flyndive Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 I have a 12dx, has been working great. I am using the stock lighting, but have upgraded the pump to a Maxi-jet 600. The temp today has dropped about half a degree with the ICA running after a few hours. Usually every morning I would open the front of the cnopy and blow a fan across the opening to keep the tank cooler. The one day I tried to shut the lid with no fan the temp climbed above 83 before I went back to the old fan routine. So right now it is running about 78.5, it is nice to close the tank lid. I keep everyone informed on what the tank temp is at the end of the day. Link to comment
putz28 Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 I use the reefkeeper on my nano, it's expensive but it does an excellent job nanocustoms does carry it, probably as does your LFS. Link to comment
nanocustoms.com Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 The coralife would be "fine" if you just want simple time based control of the ICA. What you would most likely do is turn the ICA on when the Lights come on. (Im gonna keep beating this, but "MAKE SURE THE FANS ARE ON ANY TIME THE ICA IS ON). Glad its workin out for you flyndive. Chris Link to comment
Enrique Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Putz28, You mentioned "reefkeper"....what is a reefkeper and how does it function besides being a timer (it is a timer right)? I've been reading through various threads mentioning it but i really have no idea of what it is.....or what it looks like.....i've only been in the saltwater hobby for the past month and the only timers i know are the ones at the department stores and the coralife....where could i have a peak of a "reefkeeper"? Thanks Link to comment
Enrique Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Chris, You mentioned to switch the ICA "on" with the light and keep the fan on as well.....but could I leave the fan "on" even if the lights and ICA are "off"? Link to comment
Enrique Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Flyndive, Glad to know that your temps are in the high 70's compared to before...but are you running your heater at the same time? In other words, your heater and ICA are pulling temps at each other....more like harrassing each other....is that how it should be? Chris, Would that be the basic idea or would there be a better way, due to the fact that having the heater and ICA on at the same time would somehow stress one or the other. Any suggestions? Link to comment
flyndive Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 I do not have my heater in at this time, I will be putting one in the tank this fall. I will probably just keep it set 2 degrees below what the ICA been holding the tank at. I do not have a problem with cold temps since I live in florida. I will just have to keep a watch on the temps and make sure that it doesn't differ to much. I am always looking at the tank anyways. Link to comment
nanocustoms.com Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 In the works is a plug in temp controller that will allow it to heat/cool at a certain setpoint. no ETA, but its on the list. Chris Link to comment
nanocustoms.com Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Enrique. The reefkeeper is excellent, but as putz28 put it, its expensive. I live by mine, so I have 2 of them. Believe it or not, of all the gadgets ive worked on/modded the reefkeeper is my crown jewel. Everything works as it should and ive never been happier. http://www.nanocustoms.com/catalog/product...products_id=151 Hope this helps Chris ps. I plan on having my ICA controller built by "Digital Aquatics" the maker of the reefkeeper. Link to comment
Enrique Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Chris, Thanks for the info on the Reefkeper....it is a very overwhelming device....everything you need is there....expensive, yes... but i think it is worth it.....with all of those features, it a good deal....i need more dough!!! Link to comment
flyndive Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Update: I ran the ICA and fan yesterday for the first full day, the tank temp stayed between 78 and 79 all day. Pretty good since I keep the house at 80 during the day. The ICA is just what I needed in my tank, would recommend the ICA to anyone trying to keep the tank temp down! Link to comment
ccjung Posted June 17, 2005 Author Share Posted June 17, 2005 flyndive- Lol. Thats awesome. Im glad its working out for you. Let me know if you have any other questions or issues. Chris Link to comment
putz28 Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 The reefkeeper is a controller which can control lights, pumps/wavemakers, heaters and chillers. My cube couldn't live without it. I will also put one on my 125 soon enough. Chris, when you say operate the fan with the chiller... I was going to operate the chiller/fan seperately from the alternate (not on the chiller fan). Is that okay? Why must it run with the fan? And what is the eta on a temp/chiller controller, you'll have my money as soon as I see it. Link to comment
