cooling
Lighting of course (dimable ballast T5 and MH)
Tunze pumps
Koralia Pumps
PH control for CA reactors
Dusk dawn simulation. even thunderstorms
with the PC software that come with the unit it can e-mail alerts
and 1000 more things

J

well having a controller isn't the be-all-end-all, it just makes life easier, IMO easier than a bunch of timers from crappy tire. If the power goes out then you're screwed no matter what and you need to be spending $4k on a generator that fires up the instant the power goes out (which is probably a better investment than a controller). As for a controller failing, I have no idea as I don't think I've read anything about that (not with any catastrophic results anyways, I've heard a lot of bitching about firmware updates though :razz:)

Ya Mike, jeez if you can drop $1200 on a skimmer at the drop of a hat I'm sure you can shell out a few hundred bucks for a controller and have some peace of mind while you're away :wink:

Jason, does the profilux have an internal battery, to keep its memory in case of power failure?
Thanks

Running my Neptune ACIII has been easy. Once I set it up all I have to do is calibrate the pH probes every couple of months. Setting it up on the other hand was relatively confusing and time consuming. But now that I understand it any alterations have been simple to make.

Overall I spent about $800 on my controller, $600 for the original package and then another $200 in extras like a used additional powerbar and hardware attachment that allowed me to add some water-on-the-floor sensors and water level sensors.

no it does not, But everything it is controlling requires power so why would you need it on if the power is out?

J

ACIII has memory in case of power failure. I bought my unit used ($300 with 2 DC8's) and the original owner didn't have it running for over half a year and it still remembered the time and had the previous settings still in memory. Pretty cool.

DEZ how much is the AC III

Checkout the Apex. It does everything the Proflux does. I'm going to have mine plugged into a battery backup so if the power goes out it can notify me via email or text of the problem. (as well as keep a powerhead going)

Here's a link to the J & L for the Pro model. Not sure what the difference is cause mine is a super old model and I got it used.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/s...oduct_ID=np-42

I have heard a couple of good reviews of the digital aquatics reefkeepers. I was thinking of getting one of these down the road. It can also control your ATO and you can buy the float switches for it. Anyone else have any experience with this brand?


http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/...s-reef-keepers


Palmer

No, I was thinking of the profilux's settings. So if the power goes out, you don't have to re-program when power is re-established.

No they are stored on a NVRAM of some sort. So the power can go out for 100 years and the data will still be there. You can also back up all the Data to your PC along with sensor cals. so if a SW upgrade goes bad you can always get back to the last back up

J

Something tells me if the power goes off for 100 years the aquarium is the least of your problems :)

LOL your probably right


J