[quote=“JustSumGuy, post:2, topic:4762”]
I do this mainly to mimic the real ocean[/quote]
You may want to reconsider the temperature you are running at if you want to mimic not only the ocean, but where your animals come from in the ocean. I typically recommend 78-80 for those who are new to the hobby, but a stable thriving stony tank, again in my opinion, typically runs best at 80-82.
If you want headaches by a reefkeeper. If you want a real controller by a Neptune. Just my two cents.(echoed by thousands of other hobbyist)
As my temps rose yesterday I am now maintaining my low point in tank at 78.5. I will see how high the temps get without fans today. I was always told by lfs’ that anything above 82 would start browning sps and become problematic. I mostly have lps and softies with a few sps in the tank.
Another note I read was about how the zooanthelle can expel from the corals if it is to cold or to hot and start bleaching the coral. I have only one coral that has shown bleaching for unknown reasons and that would be my 1 trachyphylia brain.
As for Reefkeeper vs Neptune I will do my research first and see which better suits the needs of my tank and me. I have heard good about both on this forum and online so I will have to weigh out the pro’s and con’s.
If your going with a beginier controller, I would highly recomend the new Apex Jr. eithernet built right in @ a base price of $150.00, you get internet control, 4 AC outlets and temp probe.
[quote=“JustSumGuy, post:2, topic:4762”]
I do this mainly to mimic the real ocean[/quote]
You may want to reconsider the temperature you are running at if you want to mimic not only the ocean, but where your animals come from in the ocean. I typically recommend 78-80 for those who are new to the hobby, but a stable thriving stony tank, again in my opinion, typically runs best at 80-82.
If you want headaches by a reefkeeper. If you want a real controller by a Neptune. Just my two cents.(echoed by thousands of other hobbyist) [/quote]
Curious, what do you find to be a headache about it? Personally it was easy as heck to set up, even Anna helped me, and daily use is simple as opening a beer.
Tim you may have found it easy to use, but don’t you just use it as a light timer and thermostat? Or have you recently hooked up some more equipment?
Neptune and Digital Aquatics are the two brands.(there are others) Neptune makes the Apex Aquacontrollers and DA makes ReefKeepers. If you want just a very basic controller I would recommend an Apex Jr. If you want an advanced controller I would recommend an Apex. If you want a basic one that can be upgraded I would go with an Apex Jr.
Monitoring, control, and alerts for pH and temp is where things start off with the basics. If you have a large stable reef aquarium an ORP meter is highly recommended as an early warning alert system(but this is an option easy to add later on down the line if you don’t have the time now to read up on these and figure out how they work)
One other item people often expand to is ATO which is a fairly cheap add on. Be careful how you program these, limit the size of your reservoir, and never count on one sensor(no matter how much you pay for it) to work 100% of the time. Nothing in this world is really guaranteed to work.
Other add ones included dimming of LED lights, different flow patterns via Vortech(or Tunze if you like wasting money or need a silent tank), Oxygen sensors(if you really have money to blow), and many others.
I am maintaining 78as of right now.in the summer time with my mhlights the chiller is set to maintain 80.I’m using a ranco digital temp probe that is in the sump,I have 2 300w heaters in the tank with the probe in the sump.
Ok they all do about the same thing. Just different programming I love the apex but have no exp. On rk or rkl. Now you started a beef with Tunze and I have to ask the question of why Tunze controllable pumps are a waste of money? It really seems like chevy versus ford and just because we own something doesn’t make it the best.
No one really completely understands ORP. By that I mean no marine chemist who studies this stuff for a living, no one at NASA, no one completely understands it.
Oxygen reduction potential can be a very complicated subject. I don’t trade stocks and don’t fully understand the markets, but the numbers associated with them may be a decent analogy. Sometimes when then numbers are high or low it just means the markets just opened or it’s that time of year. Often, from what I understand, it’s not so important what the exact numbers are, but if they are rising or falling compared to what they have been.
ORP probes in general don’t hold calibration that well and going online and comparing numbers is really silly. If your tank falls 200 or rises 200 in the course of an hour it could mean you did a water change or fed heavily. Or a sudden drop in ORP while your out of town may be a good indicator you lost a fish and may want to get back into town.
Put it this way on one of my clients aquarium I can tell when he has fed, I can tell when he has dosed. I have a general feel for if the system is lower nutrient or if there has been a lapse in maintenance(from the client) and the nutrient levels are getting a bit higher.
If you were to get an ORP probe and jump on the forum and say “holy crap my ORP is 320” isn’t that bad? I’d have to say I have no clue.(first off because the probe takes a week to really break in and start reading more acculturation) The main reason is because I would have to know your aquarium, know what the levels are at when it is looking good, know if you fed recently, or when the last water change was.
You can think of it as an early warning detection system for those who pay close attention to their aquariums.
As far as Tunze vs. Vortech… Open a new thread to start a discussion and I’ll try to chime in.(may be best to send me a PM with the URL) I wouldn’t want this thread to get any more off topic.
Lol never thought that when the post was removed it would point to yours lol. I like your detailed responses you cover most of the questions within the question.
Yes the saying you learn something new everyday was probably said by someone maintaining a reef lol. The problem is you have to choose what to listen to even from experts. Everyone has a different setup and there are so many variables, I think this if the most difficult and involved hobby, but that makes it the most rewarding.
So back on to the temp maintained… I Set my heater at 79, and it hits 81 or 82 with the lights on. I use a in-line heater on the return from the canister filter. Does any one else have a preference of heater and location? I will add a 2nd heater for back up in the sump when i can get the sump plumbing sorted out. (its mostly a funding issue) I do notice a difference in temperature when I put the glass top on the tank. Decided to try to keep it off.
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