Ink Bird Not Steady
- Thread starter Gary Ellis
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BroccoliFarmer
10K Club member
Is that type of control even possible? I would expect that there are areas on the tank that are warm and colder and our wave makers can move those warm and cold spots around not to mention natural convection.
Lots can depend here. A those InkBird controllers are prone to sticking. B it depends if the apex and the InkBird probes are in the same location. My apex probes are after my heaters in sump and ink bird probes in the sump and they are .5-.75 degrees apart.
dmsc2fs
Well-Known Member
Inkbird claims accuracy of +-1* F. You are within the range of 77.1 to 79.6 based on your high and low set points. Setting your points so close together is going to have your heaters constantly cycling. A Ranco for example does not allow a differential of less than 1*.
rwreef
Valuable Member
I would take the apex variable out and test just the inkbird. This will point to the problem area. Hard to tell without a time scale on your graph. But temps in an aquarium are slow moving signals.
Reefer Matt
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I use heaters with built in thermostats backed up by the inkbird at 2 degrees higher. Stays pretty stable. If you have an Apex, you can skip the inkbird with said heater above, and set the apex 2 degrees higher. On attached photo, I did a water change at the dip. It stays pretty tight otherwise. Also, consider changing your heater.
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BroccoliFarmer
10K Club member
What I mean is that in any ecosystem you are going to have natural relative hot and cold spots. I believe it is impossible to maintain a PERFECTLY consistent temperature throughout. These fluctuations could merely be that movement of those spots through the system (think a weather system moving over the country). Once the controller measures a colder spot..it starts heating up. This itself creates a warmer spot in the ecosystem which must then move throughout the tank.
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What size tank and wattage heater?
Jbell370
Active Member
Mine moves 76.5 - 79.5. I have the Ink Bird with 2 500w titanium heaters. The ink bird probe is in first chamber of the sump the Apex in the second and really just used as a back up if the ink bird fails. I can say this is the only way I would do it after finding my cat had removed the ink birds temp probe which it then was reading the ambient room temp. System volume is 300g.
Dolphins18
Valuable Member
Nothing wrong with those swings. If you want less swing, you will need a better controller. All of my ink birds swing 1-2 degrees without any problems on livestock. GHL keeps the temp pretty stable, and so do Rancos, but what you have going on isn't a problem.
Dolphins18
Valuable Member
Ok temp should not be dropping that much. I run 2 200 watt titanium heaters on a 60g in a indoor/outdoor that gets down in the 30s at night and tank stays above 77 on that same ink bird. What kind of heaters are you using?
EDIT: I see the room temp is going to 70, thats fine! (i thought it was the water getting to 70)
Gary Ellis
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