Heater/Fan Controller

[Wretch]

Ok so summer is coming and I am going to need to run a fan to keep my tank cool. The other day may tank temp went up to 80.5 so I turned the fan on over night and tank temp dropped to 75. I forgot my heaters were unplugged cause tank usually rans at 77 without them. So now I want something to control the heater to keep my tank at 78 and something to control the fans if the temp goes over 78.

I have looked on line and found the ranco 2 channel controller. Anyone use one of these?

http://www.etcsupply.com/ranco-etc21...ler-p-110.html

[gobytron]

why not get something like a reef keeper lite that can do all of that and then some?

[Aquattro]

Apex. Welcome to the world of SPS. Get out that Visa card

[Wretch]

Guess I never thought about it. My lights are on timers. I have a stand alone doser. Run rw-8s with their own controller. Have a smart ato so thats separate as well. Everything electronic is plugged into dj powers bars so they are easy to turn on/off.

[WarDog]

Invest in an Apex bro, you'll be happy you did!

[gobytron]

well, you can get an apex lite for 100 (there is one on here now for that).

I'm not sure what it would cost you to buy a heater/fan controller.

it might not make any sense at all to get an Apex...unless it would allow you to sell off some of the stuff you already have that would then be redundant.

I used to run everything the same way with many different components and it worked quite well....once I HAD a controller though, I would definitely never go back.

[Ryanerickson]

Originally Posted by gobytron

well, you can get an apex lite for 100 (there is one on here now for that).

Where is this apex light you speak of? I need a new screen for my controller
Doubt there is one for 100 bucks that's giving it away.

[acepumping]

Me either, $100 for a apex lite.. sign me up ;p

[mark]

Been reading about the Rancos for years, all good.

I've got a plc, but what an I using for, fancy thermostat.

[gregzz4]

I have a Ranco single controller. It has a couple heaters plugged into it in case my controller has a fit, and it's set 1 degree lower than the controller.
I've had it for 3 years now and it's still accurate.
Only thing I don't like about it is it's lack of decimal points so I can match it to my controller.

Having everything on one controller is so much easier to program. Alarms can be set amongst components etc. But then you have 1 piece to fail, so you have to set rules for on/off if the controller loses contact with the power bars.