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beerfish

Advanced Reefer
Rating - 100%
32   0   0
Again with the hyperbole.

And no that wasn't a score, because yes i've driven without my seat belt, and I would bet so have you.

And you don't discount the fact that MANY people drove without seat belts safely without a seat belt before it was required by law. Or the fact that your car isn't going to blow up if you don't put on your seat belt.

HE SHOOTS HE SCORES!!!!

So you're saying that driving without a seat belt is smart, and is a wise idea for a new driver?

What I've been saying since the start is that a controller should be considered a required piece of equipment. I never said that it was impossible to keep a reef without one, nor did I say it's impossible to drive without a seat belt. What I'm saying in both cases is that it's pretty stupid to not have a controller or not wear a seat belt. Just because people do it doesn't mean it should be done.
 

Killerdrgn

Advanced Reefer
Location
Park Ridge, NJ
Rating - 100%
22   0   0
So you're saying that driving without a seat belt is smart, and is a wise idea for a new driver?

What I've been saying since the start is that a controller should be considered a required piece of equipment. I never said that it was impossible to keep a reef without one, nor did I say it's impossible to drive without a seat belt. What I'm saying in both cases is that it's pretty stupid to not have a controller or not wear a seat belt. Just because people do it doesn't mean it should be done.

If there was a choice between buying the engine or having a seat belt then yes, I'd take the engine 100% of the time over the seat belt.

As said before, this all comes down to funding if she had the money to buy lights, salt, sand, rock, heaters, skimmer, and powerheads and it came down to buying livestock or a controller, I would suggest she buy the livestock and wait until she had the extra $100 to invest in the controller. She'd get a lot more enjoyment from the livestock than to sit there watching a controller. But if money was no issue then yes by all means she should get a controller.
 

beerfish

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I would suggest she buy the livestock and wait until she had the extra $100 to invest in the controller. She'd get a lot more enjoyment from the livestock than to sit there watching a controller. But if money was no issue then yes by all means she should get a controller.

That's where I disagree. Why would you add livestock instead of making sure that you had everything set up well? Buy the controller, save for two weeks (extending the cycle and letting the tank mature further), and then buy livestock if money is an issue.

I enjoy my tank a lot more when I'm confident that everything is in good health. I also enjoy spending money once and not buying timers that I'm going to replace soon.
 

Killerdrgn

Advanced Reefer
Location
Park Ridge, NJ
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22   0   0
That's where I disagree. Why would you add livestock instead of making sure that you had everything set up well? Buy the controller, save for two weeks (extending the cycle and letting the tank mature further), and then buy livestock if money is an issue.

I enjoy my tank a lot more when I'm confident that everything is in good health. I also enjoy spending money once and not buying timers that I'm going to replace soon.

Cause it's insanely boring to have all this equipment, just to stare at an empty tank. And like I said before the timer is only needed to turn on the lights, and that can be done manually without much effort. On the same token, she could buy the livestock first, save the two weeks and then buy the controller.
And again we do not know her financial situation, it may be easier for her to buy the livestock first and save up for the controller over 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 6 months, etc. And in all likelihood the livestock would probably be alright.
 

ming

LE Coral Killer
Location
Flushing, NY
Rating - 100%
272   0   0
Wow, this thread got retarded quick...lol
If the budget isn't very high, just get the equipment which will work well first. She can setup the safety redundancies after its finally up if she has expendable cash. If she has a high budget, heck, get all the bells and whistles and invite a few experienced reefers to set it up. Since shes a female, guys will be jumping to offer :lol2:
But for the rest of us on budget, the first 2 things she should get IMO is lights and skimmer.
Heck, she can manually turn on and off the lights without timers and it would still work... although she will get tired of doing that quick which is another story.
Considering she doesn't have any live stock yet, even if the heater broke or stuck on, it wouldn't be a huge disaster since there's only rocks. Yes, even though its live rock, it can always re-cycle anyways. As she gets more corals, she can slowly add all her "toys" to automate things. Just like dosing, she will probably dose b-ionics at first, but if she starts getting more and more corals, she can automate it with a reactor.
 

Killerdrgn

Advanced Reefer
Location
Park Ridge, NJ
Rating - 100%
22   0   0
If the budget isn't very high, just get the equipment which will work well first. She can setup the safety redundancies after its finally up if she has expendable cash. If she has a high budget, heck, get all the bells and whistles and invite a few experienced reefers to set it up. Since shes a female, guys will be jumping to offer :lol2:
But for the rest of us on budget, the first 2 things she should get IMO is lights and skimmer.

Damn that's exactly what I've been saying!

Wow, this thread got retarded quick...lol

I think this could have went even more retarded If I went on an "I'm right, you're wrong rampage".
 
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motortrendz

Mainland Aquatics
Vendor
Rating - 100%
82   0   0
i agree whole heartidly with ming.. ive never used a controller i just now caved in and got an RKL(havent hooked it up yet) i ubderstand the safety redundancy part, i had a tank crash from a heater but not bc it stuck on, it cracked.. lets start with the basics.. we have 5 pages talking abt a controller, still dont know if its a RR tank, if she has a sump or room for reactors, skimmer and other nesesities.. or if shes gonna do a HOB system.. so we all have our opinions abt controllers and i think we should def have a thread to debate it bc theresx lots of different ones and lots of different options and i would love to see different units at work.. and it would be good information for newbies to get all the info in one place not on someones hello page.. im not trying to hammer anyone(beerfish, you stubborn bully, lol)
 

jaa1456

MR's Greatest Member
Rating - 100%
50   0   0
Controllers are over rated. Who cares if it beeps like crazy if the heater fails? Just say you leave for work and its winter time out and the heater fails 5 minutes after you leave. Who is there to fix the problem? Not the controller, it can't make the heat go up. My experience is to always have 2 heaters in your tank. If one fails then at least you have the other one in there. And timers work great for lights. A controller will help a begginer get use to the tank. But people who have experience should notice changes in their tank right away. I have never ran a controller and never will. Just another piece of equippment that can fail. When everything is plugged into that then what happens?
 

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