ReefKeeper lite how to Program and a review:

oh ok, yea i dont really need the adapter(i dont have an ato) or extra PC4 so i guess the 279$ one is perfect for me

 

Yea.....the regular RKL3 for $279 is a good choice IMPO. One good thing about it is that you can still add-on componets to it if you find a need later.

BTW.....look around and keep pricing it. You can find it a little cheaper.

 

Hey I wouldn't turn the heater all he way up invade of a failure on the temp probe or such. I would set it sligtly above when it is set up forum on. Ie you have it set to yen on at 78 have the heater set at like 80just in case.

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Malacoda, you do have a good point on the heater and for the majority of the people out there it would be the best way and should be the way to set it up. If I had a better heater that had better temperature control I would set it up the way you are talking about. When I do get one I will, but for now this is why and how mine is set up. I keep my house at 76 degrees yr round. My heater was designed for a 55 gallon tank. I am running it on a 120 tank and 55 gal sump with about 130 gallons total so the heater is undersized. Over the last year my tank temp has run from lowest 78.3 deg at night to highest of 81.3 deg during the day that I have seen. My heater has a light on it to show when it is on and I don't remember seeing the light on once in the last yr (it could have been but I dont remember seeing it). I have an old Marineland 200 watt heater I got years ago with a 55 gallon tank I bought. What it has is a small switch with 4 spots to set a temp on the top that is adjustable + to - and it clicks in to a spot and works within that range. When it is on the lowest setting it will go off at about 74.3 deg. On the 2nd setting about 76.6 deg. On the third setting about 80.2 deg. The last setting about 82.3 deg. On average the heater will not come on until the temperature is about 1.2 degrees below where it goes off at. All of these readings were me checking these numbers in about 3 gallons of water in the Kitchen sink with my little battery operated temp probe and a hydrometer with temp scale. I feel that I can trust these numbers and my tank will still be protected with my heater set all the way up. My thinking is that I wanted the controller to control the temp of the tank and if the controller had a malfunction and couldn't the thermostat on the heater is still good for a back up and the tank is still safe at the 82.3 degrees. I have the controller set up to turn the switch off above 78 degrees and an alarm set that if the temperature goes above 81 degrees that will trip the heater channel outlet also. I keep the small battery powered temp probe in the sump and I check it against the temp on the controller 3-4 times a week and they have been reading within .1 degrees of each other. For me, I trust the controller more than I do the thermostat in the old heater and feel safe running my set up this way.

Thank you for bringing this up. I am glad you did so I have the chance to explain my thinking and reason for setting it up this way. I wouldnt want someone else to set theirs up this way and be using something different and over heat their tank.

 

Great thread man!!!

 

Thanks Dasco. Just wanted to share what I have learned

 

Can you explain why you set an alarm for the pH at 8.5 and what hppens when this is "tripped"

 

The pH on my tank runs 7.9 to 8.1, so I do not really worry about the PH going to 8.5. A 8.5pH is OK but that is the high side of the acceptable range. I want an alarm letting me know that something is not correct in my tank and give me the time to figure out what is going on. When the alarm is triggered it will flip a relay on the PC4 and Kill (trip) the power to my ALK dosing pump. When you are adding Alk to the tank it will temporarily raise the pH of the water and I do not want the pump to run if the pH is already high. My dosing pump is set up on a timer to run for x amount of time a day and this is just for my peace of mind.

 

Wonderful Thread. K+

 

Thanks, I couldnt rem if Alk raised pH or not this makes sense now. Is there a limit to the wattage a single plug can take, for instance could I plug all three of my 250w MH on one plug so I wouldn't have to occupy another slot on my PC4. I will be receiving my RKL tomorrow it was my Xmas present to myself