Why do YOU need an aquarium controller?

In a never ending effort to make my saltwater reef aquarium as self sufficient as possible, I came across the need for something to help me control all of the daily functions of my aquarium. Throughout my years of reefing, I have learned that maintaining high water quality as well as stability will translate to a very successful and healthy home reef. However, without the right equipment, maintaining these elements can be somewhat of a chore. Keeping high water quality can sometimes mean large addon’s to your aquarium such as protein skimmers, cannister filters, reactors, etc. It could also mean lots of water changes and the addition of chemicals or biological filters. All of the different types of equipment don’t necessarily need to be on all the time either as they sometimes perform very specific tasks, such as automatic top off systems or lighting. This is where an aquarium controller can make all the difference.

What can the aquacontroller jr do for you?

When I first started in this hobby, I had a fish tank, some sand, some rock, a light, and a filter. Then as mistakes were made, research done, more and more things were added to the tank. Today, almost 4 years later, I am an experience reefer, having used many different types of filtration and equipment. I am on my 3rd reef aquarium and so far everything is coming along beautifully. I owe the success of my reef to diligence, and my aquacontroller JR.

The equipment on my aquarium right now is as follows:

* Light: Sunlight Supply Tek T-5 fixture 24″ 4x24w
* Light: 150 watt florescent light for my refugium
* Automatic top off system: Aqualifter pump
* Filter: Two Little Fishes Phosban reactor: Maxi-Jet 400 pump
* Filter: AquaC Remora Protein Skimmer with Maxi-jet 1200
* Heater: Hydor stealth heater 150w
* Cooling: 120mm computer fan
* Aquacontroller Jr with serial port, DC8, pH probe, and temperature probe
* Flow: 2x Hydor Koralia 2 power heads
* Closed loop Pump: Mag Drive 5

As you can see, I have a lot of equipment on my aquarium. Managing this equipment can become tiresome as not all of it needs to be used all the time. Finding space for unsightly timers and large power converters can also be somewhat of a challenge when everything must fit into one stand. The aquacontroller JR is the answer to all of this.

Out of the box, the Aquacontroller Jr comes with 8 separately controllable plug sockets. Each socket can be programmed with if/then statements to control each piece of equipment. For instance, I set my controller to operate my hydor 150 watt stealth heater. With the temperature probe that the controller comes with, I programmed one of the 8 sockets on my DC with this statement: If temperature is less than 78 degrees, then activate hydor heater. Now, whenever my aquarium goes below the desired temperature, it activates the heater, and warms the water. To set and keep a very accurate temperature in the aquarium, it is necessary to program that same plug with another statement to turn the heater off once the desired temperature has been reached. Because of this, my aquariums temperature has not gone below 78 degrees or above 79 degrees since I bought the controller almost 1 year ago. I know this because the Aquacontroller Jr also has an archive feature where it records data from the aquarium every hour, so that you can go back and make sure that everything is running stable.

An added benefit of being able to control your aquarium equipment is that it can help reduce energy costs that are associated with the aquarium. As you know, a healthy reef demands many types of equipment, and each type of equipment comes with a certain wattage of power consumption for every second its on. In the example above with the heater, it would be easy for me to just plug the heater into the wall and set the temperature on it and everything would work fine. However, with the controller turning it off and on, I am saving power in the times when the aquarium water is already at its stable temperature, where as plugging it into the wall would create a constant draw of electricity all day long. I have applied this programming to my lighting (both display tank and refugium), automatic top off, cooling fans, and power heads, and I have seen a noticeble drop in energy costs over the last few months – all due to the controller.

Another great feature of the Aquacontroller jr is the ability to oscilate power heads. This means that the controller can actually use my power heads in the aquarium to create natural random currents in the aquarium. This creation of random current is supposed to mimic that of the wild, as water on the reefs is always moving and changing directions. This applied to aquariums is thought to help with coral growth as well as make sure that there are no stagnant areas in your aquarium where bad nutrient can gather. On my own aquarium, I have 2 koralia 2′s ocilating creating random flows, and it has worked quite nicely. It has even helped rid my aquarium of some algae issues that were caused by stagnant water. The controller also comes stock with presets that can turn off all power heads with the press of one button so you can feed or do maintenance on the aquarium.

The Aquacontroller Jr can do all of this and much more. Because it is expandable, meaning it has a ton of addons you can purchase, it can pretty much handle any of your daily tasks that you have with your aquarium. With the addition of an automatic feeder, it can keep your fish happy and well fed for you. It can keep your water level constant with an automatic top off system. It can make sure that your aquarium never over flows with another float switch, that when activated, turns off all the pumps in the aquarium (my favorite feature, especially living in an appartment complex). The capabilities of the controller are seemingly neverending – If you can program it, it will do it. Over all I am extremely happy with my purchase and would not own my aquarium without this.

