lighting system management????

[reepks]

:wave:I was wondering, how do you guys handle the managment of your lighting systems? I have been looking for a solution to handle the lighting system on my reef tanks as well as my freshwater setups.

Both of my reef tanks have 3 sets of lights that are currently set up on timers but I don't like the mass of wires and timers under my tank and I'm looking for a simplified solution.

I have 2 plugs for my metal halides, 1 plug for the fans, (Halides and fans all come on at the same time) 1 plug for the supplimental lighting (these come on and turn off before and after the halides) and 1 plug for the LED moon lights. (these come on after the supplimental lighting goes off)

As you can see, I need something that can control at least 5 outlets to come on and shut off at different times.

I have looked into the coralife power center but I have been reading that they are a potential fire hazard. :furious: I do have an X-10 system but I have not taken the time to set it up.

I really dont want to spend the money to buy a reefkeeper elite or something thats going to cost me a fortune. Im looking to do this for under $100.


Any thoughts or ideas? :idea:

 

[jacksonpt]

I use the coralife power strip/timer setup with pretty good luck. The timers don't hold up as well/long as I'd like them to, but that's pretty much the case with any mechanical timer I've used.

 

[reepks]

How long have you been using the Coralife power strips/timers? How many times have you had to replace it?

It is my thought that if you replaced it more than once, wouldn't it be more economical to buy the AquaController Jr? (I would have to buy the coralife dual powerstrip timer at $50 each)

 

[Piazzon12]

Burned through 2 coralife mechanical power strips, they dont last more than a year... the halide side always seems to burn out fastest. The digital one I have ran for a pretty long time without issues.... but doesnt have the same functionality.. I stopped using it a while ago.... I just use the harbor freight digital timers

 

[jacksonpt]

I've had mine for about 2.5 years... still using it even though one timer isn't reliable. That's been the case for not quite a year now.

The time that doesn't work well I simply set to always on and use those outlets for other things. I bought a cheapo timer from Target and use that along with the timer side that does still work. Works for me, but I only have 2 sets of lights and no fans, so...

 

[agentgreen]

If you saved up another $90 or so you could get the ReefKeeper Lite Level 1 and another PC4 and have all the outlets you need plus very controllable!

Just sayin'

 

[reepks]

I agree with you agentgreen and Im beginning to think that is the way to go. I have been looking at the reefkeeper lite and the aquacontroller Jr. I have 1 tank in particular that I want to get something for pretty soon....the others may have to wait a while.

 

[agentgreen]

Or buy 2 ReefKeeper Lite's for $200, get double everything and have an extra head unit.

 

[reepks]

I don't know....Maybe its only me but I just have a real hard time paying those prices for a device that I only want for 2 functions....ON and OFF. I like the idea of the Coralife power strip/timer but the reviews are not favorable. I need something that is reliable. (I work rotating swing shifts---I am not home at the same times from week to week)
It seems to me that Coralife can't be the only company out there to make a power strip like this...but I can't seem to find any others.

 

[agentgreen]

You can always go buy the standard digital timers at Home Depot and run it that way. I have one with multiple outlets on it so you'd probably only need a couple.

I have an X10 system too, it always seemed a PITA to setup.

I have the digital version of the Coralife Power Center, and with the exception of having to reset all the timers and stuff on a power outage, it's been working great (seems to me it should have an internal battery to keep all your timers but I haven't spent the effort to find out I have it plugged up to GFCI plug that shuts everything down when there's a surge. Only downside to this is you have to manually reset the GFCI when it goes.

 

[jacksonpt]

Keep in mind it's just light. If you go with the coralife strips and they fail, you're tank will go what, a day or two with some weird light cycle... far from the end of the world.

Seems to me that if they cost $40 and last approx 1 year, you can go 4-5 years for what it would cost for one of the fancy $200 jobs.

Not saying one is a better option than the other... just keeping perspective.

 

[reepks]

you guys do have a good point.....right now I have power strips with timers on them...each tank has 3 of these strips. It would be much more convenient if each plug could be programed like the coralife ones....I might buy one and give it a go.

I played with the X-10 system today.....you are SO right...it is a real PITA.
I didnt get it set up before the kids came home screaming for dinner....so once again...back in the box it went. LOL

 

[agentgreen]

Yea the farthest I got was getting a camera to sync up to the computer and take video, but I never played around with the firecracker? i think it is...whatever the unit is to control outlets and all that...i'd still like to get it all working though, i just want to see what my dogs do all day when im at work and then that bag of chips on the counter goes missing

 

[03Mach]

I use to run 2 of the timers from Harbor Freight with a standard 6 outlet power strip hooked up to one. This allowed me to hook up 2 lights to the one timer and 4 lights and a powerhead on the other. So it controlled up to 9 things for like $25. I've had the Coralife Dual timer for going on 3 years now with no issues, both timers keep proper time and the outlets all work. I like this timer because of the lunar light feature. It's nice to have them come on with the other outlet turn off.

 

[nwrogers]

I used these...

http://www.horticulturesource.com/product_info.php?products_id=1966

Until I got a used reefkeeper 1. You can check out this forum for people selling used stuff...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=2

I found this for sale...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1672106&highlight=controller

If you can't find anything used you could always buy the reefkeeper lite...

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...Code=RK-30-0012-001&Category_Code=digitalaqua