Temperature control...

Living in NJ the temperature is begining to rise. So I have been preparing my reef tank for what should be a stressful summer (for me hopefully not the fish). I have the AC on and fans blowing on my sump 24hrs now, my theory was I would rather heat my tank through the summer instead of running a chiller. My problem came Last night / this morning. I have two digital therm. In my tank (toms aquatics & coralife) they are consistently off about two degrees (toms=80, coralife=78). I am also running two eheim 250w heaters in my overflow (the only place I can hide them due to size). Back to my problem, when I woke up to do my bi-weekly water change this morning I discovered my temp has dropped to 76-78 degrees... And one o the ehiems wasn't lit up and running. I have little faith in heaters and have never had a swing like this in my cichlid tanks (5+ degrees), so I'm begining to worry a little since my daytime high can touch 81. I'm pretty much set on buying a heater controller to satisfy my worries, I'm just looking for some suggestions since I'm having trouble finding a rock solid product online.

 

I hear ya, our temperature has been on the toasty side here, especially for this time of year. Have been dealing with the exact same issue, fortunately it's now pretty much under control. Honestly, I'd really like to help, but I'm not entirely sure what the question is. What target temperature range are you shooting for? You seem alarmed by 76-78F...and that's exactly where we keep ours and all is well. You are right about the consistency...it's not so much the temperature itself...but the swings that cause the problems.

And I'm sure it's been thoroughly documented how inaccurate that Coralife themometer is...and yet everyone seems to have them (yes, me too).

Our photoperiod runs 12 hr. offset (yay, natural Indo-Pacific reef time ) from Eastern time. Works well for us as the we work throughout the day and enjoy our tank in the evening anyway. This may or may not be practical for you. But the added benefit is that the lights are on when the temperature falls during evening/night and off when temperatures rise during the day, which helps naturally moderate things a great deal. Only light we run during the day is our fuge light, which runs reverse cycle to our tank lights. And yes, we have digital controllers which kick on/off our heater and our sump cooler as needed.

 

I'm pretty much asking advise on a quality temperature controller. I have been happy with keeping my temp between 78-80 which I have been able to do +/- 1 degree for the past few weeks. It's the dip in temperature this morning and my cautiousness about trusting my heaters that's freaking me out. My light cycle runs 11:30-11:30pm and the sump oposite. I have read a little about the Blueline biotherm and the Jalli Jts-1000 controllers but don't feel comfortable with them after reading some of the reviews. Any ideas on a reliable unit?

 

Daniel...the temp drop you saw isn't a big deal. Just let things warm back up slowly and you'll be fine.

IMO, a full blown controller (AquaController JR/Apex, Reefkeeper Lite/Elite) are the best temp controllers there are. Yes, a full blown controller is a lot more money than a simple temp controller, but you get a lot more for your money including the ability to control each outlet from your phone, the controller will email or alert you if something is out of whack (such as temp) in your tank, and they can turn on fans to cool your tank if need be.

I resisted buying a controller for a long time due to price, but now that I have one, I'll never have a tank w/out one. They just make life that easy.