Sooo i have a 20 gallon tank with a 75 watt heater I’ve had in the tank set at 77 and I’ve always just left it alone..... well lately I’ve been seeing posts of people’s heaters cooking tanks so i went out and got the brs heater controller which was 50 bucks. Welp I’ve never tested the temp of my tank and the probe is saying my tank is 81.8 right now and I’ve tried another food grade probe that’s been pretty good and it’s reading 82.1 so pretty much they are similar .... my questions are do i set the temp on the controller to 81 and just leave it or do i try and get the temp down to 77-79?? Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks everyone!
BRS Heater controller... Help
- Thread starter Edudek
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vessxpress1
Active Member
Well, coral can handle 81 but if you have fish it's harder for oxygen to dissolve into water the warmer it gets. That also doesn't leave you a lot of room to spare on the high end before it gets too hot. I'd rather be at 78.
phatduckk
Well-Known Member
you can calibrate it. I don't the unit in front of me but from memory I believe you:
- hold the "set" button for a bit till stuff blinks,
- then click set until the screen says "Cal" or something else that's short for calibrate,
- then hit the up/down arrows to specific the difference between the probe and the calibration temp
phatduckk
Well-Known Member
think so. Turns out the manual is online: https://brsinstructions.s3.amazonaw...er-controller-instruction-manual-10142019.pdf
To drop the temp I'd calibrate the BRS unit and set it to 78. The unit will make sure the heaters are kept off until the temp hits 77.9 at which point they'll turn on again. if you want to go slower just calibrate it, then set the temp on the controller to 80 for a few days, then down to 79 a few days then finally to 78.
vessxpress1
Active Member
If the heaters set at 77 and you're getting 82 degrees with it, it sounds like there's something jacked up with it. Idk what other people do but I would look into another heater. For not just turn the heater down a degree at a time over an extended period and see how it does. The controller should maintain the heat you want regardless of the what the heater says as long as its turned up high enough but if the controller goes out it might not be good.
Butuz
Valuable Member
Yep, invest in a Nest type of a thermostat so you can control remotely. I live in Houston and never needed a chiller if the house is ACd. If AC option does not work for whatever reason, if have a tank controller (like Apex, eKoral, etc), set a rule to kill the lights if temps go above 82F etc and back on when they reach 78.
what’s a decent one?? I know the the apex is expensive as heck and i feel like putting that on a 20 gallon is overkill lol. I unplugged the heater and i woke up this morning to the tank at 78.1 so I’m going to see what it gets to today without no heater and to judge what to do.
Butuz
Valuable Member
i have eK Lite by eKoral on my 18g frag tank, works great. This is a smaller/cheaper version of their eK Core that I run on my RSR250.
Controller(s) for heater(s) are critical IMO. Simply put it is probably the most important redundancy you can have.
Just make sure the controller's temperature probe is fastened very securely under water where the heater is located. I once pulled the probe during cleaning and failed to replace it. So the controller then thought the tank was 72 (ambient air temp) and set the heater boil. Thankfully, the heater shut itself around 81. Redundancy only works if you don't screw it up.
Just make sure the controller's temperature probe is fastened very securely under water where the heater is located. I once pulled the probe during cleaning and failed to replace it. So the controller then thought the tank was 72 (ambient air temp) and set the heater boil. Thankfully, the heater shut itself around 81. Redundancy only works if you don't screw it up.
watdachuck
Valuable Member
Tagging onto this thread.
I have two heaters plugged into the controller but only the Work1 LED illuminates when activated. Should both Work1 and Work2 illuminate? The instructions do not explain this, or maybe its that simple.
I have two heaters plugged into the controller but only the Work1 LED illuminates when activated. Should both Work1 and Work2 illuminate? The instructions do not explain this, or maybe its that simple.
Same. Just Work1 lights up. But I am pretty sure they both fire. APEX charts suggest it is working as programmed.
