Reefkeeper Lite

[fish]

I have been playing with my new Reefkeeper Lite for a week now and I have to say I cannot believe I ever lived without it. I have pulled out my mess of timers behind my tank and am thinking up new ways to use it. You can trigger events based on temperature as well as some pretty sophisticated timer routines.

Right now I have one bank set up heater off at 76, fans on at 78 and MH off at 82 (plus a programmed photoperiod) so I won't have to worry about boiling my tank next summer. I am now working on a way to control pumps across multiple days - pump x on for Monday Tuesday, Pump y for Tuesday Wednesday etc to mix up flow.

$135 for a head unit, temp probe and 4 controllable outlets - unbelievable value. Ray has them locally. Check out digitalaquatics.com


Really impressive toy.

[Julie]

Hi, do you have any pictures of your set up?  Sounds like a nifty gadget.

[fishdaddy]

how up grade able is this to the other  units that they have?is there old stuff compatible with the new controller.what else does it do out of the box? what else hooks up to it out of the box,redox,ph
can you do more than one system system?

how easy was it to programming it?

all in all it sound like you like it

[Vincenzo.]

ya if you pick it up off anyone..go to Ray, he's the man for that product. cheapest around, Anywhere!

[mikerobart]

getting one from him this weekend. In the higher end models I think I would lean to the apex over the rke but for $135 for the rkl 1 I think you can't go wrong

[salvini55]

Its sick, im happy with it. out of the box you can have orp (probe not included), ph, ATO cotroll, timers, alarms, Its a no brainer for peice of mind. 

[Tyler.L]

ya outta the box you can have that stuff but need to pick up the sl1 pack for ph and orp...and any other expansions


also ross has one sitting at home and hasnt done a damn thing with it....i think im just gonna steal it from him

[OttawaReefer]

I bought one from Ray as well.  He suggested it and it is awesome.    I bought the moonlight module as well.  I don't have any crazy programming on it but I do have all the lights hooked up to it.  It's pretty cool what you can do with it.

If you need a programmable timer bar I would suggest contacting Ray and picking on up.

[mikerobart]

Yeah for now I'm thinking of just rocking something simple that will be mostly a timer and failsafe on overheating although at this time of year even the halides are only taking the tank from 78 to 79 it seems... but I still don't trust it when I'm out of the house and want to use it for that issue as well as the redundancy for the heater thermostat. It's definitely good bang for the buck.

[mikerobart]

Got mine monday from Ray, super straightforward and easy to program it seems. For the price can't be beat.

[Vincenzo.]

i want one now.

[dakrazyone]

Got mine from Ray's too.  The overall quality of the unit speaks for itself and pricing can't be beat.  I'm still new to the saltwater scene and the great thing is i can add on more peripherals, as I go.  Soon, i would like to add 1 x SL1 (Inputs: pH, ORP, Temperature, 2 x Switch Ports).  Have more of my levels automated.

[mikerobart]

So got the RKL1 set up... literally took 15 min to program my 4 outlets. Just going simple for now may add modules as I feel the desire for more gadgetry.

Got my MH's on a timer for a 6 hr cycle, 5-11pm. Will turn them off if tank reaches 82F. Bulb protection stops them from going back on within 15 min of power interruption.

Fan programmed to come on when tank reaches 79F.
Actinics on a 12hr cycle, 12am - 12pm.

Heater comes on at 78.2F.

Judging by current ambient conditions looks like this will keep my temp from getting above 80 in most cases. 78.2 to 80 would be the usual I guess.

Honestly, when you subtract the cost of a powerstrip, some timers, and a good temperature probe... it basically pays for itself.