Why the Aquacontroller Jr over the others?

The aquarium industry is growing, and with that, more companies offering great products. There are many types of controllers on the market today, it may be hard to make a decision on which one is right for you.

When I was choosing which controller was best for my set up, I first narrowed it down by price. Being a college student just getting out into the world and starting to make money, I was not ready to spend more than $200. This will really limit your options, but very good ones are still available in the price range. At this price point, the most commonly used controllers are the Aquacontroller Jr and the Reefkeeper lite. Both have different packages that they come with, and both have different things that they exccell in. My main reasons for choosing the Aquacontroller Jr over the reefkeeper is expandability, reliablity, easy of programming, and the options to control my AC Jr from my iPhone, which the reefkeeper could never do.

Expandability: The Aquacontroller Jr has many options for things you can buy to make it even more effective. You can get a module that has another 4 sockets on it, allowing you to be able to control another 4 things, bringing the total to 12. Another module can control 2 float switches, one for topping off the aquarium, and one to make sure that it never overflows. The controller can also manage many probes to monitor things like pH or temperature.

Reliability: The Aquacontroller brand is a very well known brand, and their products are in many hobbiest homes already. Customer service is excellent, and they will help you with any questions or problems with your controller. Then even offer you the option to trade in your AC Jr, should you ever need to upgrade to a more heavy duty controller. The probes on the AC Jr are also very dependable. I have 3 different things checking the temperature on my aquarium, and the Aquacontroller is right there with all of them in terms of accuracy.

Ease of programming: I chose this as an added benefit because ths is a computer, and learning a new computer can be somewhat of a task. The manual that comes with the controller is accurate and comprehensive. The support from the brand, as mentioned before, is excellent and they will help you complete anything you want with your controller.

Remote Control: Being able to control my aquarium remotely was something that I really wanted. With an iPhone app called aquanotes, and a little networking, I can actually control my aquacontroller Jr from my iPhone. I can monitor temperatures and pH from my phone, as well as turn off any components while out of my home. If you have alerts set on your controller, it will also notify you of those. This is one of my most favorite features of the controller, that the reefkeeper can never do.

Aquacontroller JR in action!

2nd day with my new cow fish, it is around 1.5″ and currently in a 65 gallon tank. It seems to have adapted nicely and has been roaming the tank hunting for food, and no problem with the current.

Educational Information and brief illustration of how to feed anemones and LPS corals in reef aquarium systems. By NewYorkSteelo. www.newyorksteelo.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

15 months old SPS tank
Video Rating: 4 / 5

My reef tank

DIY Howto Reseal an Aquarium

This is a 4 minute feed of a 550 gallon custom coral reef aquarium built by Okeanos Aquascaping. For more information and for a complete list of services go to www.okeanosgroup.com

My current 4ft reef aquarium. I modified my freshwater Juwel Vision 260 set up and added a sump in to the cupboard to house the skimmer and heaters etc. Ozone and UV also run. The lighting is 2 marine white and 2 actinic blue 54W 4ft tubes housed in an Arcadia luminaire. Pumps are Tunze and Eheim. The fishes: 2 ocellaris clownfishes Starry blenny Firefish goby (dartfish) Royal gramma Peacock wrasse Cleaner wrasse Scarlet hawkfish Scooter dragonet Yellow watchmans goby Yellow tang Lyretail anthias Inverts: Red leg and blue leg hermit crabs 3 blue knckle hermit crabs Emerald mythrax crab 2 cleaner shrimps Several turbo snails Red linckia starfish Corals: Clauv polyp coral Green star polyps Mushroom anemomes Zoanthids Grape coral Euphyllia frogspawn corals SPS birds nest coral Trumpet/candy cane corals It has been running since late December 2008 but is soon to be replaced with a slightly larger tank with about another 100 litres capacity. Thanks for looking, Lee
Video Rating: 4 / 5

All Glass 90 Gallon W/Overflow, 440 watts VHO Lighting, Berlin Sump, Octopus Skimmer, Kent Phosphate Reactor, Rio 2500 Pump, UV Sterilizer, Rio 1200 Powerhead. Yellow Tang, Purple Tang, Vlamingi Tang, Coral Hogfish, Percula Clownfish, Clarki Clownfish, Lyratail Highhat Anthia Pair, Blue-Green Chromis. 120 lbs Figi, Haitian, and Tonga live rock, Green Star Polyps, Button Polyps, Toadstool Leathers, Metallic Green Mushrooms, Purple Atlantic Gorgonians, Yellow Polyps, Frogspawn, Candycane Polyps, Cabbage Leather.

Educational Information on different reef aquarium filtration options, from DIY, to custom built, to manufactured by major companies. By NewYorkSteelo. www.newyorksteelo.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5