Aquarium Controller Jr. - Need help choosing equipment

[Disciple882542]

I need a little help understanding what Aquacontroller Jr. equipment I will need to control my devices.



I’m moving my sump from underneath my aquarium to another part of the house. The equipment that will be in the sump area is as follows:

- Mag 12 return pump
- ASM G-3 recirculating skimmer w/ feed pump
- 300 watt heater
- Refugium light
- Media reactor w/ pump
- Top off reservoir w/ kalk reactor and Aqualifter pump

The equipment that will be located under my tank will be:

- 2 x 250 watt metal halide (magnetic ballast)
- Ice Cap 660
- 2 x Maxi Jet 1200 w/ sea flo modification kit
- Canopy fans


One DC8 comes with the controller.

In order to control the devices located in a separate room, I will need an X-10 Control interface:



Question:

1. Would I need an DC8 for the sump room and a DC8 for the display tank? Would I need any other "X10" type accessories for the sump room for the controll of the equipment?

2. Would I need a DC8 for pumps and fans in display tank and a heavy duty DC4 for the metal halide ballasst to eliminate “noise” issues with the X10?

Anyone else have this controller and have soemthing good/bad to share?

Thanks and God bless,
Chris

[CMG]

Awwww shucks! I just set up my jr. controller 2 days ago and I clicked on this post thinking I would be able to help but your questions are just too darn hard for me! haha

[Disciple882542]

How do you like it so far?

[Octoman]

Are you planning on controlling the auto-topoff with the ACjr? Is your kalk reactor part of your top-off system? Are you planning on controlling the media reactor with the ACjr?

[AQTCJAK]

I would opt for the Jr DC8 Temp & possibly the PH. Let me know what you decide & I can get you pricing

[Disciple882542]

Originally Posted by Octoman

Are you planning on controlling the auto-topoff with the ACjr? Is your kalk reactor part of your top-off system? Are you planning on controlling the media reactor with the ACjr?

Yes, I would like to controll the auto top off with the controller. Yes, the kalk reactor is part of my top off system. Currently, most of my top off water is going through the reactor via the aqualifter.

And yes...I would like the media reactors on the controller as well.

Also, the wife told me that she doesn't want the sump moved to another room so I don't think I would need the X10 equipment. That might simplify things anyway.

Originally Posted by AQTCJAK

I would opt for the Jr DC8 Temp & possibly the PH. Let me know what you decide & I can get you pricing

Thanks Jack...will do when I'm ready to buy. I definately thinking temp and ph just because it can.

God bless,
Chris

[CMG]

Originally Posted by Disciple882542

How do you like it so far?

I like it except the temp probe says it comes calibrated for life but it was waaaaaaay off. I had three temp gauges in my tank and the aqua jr. read that my tank was 84F when the others said 79-80F. Thats a big difference too me when you are paying $200+ for a piece of equiptment.

Othere than that its fine. My setup is simple though, I dont use any special reactors or PH controllers. My water params are stable without all that. So I jsut use it for heat control and lighting. I have fans, heaters and lights on it and thats it.

Other posters on the dedicated Neptune Controller post have mentioned that the Direct Connects (DC) work much better and thats what I chose to buy. The X10's seem to be complicated and unreliable. Kinda like my temp probe....hehe.

[BarbMazz]

Keep in mind the ACjr can control only 12 different things, so you cannot use 2 DC8's. You can run a DC8 and a DC4, however.

Instead of using the X10 you can run phone cords so that your DC's will be hard-wired. When I spoke to Neptune he said they are now advising against the use of the X10 as they were nothing but trouble.

My current setup will change, as I have an upstairs/downstairs system with the sump, refuge, water storage in the basement. I have to get everything down there hardwired before I can use the controller as in my Final Plan. My final plan:
In the basement:
controller module and DC8;
plugged into the DC 8:
1. refuge light
2. Skimmer
3. Main pump
4 & 5 Powerheads, with electrical cords run from DT upstairs
6. heater
7. pH probe
8. empty; reserved for ATO/Kalkwasser when I need it

Upstairs for the DT:
DC4 plugins; The DC4 phone cord will run down to the basement and daisy chain to the DC8 down there.
1, 2, 3 Main lights (I have three ballasts to plug in)
4. empty

My current setup:
Right now I'm running the ACjr upstairs only on the DT.
Plugged into the DC8
1, 2, 3 Main lights
4. ph #1
5 ph #2
6 empty
7 empty
8 empty
I also have the temp probe set up. It's not controlling the heater yet, just reporting the temp.