- Location
- Forked River, New Jersey
what do you have, what do you run off it, how much are u spending on extras.. lets debate the use and NEED for them here!...
Controllers, lets chat here!!!
- Thread starter motortrendz
- Start date
Killerdrgn
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Park Ridge, NJ
it's nice to have, but not needed right off the bat. Especially when you're on a budget.
Heatres with controllers built in can fail, if they keep heating a tank, it will kill alot of stuff.
I had a heater go bad and heat the water to 90+ degrees. Killed almost everything in the tank except a baby snowflake eel
I had a heater go bad and heat the water to 90+ degrees. Killed almost everything in the tank except a baby snowflake eel
Killerdrgn
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Park Ridge, NJ
But how long did it take for the heater to fail? Was it the very same day that you put it in the tank or was a it a few days, months, or years?
- Location
- LONG ISLAND NEW YORK
Reef Keeper Light- $95
ALC module- $70 (i think)
ALC to dim LED's on and off. There have been some issues so it is not completely running correctly, but well enough. My fish absolutely start freaking out when there is a sudden change from whites and blues on to just the blues. Paired clowns start fighting and royal gramma starts attacking both clowns. This does not happen when both are on. All the others hide. This did not happen when I had the stock PC lights on my BC 29 and I had all the same fish together in there.
Outlets:
1- Royal LEDs
2- CW LED's
3- Moonlight
4- Fuge Light
I have another RKL coming to run heaters with the temp probe regulating them and gonna plug in skimmer and MP10 to be able to put on standby if/when needed. I went for another RKL instead of just buying 4 extra outlets because for $10 extra you get another temp probe that I will use to double check my temp.
I like the ease of use and how everything gets cleaned up instead of having a bunch of timers and surge protectors everywhere.
ALC module- $70 (i think)
ALC to dim LED's on and off. There have been some issues so it is not completely running correctly, but well enough. My fish absolutely start freaking out when there is a sudden change from whites and blues on to just the blues. Paired clowns start fighting and royal gramma starts attacking both clowns. This does not happen when both are on. All the others hide. This did not happen when I had the stock PC lights on my BC 29 and I had all the same fish together in there.
Outlets:
1- Royal LEDs
2- CW LED's
3- Moonlight
4- Fuge Light
I have another RKL coming to run heaters with the temp probe regulating them and gonna plug in skimmer and MP10 to be able to put on standby if/when needed. I went for another RKL instead of just buying 4 extra outlets because for $10 extra you get another temp probe that I will use to double check my temp.
I like the ease of use and how everything gets cleaned up instead of having a bunch of timers and surge protectors everywhere.
RKL on AP24, controls temp and lights, alarm feature for temp control priceless as the tank runs hot during the summer; plan o trying a DIY LED so will add the ALC down the road.
AC jr. on a 120, controls temp, main, fuge and moon lights, top off and CO2 solenoid.
Apex on 450 build in progress, will control same as 120 along with replacing Tunze 7095 controller.
Killerdrgn, I see your argument but heaters, lights or chillers rarely fail while your in front of the tank; does it matter when? We spend hundreds on lights, skimmers and live stock so why not add a little safety net that costs a little more than good timers and power strips. The same argument for not needing the controller cam be made for not needing a skimmer, with frequent large water changes it's not needed.
AC jr. on a 120, controls temp, main, fuge and moon lights, top off and CO2 solenoid.
Apex on 450 build in progress, will control same as 120 along with replacing Tunze 7095 controller.
Killerdrgn, I see your argument but heaters, lights or chillers rarely fail while your in front of the tank; does it matter when? We spend hundreds on lights, skimmers and live stock so why not add a little safety net that costs a little more than good timers and power strips. The same argument for not needing the controller cam be made for not needing a skimmer, with frequent large water changes it's not needed.
im planning to make my own using a plc unit and a touch screen. I think its great to have, espically when you start adding components to your tank such as fuge lights, extra pumps, power heads, heaters, chillers, probes, etc. This way you can monitor and control everything in one place. It also helps keeping things organized.
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- Location
- Forked River, New Jersey
i have an RKL havent even opened the box yet.. i actually need to get more outlet plugs befor i set it up..it only comes with 4 plugs, need abt 16
I have the same. Do you really NEED 16 controlled? Most of your stuff can be plugged into outlets that don't have to be controlled, IMO. I don't know if you can expand the RK Lite to 16 outlets, but I could be wrong.
Just be careful.. I found out the hard way (don't ask..lol) that the "off" setting on my 3rd RKL outlet doesn't work.