ccjung Posted June 17, 2005 Author Share Posted June 17, 2005 If the chiller fan only comes on when the chiller is on, the lights arent getting enough CFM to properly cool them. I really wish i had a big company and electronics up the ying yang, then id make it so the cooling fans only come on when needed (ie a laptop.) Chris Link to comment
putz28 Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 my reefkeeper is ensuring my fans only come on when needed. Maybe I can have the fans on a controller and the chiller turn on for extra kick. Is that possible, can the chiller and it's fan run seperately? By the way Chris, when might I be expecting my parcel? It's Victor way up here in Canada, any shipping number? Link to comment
putz28 Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 As always Chris, a quick response. Thanks for my tracking number. I see from fedex that it's just a couple of hours away. Nice weekend project. Cheers. Victor Link to comment
CyberGuru Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 putz28, I also have the Larnie and Reefkeeper. With the Larnie system, you will use the existing slim hood fan instead of the fan on the ICA. which made it even simplier to install the ICA. Since there is no room to fit both fans in the hood, we would not be able to control the fan on the ICA as a chiller on the Reefkeeper without effecting the light fans. So I ended up using an outlet extender that Larnie showed me for the bulky transformer adapters. This allowed me to plug both the ICA and light fans into 1 channel on the reefkeeper. The result is that the ICA is only running when the fans are on. Since I use reverse lighting for the refugium, the fans are on most of the time anyway. P.S. Chris, it looks like FEDEX never made the delivery for the faulty adapter today so I'll just have to wait til Monday. Thanks again for all your help. KUDOS to Chris for great products and even better customer service. Reggie. attached are some of the pictures of my install. Link to comment
putz28 Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 Thanks Cyberguru. How successful have you been at keeping your cube at a specific temp? I am going to keep my ambient tmeps at the same level year round in the hopes that I can keep my nano within a 2 degree margin. I am anxious to see what the ICA and my hydro company(powering my ac) can do. Up here in Ottawa I regularily go to an excellent LFS. Between them and the service I recieve from Chris things run very smoothly. Link to comment
CyberGuru Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 putz28, I haven't had much time to test the ICA since my adapter stopped working 1 hour into the ICA being installed. (Chris was very good about sending me a replacement) It looks like Chris' mod to the Larnie keeps the temps even lower then the stock models. with all 92w on during the day the water temps are about 1-2 degree higher then the ambient temps. Since recent temps here in L.A. were getting my ambients up to 84+, I started using a household clip-on fan attached to the side of the tank with the hood slightly open. I set this fan as a chiller on the reefkeeper and it kept my water temps right at 77.5-78.5 thru-out the day. Even with ambient temps rising to the mid 80's. Since this caused more evaporation then with the hood closed, it was just a temporary solution until Chris was ready to ship out the ICAs. I am hoping the ICA will allow me to maintain temps below 82 this summer. Good luck. Recent tank shot this summer. Reggie. Link to comment
putz28 Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 Nice tank shot. What is with the ??amonia?? test tube and the plastic container in the rear? Temp up here in the great white north have been crazy lately. We were in the 90's last week. I was in the Keys and New Orleans in April and it was 10-15 degrees warmer up here. Global warming isn't happening right??? Link to comment
CyberGuru Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 wow eh, pretty hot!! Sorry, the container in the back is for a ricordea i split in half for a friend, and i needed it to attach to the rock without the current blowing it away. It took about a 1 week or so to attach. The test tube is because i saw this micro mushroom shape thing moving up to the light like a jelly fish. I didn't know what it was and I didn't want it to be sucked into the intake, so i put it into this vial just to see what it would grow into. Keep Cool!! Reggie. Link to comment
ccjung Posted June 18, 2005 Author Share Posted June 18, 2005 I did some checking. It appears the waybill fell off of your package. This means tehy lost it. Im not too happy with them in the last few weeks, so this is just another one. If possible, try to find a Frys Electronics. They carry this part there, its a PST-2500MF. Theres one in industry! http://www.frys.com/maps/cityofindustry.gif Instead of waiting until Tuesday (id have to get it out monday) see if you can pop by and pick it up. I can reimburse you. Chris Link to comment
putz28 Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 jelly fish type thing aye. that is odd. I wonder what it will turn out to be? Link to comment
putz28 Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 Sorry for taking over this thread... Back to ICA Link to comment
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