In my opinion, regardless of the size of a tank, a controller is not a must but certainly helps if you want to automate things. Personally I have used 3 methods of controlling a tank, a Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper, a Neptune Apex and I have also run a few tanks with nothing but stand alone equipment.
Controllers:
IME, If you are looking for a controller that you can set and forget. One that will regulate temperature, monitor ph, act as an ato and a wave maker, turn pumps and lights on and off; then the Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper fits that bill. IMO, it is rock solid and is so dependable that it is one of those things that you will never worry about but yet it just keeps working silently in the background.
Now if you are looking for bells and whistles and so many add-ons that your head will spin, the Neptune Apex is hard to beat. It will do everything the Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper does but does it with pizzazz and has countless cool features. Unfortunately it does come with a price tag that is reflective of its capabilities.
Stand alone equipment:
If you are fearful of putting all your eggs in one basket by using a controller, your budget will only allow you to buy a little at a time or you only want/need the basics; go stand alone. Many new lights come with an element of programming, a good ATO is self contained and function independently once set, digitally controlled heaters have come a long way, many circulation pumps have their own controller and the list goes on and on...... Anyway, as I said prior, I have run many tanks with stand alone equipment only and have been very successful.
In the end it is really about how much involvement you want to be in control of vs it being controlled. My personal recommendation to someone new in the hobby would be to use stand alone equipment and shy away from a controller until you have a year or 2 experience in the hobby. I say this because the process of setting up and caring for a new tank correctly takes patience, time and lots of attention. Setting up a controller also take a lot of time, patience and attention that will be taken away from the care of your tank.
Additional cost:
Unless you have unlimited funds, the purchase price of a controller on top of the cost to set up a tank will limit what you have to spend on quality equipment. The key word here is QUALITY. For instance, because you sunk $600 in a controller you didn't have the funds for the purchase of a quality circulation pump, instead you bought a cheap pump that will last 6mo if you are lucky. Or, instead of buying a high end led light, you only had enough money for a China black box led. Now I am not saying that you can't have success with cheap equipment, many have. What I am saying is that, if you want long term success, your money is better spent first on high end pumps and lights than a controller.
Lastly, IMO the use of a controller from day one puts you at a disadvantage during times of trouble. I say this because if you have never set up a tank without a controller, chances are that it is likely that you won't know what to do if the controller fails.
Sorry for droning on and I will get off the soap box but I hope it helped,
Tom
