scottbennett86
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2016
- Location
- Putnam, Ontario
This is my first saltwater tank. I plan on getting my feet wet with a 40g fowlr tank. I have it up and cycling with a mix of live and dry rock. I have a 20 gallon sump and 20 gallon Refugium. The plan is to in about a year move to my 120 gallon and go full out reef. I am trying to decide if a controller such as a reef keeper lite would be worth it.
My system is as follows
2 Mars aqua 300w led lights(on the advice of a friend)
4 bulbs of t5 ho light with moonlights
My Refugium light
In total it takes 4 outlets on timers to ramp up lighting the way I would like. That sounds like $80 or more and a pain to set up and keep in sync.
The next thing is I have had heaters stick on and cook tanks. Some times no casualties other times not so lucky and from what I understand saltwater is less forgiving of heat events. So a temperature controller is definitely something I want. Both to protect against a heater sticking on and possibly run a fan. That sounds like another $60.
Next some claim to work as a wave maker controller. Does this work well? If so that would be an asset. Though truth be told my sunsun powerheads seam sub par, as well as they work in my freshwater they are optional there and would like better quality in my saltwater. I think I will by some with a a wave maker included.
A reef keeper lite with 8 outlets seams like I would only be spending an extra 200 for a much better setup(not sure what I would do with the pH probe) but having never used a controller I am curious if people think one of these is worth it? Is there another option for a controller that would suit me better? I already regret some of the areas where I cheaped out and I don't even have a fish yet.
Thanks for reading my long post. Any advice would be appreciated.
Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk
My system is as follows
2 Mars aqua 300w led lights(on the advice of a friend)
4 bulbs of t5 ho light with moonlights
My Refugium light
In total it takes 4 outlets on timers to ramp up lighting the way I would like. That sounds like $80 or more and a pain to set up and keep in sync.
The next thing is I have had heaters stick on and cook tanks. Some times no casualties other times not so lucky and from what I understand saltwater is less forgiving of heat events. So a temperature controller is definitely something I want. Both to protect against a heater sticking on and possibly run a fan. That sounds like another $60.
Next some claim to work as a wave maker controller. Does this work well? If so that would be an asset. Though truth be told my sunsun powerheads seam sub par, as well as they work in my freshwater they are optional there and would like better quality in my saltwater. I think I will by some with a a wave maker included.
A reef keeper lite with 8 outlets seams like I would only be spending an extra 200 for a much better setup(not sure what I would do with the pH probe) but having never used a controller I am curious if people think one of these is worth it? Is there another option for a controller that would suit me better? I already regret some of the areas where I cheaped out and I don't even have a fish yet.
Thanks for reading my long post. Any advice would be appreciated.
Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk