If only some one would invent.......

[Dargason]

I recently searched for temperature controllers for my other hobby -- homebrewing.

Of course "cheap" is all relative, but you might look into the following links:
http://www.marine-monsters.com/front/products/lcdtempcon.html
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/AB1605000/showprod.cfm?&DID=7&User_ID=29548&st=9562&st2=-47354763&st3=-83556895&CATID=12&ObjectGroup_ID=72 (This is the one I bought) http://www.stpats.com/tempctrl.htm http://www.brewsource.com/ProdNav/Eq_557.asp http://www.northernbrewer.com/chilling-etc.html

If you're a DYIer, you can get even cheaper by building it yourself: http://www.macatawa.org/~dkerfoot/schemat.html http://hbd.org/mtippin/tempcont.html

 

[yznhmr]

I want a chilled device that will shake my bottle of reefsolution and dose it acordingly.. then i will be almost fully automatic.... I just got my 2 dosing units for my BIONIC.. and 2 gallons of it to feed them off of.. WOO WOO

 

[Goldmoon]

A selective unwanted algae remover. Something you could dose and only remove the ones you do not want. Be it hair, cyano, bryopsis, red turf algae, only half of the caulerpa you have because it overgrew the tank.. etc.

 

[bigtank]

SILENT powerheads. So silent that one can actually sleep in the same room as the tank without having to use earplugs. I have to use earplugs with Maxijets! Everyone said they are quiet...

A reasonably priced HOT skimmer that pulls out tons of sludge and yet makes no sound at all. Not to mention enough oomph for a 200+ gallon aquarium, realistically.

A chemical that bonds with phosphates and other nutrients to prevent algae growth. Cheap too.

 

[esmithiii]

BigTank:

Why would you want a HOT skimmer for a large tank??

E

 

[Carpentersreef]

A wavemaker/tank design that actually made/accommodated WAVES. (maybe circular/donut shaped?)

Mitch

 

[dieselboy]

I second the two who mentioned *real* waves. A *real* surge machine or wave maker that would be absolutely silent, microbubble-less, powerful, and reliable...kinda like a CSD w/o the noise and bubbles.

 

[Mike3]

Ah!!

A wife that loves to spend money on aquariums and dosen't mind when I replace my old equipment with "new and improved" stuff.

 

[Mabu]

A set of *reliable* traps to easily catch fish and mantis shrimp without interfereing with the tanks' inhabitants.

 

[Mouse]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kipreefer:
<STRONG>An robot monkey that is the reef watcher and temporary caregiver so when i am away crazing things dont happen. Which we all know that crazing things happen when we are away. Thats what I wish I had</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

or how about a hamster in scuba gear with the brain of Julian Sprung, and a big squeegie.

 

[Merkur]

a computerized controller that can actully monitor and graph on my pc the things i care about.

calcium
alkalinity
ph
temp
amonia
nitrite
nitrate
oxygen
salinity

oh yeah, and reemeber that thread on the super high tech lighting? i want to see that on marine depot!!!

 

[White-Queen]

Aiptasia-Be-Gone additive. It would provide essential chemicals to the rest of your reef and livestock but erradicate the aptaisa completely and leave your tanks free...without a trace. Now, who is going to tell me MY wish has been granted?

Angela <><

 

[Chucker]

White-Queen- I think Marc Weiss may have a product for you

 

[Lefty1]

Dargason,

Thanks for the info on the temp controller.

The one you got looks good. Do you put the probe in place at the correct temp and the set the device with the knob to keep things at that temp?

Thanks

RR

 

[bigtank]

Does anyone make an inaudible powerhead? That would be wonderful.

 

[dragon0121]

Anything that removes Bryopsis permanently!

 

[Green Lantern]

How about a better salt mix. One that mimics natural sea water more closely. Water motion that comes closer to providing a natural ocean current. Something like a Wave2k that would prove to be reliable.

 

[Dargason]

Well, I use it to control the fermentation temperature in my freezer. I just plug the freezer into it, drop the probe in the freezer, and plug the thing into the wall. I used a thermometer to calibrate it rather than trust the markings on the knob.

I can see 3 possible problems for the aquarium use. First, the maximum control temperature is 80, which may not be high enough. The second problem is that the probe may not be safe for SW use. This isn't a big deal, because I can think of several ways to get around that problem. The biggest problem is that the histeresis is reportedly 3.5 degrees... that means it would switch on at 82 degrees, and not switch off again until the temp drops down to 78.5 -- since your heater is probably set to come on at 80, it'll never get that low and the fans wouldn't shut off.

If this is a concern, it's probably worth contacting the manufacturer. There might be a fairly simple way to alter it to change the swing. It's probably just a resistor somewhere, but I didn't see anything obvious when I opened mine up. You might point out the potential market for aquarium use!

 

[Dargason]

By the way, one of the other links pointed to a very similar controller, but the specs were different. The differential was 1 degree, and the temperature range was from 30 to 212F. That one was also made by Johnson Controls, so I checked out their website and found a datasheet for what I have (I think): http://cgproducts.johnsoncontrols.com/MET_PDF/125020.PDF

I noticed that there is a large selection of choices for the differential and the temperature control range. I think you should contact them, tell them what you want and I'm sure they have something!

 

[kjb]

An overflow particulate filter...
just something that i can use in the sump to catch the overflow from my main tank and run it through a filter media, like a floss pad. But it has to have a way to hold the pad in place so it doesn't float free and mess stuff up... and needs to have a way for water to flow out if the pad becomes clogged.
Sounds easy, but the two i made worked so poorly