- Location
- Forked River, New Jersey
yea it goes to 16.. my lights alone take 5 plugs..3 mh,1 moon light, 1 pc.. my calcium reactor, ato, heater, and my pumps..i wanna be able to shut down the flow for feeding and lower the flow for night time..
so its actually abt 10ish
so its actually abt 10ish
- Location
- LONG ISLAND NEW YORK
you can have up to 4 modules on 1 head unit. So he has 1-PC4 (the 4 outlets you are talking about) and then you can get 3 more or if you want other module as well just spend the extra $10 and get another RKL and you will have another head unit so you can double your modules.
- Location
- Forked River, New Jersey
so i would run 2 head units with 8 plugs each? what would be the benifit to that?
- Location
- LONG ISLAND NEW YORK
I said that in case you wanted to get other modules on their. You would need another headunit if you really need 16 plugs.
- Location
- Forked River, New Jersey
oh ok so its 4 modules total you can add, wheather its 4 pc4s or a mix of other modules...
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
I can't imagine ever running a tank without a controller again. I've had too many timers break, heaters fail, etc. It's just as important as a skimmer, and costs less in most cases.
RKL with 2 PC4s
1. Heater
2. Fan
3. Chiller
4. MH Lights
5. T5 Lights
6. Koralia Evo (A cycle)
7. Koralia Evo (B cycle)
8. (Not yet setup) Auto Top Off
The lights function normally on timers and will shut off (halides first) if the temp gets too high. The fan, chiller and heater give me less than 1 degree of temperature variation throughout the day. The Koralia's are on opposing cycles switching every 15 seconds.
Once I get the SL2 with pH probe I'll probably remove the fan and have a two ATO pumps on the controller. One will run through kalk, the other will bypass the kalk so that I don't have to worry about a pH swing.
Eventually I may get another PC4 for skimmer and return pumps so that I can put them on standby easily for water changes, but it's really not necessary, so I'll wait on that one.
RKL with 2 PC4s
1. Heater
2. Fan
3. Chiller
4. MH Lights
5. T5 Lights
6. Koralia Evo (A cycle)
7. Koralia Evo (B cycle)
8. (Not yet setup) Auto Top Off
The lights function normally on timers and will shut off (halides first) if the temp gets too high. The fan, chiller and heater give me less than 1 degree of temperature variation throughout the day. The Koralia's are on opposing cycles switching every 15 seconds.
Once I get the SL2 with pH probe I'll probably remove the fan and have a two ATO pumps on the controller. One will run through kalk, the other will bypass the kalk so that I don't have to worry about a pH swing.
Eventually I may get another PC4 for skimmer and return pumps so that I can put them on standby easily for water changes, but it's really not necessary, so I'll wait on that one.
- Location
- Forked River, New Jersey
Man this is gonna be confusing..lol feel like a newby when it comes to this.. I usually go ok I wake up lights on... come home mh off and pc on I go to bed lights off
- Location
- FREEPORT,LONG ISLAND
RK2 and RKL for me, and i can't see not having controlers in this hobby!!
- Location
- Greenpoint Brooklyn, NY
Im running an RK2 and upgrading to a RKE with net and the salinity probe. Im also running a doser for alk/calcium.
If it wasn't for the controller, ATO and doser i wouldn't be in this hobby this long. Having things automated makes things alot easier, and not having alot of daisy chained surge outlets and massive amounts of big clunky timers all over the place falling out.
I still wouldn't trust a heater on a RK2 or any other controller. Not for things that can kill everything in my tank in a matter of hours. Theres too many things that can go wrong on them when they do start to go wonky. And i wouldn't trust any self controlled heaters in my tank either aside from a Ranco controller. I've had too many fail, 2 of them as soon as i put them into the tank.
If it wasn't for the controller, ATO and doser i wouldn't be in this hobby this long. Having things automated makes things alot easier, and not having alot of daisy chained surge outlets and massive amounts of big clunky timers all over the place falling out.
I still wouldn't trust a heater on a RK2 or any other controller. Not for things that can kill everything in my tank in a matter of hours. Theres too many things that can go wrong on them when they do start to go wonky. And i wouldn't trust any self controlled heaters in my tank either aside from a Ranco controller. I've had too many fail, 2 of them as soon as i put them into the tank.
- Location
- Greenpoint Brooklyn, NY
By the way, with the new reefkeepers thats where everyones been going lately. Otherwise it was Neptune and another company that i forgot the name. But neptune is now outdated with the new things from Digital Aquatics and the other was 1000$ for the base system which was pricey.
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