emergency light cutoff for heat issues?

[rsteagall]

Does anyone know of some sort of device that will turn things (light lights and/or pumps) off if a tank reaches a certain temp threshold?

[melev]

Most of the controllers on the market do that. I have the older Aqua Controller II, but I think even the less expensive Aqua Controller Jr can do that job.

I set mine that if the tank gets to 85F, all my lights shut off. Actually, they turn off in sequence once the tank is at 84F, and as it gets hotter, each subsequent light is shut off.

I also use it to turn on heaters, and it would be possible to even hook up cooling fans with such a device.

[rsteagall]

I'd like to bump this to possibly hear how other people manage extremes that you may experience.

-Ryan

[btkrausen]

I use it to turn off halides after 85 degrees. My heater is turned off when temp is greater than 80.

Also, I use it to prevent my dosing pump from pumping through the kalk reactor if the pH is over 8.5

[justinpsmith]

I also use an Aquacontroller JR to shut off my lights if it gets too hot. It is set to have fans come on at 82 and then if that does not work and temps reach 84 the daylight lamps go off and at 85, the actinics do too. Plus an alarm is set off at 86.

They are WELL worth the money.

[AcroSteve]

Ranco or medusa would be the simplest option.

Originally posted by AcroSteve
I have a ranco controller that reads tank temp. This controls a relay that controls a power strip that my ballasts are plugged into. If the temp gets to heigh, the relay comes on and the normally closed set of contacts opens. This kills the power to the power strip. When the temp drops, the relay will get turned off by the ranco and the power is restored to the ballasts.

[AcroSteve]

And for the complete story about my redundancy.

Originally posted by AcroSteve
My sump is very remote from my tank. This is where my primary heaters and chiller are located. My chiller is fed from my return pump. Thus, if I loose my return pump, my tank will either cook from the lights, or get cold from low ambient temp in the winter.

Therefore, I have a two stage ranco controller at my tank. This reads actual tank temperature and will turn on a finnex heater hidden in the tank in the event of a low temp condition. In the event of a high temp condition, it will kill the lights until the temp drops.

My chiller and heaters at the sump are controlled by my aquacontroller. A failure of the temp probe on the aquacontroller results in an indicated temperature in the 50's. This will cause the heaters to stay on and cook the tank. In the event of a this problem, I have a single stage ranco at the sump that will kill the power to the heaters until the temp drops. I have 3 heaters in the sump that come on in two stages. The two stages are mainly for stability to smooth out the temp rise. But sometimes one heater will not keep up with the heat loss, and the other two must come online.

Currently, I do not have anything other than the Aquacontroller controlling my chiller. I am aware of this, and am currently comfortable with the risk. But I would like to replace the single stage ranco with another 2 stage to address this.

I have a high level float switch in my overflow that will turn off the return pump if the overflow were to become obstructed. However, this is very unlikely as I have two seperate overflows to the sump. Still, this could keep many gallons of salt water off of my carpet.

I have a low level float switch in the sump to turn off the return pump if the water level gets too low. I have this running through a time delay relay to eliminate rapid on/off cycling of the pump when the water level drops and starts sloshing around. This is to protect the return pump. The high level switch in the overflow also utilizes the smame time delay relay.

I have a spare dart pump for my CL and a Iwaki md-55 for the return. I have spare MH bulbs and one spare ballast. I try to keep enough salt to mix 2 or 3 hundred gallons of water just in case. I also keep several liters of carbon on hand. I do not have any now, but I should get some polyfilter to keep on hand too.


I use a check valve AND siphon break holes on my return lines.

Oh, I also have a backup generator that comes on line automatically if the power goes out. This will power the whole tank and part of the house. My aquacontroller will email me on a high or low tank temperature condition. But not ph, I am reading my reactor and not my tank.



With all this, there are still things that could be done.

[shyland83]

i think the reefkeeper 2 also will turn off your lights at a certain temperature

[8BALL_99]

I use a AC3 and a ACJR to do this. I also use mine like mentioned above.. It cuts heaters on and off at set temps and cuts cooling fans on and off at set temps.. A dual stage temperature controller will do the same but they run about 150-200 bucks and dont control all the other things a AC or Reefkeeper will.

[Mattmcf]

the reef keeper 2 does this as well, my halides will cut off at 84 degrees, fans come on at 80 degrees and turn off if below 78 degrees, heater turns off if tank reaches 80 degrees, i have also considered turing the halides on if the tank drops to a certain degree just incase there is a heater failure in the winter ( i know it is not likely but why not?). The controller is by far the best investment i have made, if not only for the peace of mind while i am not home.