Aqua Controller or Reefkeeper?

[canar]

Let me first explain what I have going on.

Sump is in the basement. I am not happy with the outlet strip timers for the lights. Power goes out for a few and they get wacked out. Plus I keep reading they fail. It has not happened to me yet but....

In my eyes my temp fluctuates too much. My 210 has 3 400W MH and a couple 96W PC's on it. Almost 1400W I have a fan on a temp controller and I am thinking of hooking up a chiller to keep it more stable.

Next curve... I have a 90 gal tank in the family room that is running off the same sump. This one is probably 30+ feet away. The sump is in the room under the 210.

I thought I had a great idea for this. X10! I read about it a lot. Wound up going with Insteon. It is like X10 but uses wireless for a backup and sends a confirmation back from the device. Supposed to be a lot more reliable.

After playing with it for a long time I requested an RMA today. I can get it working. When it is working it is great. We plugged in a blow up pumpkin in front of the house for holoween and the front tank stopped responding to commands. I have a list of about 10 quirky things that keep happening like this and I am positive it is not stable enough. Not even close.

I really did like the idea of using the computer to control the tanks. I am an IT nerd and it just seems easier. I am looking now at the Aquacontroller and the reefkeeper. I don't want 3 of them. It looks like the power cords that come off them will not reach from one of my 3 spots to the other two. Take feed mode for instance. How do I hit one button and shut off the return downstairs and the Seio's all at the same time? Remember one of the tanks is 30 feet away. Lets say the water gets too hot and I wanna shut down the MH? How do I get one controller to shut them off in both tanks?

If anyone knows if either of these have options that will help with this please help. Is there something else to look at? Am I stuck buying multiple units to reach my goals?

Ted

 

[Hammercoral]

One controller should do it since the sump is common. Are your ballast electronic, sometimes they mess with the x-10 signal. I can throw out a few Ideas when I come out to grab that reactor from you.

 

[aiko670]

Like Hammercoral said if they all share a sump it shouldn't be a problem. I'd use Direct connects rather than x10. You can daisy chain them up to 20ft. with standard 2pair phone cables. I'm sure 30ft wouldn't be a problem.

The AC is far more robust than the RK imo. I have an ACIII and I love it.

 

[rockdiver]

Been reading alot about both.
The reefkeeper 1 & 2 seems to have fuse issues.
Fuse blows everything is shut down, Cant have that!!
Other controller has issues also.
Go read the vendor forum for both.
For now I am just going to stick with the regular timers and my wave maker to turn my pump off at feeding. All the computer stuff they can do is cool but I didnt look into that since I wont be doing that.
rockdiver

 

[canar]

aiko670,

So if I understand you right the AC can have ac outlets directly connected with phone wire?

Yea my ballasts are electronic. Thats what I thought originally when I was having the X10 issues. It is the other items in the house that you do not expect to cause a problem that get you with X10.

 

[schmoeger6]

Might want to check with Rod on the RK. The RK had some issues originally, but they have been worked out on the RK2. I bought one from Rod a couple months ago and love it.

 

[aiko670]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8236045#post8236045 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by canar
aiko670,

So if I understand you right the AC can have ac outlets directly connected with phone wire?

Yea my ballasts are electronic. Thats what I thought originally when I was having the X10 issues. It is the other items in the house that you do not expect to cause a problem that get you with X10.

That is correct, They are called direct connects. they come in an 8 outlet(DC8) or a 4 outlet(DC4 or DC4HD) and you can daisy chain them together. They look like power strips but they have dip switches for the addresses like x-10. They basically receive the x-10 commands via a cable. I believe they will also work with electronic ballasts.

I'm super impressed with mine, it costs a bit more but I think it's worth it for the extra features and internet connectivity. Neptune also has outstanding customer service.

Wow, sounds like I should become a salesman for them.....

 

[prugs]

I just got my AC Junior hooked up with a DC8 & love it.
If you are going to need more than 8 outlets, get another DC8.
You can hook quite a few of these DC8's to one AC controller.