Over the past few years I've learned about one of the secret joys of adulthood: the self-given Christmas present. This year I picked up a Canon G10 to replace my aging and broken Powershot (early results of learning its manual controls shown above). I also decided to get something I'd been looking at for awhile, the Reef Keeper 2 controller from Digital Aquatics.



Of course, as soon as I ordered it Reef Builders put up a post about the new Reefkeeper Lite controller coming out sometime this spring. I've been working with computers long enough to know that what meets your needs now is always more important than what might be coming out in the near future, but still funny.

The one problem I'm looking to solve with this controller is my fluctuating temperature. Living in an apartment without a thermostat can be frustrating with a reef aquarium. One would generally not expect to have problems with water going over 80F in New England during the winter, but radiators and smaller rooms can put you in a tough spot. With this controller, I will be able to activate a fan to begin cooling when water temps exceed 80F, and turn off the metal halide lighting if it goes over 83F. Hopefully it will also maintain more precise control over the heater as well.

I'm not exactly sure what other features will be of immediate use to me. The ability to quickly turn off filtration devices for feeding will be nice. I'll have to explore the possibilities when it arrives.

Labels: Equipment, Parameters, Reef Aquarium