Powerman's 90g thread.

My lfs had a crocea clam that tempted me to buy 2day. But was too small. Bout an 1.5 inches.

 

One thing I would like to say. A little while back I decided to turn my moon lights off at night. I look at my tank at night and am pretty familiar with the night life.

So for 6 hours I go black. No lights. Well a couple of times now I go down after they are off just to get a peak. All my corals are nearly turned inside out feeding!!! It is a real trip. All their feeders are quite longs. I have upped my feeding of DT's and Cyclopeze for my corals. Well, they seem to be going to town and they look better than they ever have.

I really think turning my moon lights off has had a big impact.

 

hey powerman... I noticed you have the aquacontroller jr. Im looking into possibly getting one. What benefits has that provided for you?

 

All controllers are simple timers. On/off. The difference is that controllers monitor thing like temp and ph and IF "this happens", it will do THIS.

I don't have a very complicated setup, and don't run a calcium reactor, but the safety this thing gives is well worth the money.

Temp alone is a biggie. I turn my heater all the way up and the controller turns it on and off at points I determine. If my tank gets above 82 my MHs will turn off. My temp is stable to .3 degrees

Simple things like if the power turns off, water backflows to my sump right? Well, when my sump is full like that and my skimmer kicks on, it will quickly fill up and overflow the skimmer. So... I tell my controller how to power things up after a loss of power and my skimmer turns on 5 minutes later.

All I can say is that I looked at them as a luxury... well after having one I now look at then as a necessity. You could still spend quite a bit on crappy timers. The Jr. itself is all I need, but it can only control 12 outlets. The AC III can control 48 I think. The big thing with the new full sizes controllers is web acess. I don't care, but some do. Especially if you travel you can monitor and control your tank over the web.

It is simply the best money I have spent on my tank. It runs my lights, all my pumps, my dosing pumps, monitors ph, data logging, temp schemes, safety features, failsafe features....

 

Sounds like a necessity... not a luxury

Couple of things...
You stated that it controls your heater. I have this heater
Champion Lighting & Supply :: Heaters :: BlueLine :: BlueLine Biotherm 500 watt Titanium Heating Element
The aquacontroller will act as if the controller that is designed for that heating element?

Also you use this for your light timers? I know it will shut them off if temp is too high.

I dont run a calcium reactor either. I have the esv b-ionic auto doser. dosing 30 ml of alk and calcium daily.
Aquadirect :: Additives :: ESV :: ESV B-Ionic Doser - 64oz

 

ya, you can use the heater thermostat, but the controller is much more precise. I tell me heater outlet to turn on at 79.4 and turn off when it gets to 79.7. I turn my heater up past that. That way I never have to worry about a stuck heater. You also program in a safety statement that if temp is <50 then turn off "heater". That is a fail safe to turn off your heating circuit in the event the temp probe goes bad.

After than then at this temp turn on fan, then fan two, then at this temp, turn off MH1, then at this temp MH2, e-mail alert at this temp... the possibilities are endless.

Since we have the same... I program my leds on at this time, actinics, at this time, MHs at this time, off for all of them. You can tell other thing like if the MH on, then turn leds off, or fans on, or heater off..... Temp statements are again for safety, the only reason my tank will hit 82 is a real hot day with lights on, so if it hits 82...lights off.

I use BRS dosing pumps. Not only can I dose my Ca for "x" minutes at 8 in the morning.... I tell my Alk pump to pump for 2 minutes every hour on the hour all night long. It gives me the dose I need but spreads it out all night to keep PH up. I put in a safety statement that if PH hits 8.4 then Alk off. Since your uses a light timer you should be good. If you get a ph probe, then you could tell it to dose at certain Phs if you wanted to do that. I just stick to my daily dosing.

Then of course there is wave functions, feed timers, maintenance routines.....

I know those that have RK lite like them. RK and AC seem comparable. I like my Jr.

 

Thats awesome!!! Im looking at aquacave right now. Definitely need to get myself one of these. This aquacontroller is pretty much a "brain" for all of your equipment.

Thanks for getting into in depth detail on this. You should be a salesman for these. You sold me on this. Thank You

 

lol..you sold me to.going to price around.prob pick one up when I upgrade to a 75 bow in a few months..

 

I found Aquacave to have the best deal when I shopped mine. That's where I got it. I picked up a used DC-4 on RC, but got the DC-8 and AC Jr there.

Do at least make sure you do not want the AC 3. Keep checking RC for used ones. Neptune just came out with their latest greatest "Apex" so you might find some good deals on AC III around.

The web access might be a neat trick, but I don't see it as a necessity for me. But the III can control more outlets and can have much more code, plus more probes. Think if you will need one in the future.

I put my 2 power heads on it for feeding. We can discuss it later, but if you want to set up Alk to dose through the night, you will need to set up a "dummy timer". The only reason I say that is because it will take up an outlet label even though you won't use an outlet. So they add up fast.

So for me...
MHs-(one reason I got the dual ballast to free a spot)
Actinics
LEDs
2 powerheads
Skimmer
Return
Fuge lights
Ca pump
Alk pump
dummy timer
Heater

So that is 12, I'm full. I could drop the 2 powerheads, but they are nice to turn off on the feed timer. You don't actually need the return pump since it is on 24/7. My ATO has it's own controller, but the AC will run a float switch.

So you need a little planning to make sure a Jr. will work for you. I would still be good even if I wanted to run a reactor because I would free up 3 spots..

 

I have only seen the 8 outlet strip for this unit.... You have a 12 outlet strip? Thats what I need. 8 Might not cut it... I hve 7 Things already off the top of my head with out putting this unit on my tank yet.

Mh Ballast (2)
Power Compacts (1)
Led's (1)
Protein Skimmer (1)
Return Pump (1)
Dosing system (1)

Gotta add fans that I have. So see my dilemma?