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Fishfoo's IM170 EXT (1 Viewer)

What thickness?
I usually get 1/2” uhmw and it doesn’t flex even a little.

I’ve used 1/4” hdpe for a winter camping toboggan and it can be rolled up easily.
 
Chris Goetz said:
What thickness?
I usually get 1/2” uhmw and it doesn’t flex even a little.

I’ve used 1/4” hdpe for a winter camping toboggan and it can be rolled up easily.
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Lol it was 1/8" 😂 obviously wasn't thinking when I chose thickness.
 
Went to Home Depot to grab some melamine MDF board but the only one they had was 3/4”. Ended up going with a plain 1/2” MDF board and putting the 1/8” HDPE over it 🤷‍♂️

IMG_2525.jpegReally happy with how clean and safe it made things under the tank. I also tried to tidy up the cords a bit as well, which I had mild success with.
 
What a lovely looking setup!
 
Blue light special torch pic. It’s been tough to get the flow right for both the sps and euphyllia but I think I’ve got it as close as it’s going to get for now.
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One of these days I’ll bring back out the dslr. Maybe once the sps have grown a bit!
 
Really fantastic piece, well done!
 
I’ve used an inkbird temp controller for years with great success. However since switching to 2 300w Finnex heaters, I’ve experienced some issues.

The major issue was a scary one a year or so ago when I walked into the room and smelt something burning. Turned out to be the outlet the inkbird was plugged into on the profilux. Luckily no fire but a close call. Fried that outlet so I purchased a new inkbird and placed it in a new outlet (still on the profilux).

No fire scares since, but the male connector on the powercord is still abnormally warm to the touch which sketches me out. 600w should be totaling fine for one outlet as GHL states “Maximum current in total / per socket: 15A / 15A”, and I’ve seen other threads where people have similar issues with their inkbird controllers.

This got me looking into alternative options, and I found aqualogic which is essentially a Janco temp controller that’s been waterproofed.
IMG_2640.jpeg

People claim it’s extremely reliable so I’m excited to set it and forget it. But I’ve always wondered, do people use their temp controllers as the primary control and the controllable outlets as the secondary or vice versa? My whole time in this hobby I’ve used the outlets as my primary, but wondering what others use?
 
Previous tank I used Inkbird. Have a Helio controller with Finnex heater on my 200. Also running BRS branded controller on freshwater tank. All the heaters are non-adjustable and are only controlled from temp controllers. I only run single heaters with no back-up, so I rely on the temp controller to alarm or the APEX to send me notifications. If something goes wrong, I have spare heaters to drop in.

The outlet smoking or getting hot sounds like a totally different issue. A 300-watt heater is only ever going to draw 2.5 Amps. If it ever draws more than that the power is going somewhere. Was all the equipment plugged into the outlet fine after the outlet failed? If the outlet itself was getting hot, I imagine whoever installed your outlet messed something up. Copper wire going to the outlet could have been nicked, screw was loose, or just a faulty outlet. Surprised if it was drawing enough to get hot it didn't trip the breaker.
 
I use my controller as primary and the heater thermostat as the secondary backup, set a couple degrees higher than my apex shuts it off in case the Apex probe fails.
 
MistakesWereMade said:
The outlet smoking or getting hot sounds like a totally different issue. A 300-watt heater is only ever going to draw 2.5 Amps. If it ever draws more than that the power is going somewhere. Was all the equipment plugged into the outlet fine after the outlet failed? If the outlet itself was getting hot, I imagine whoever installed your outlet messed something up. Copper wire going to the outlet could have been nicked, screw was loose, or just a faulty outlet. Surprised if it was drawing enough to get hot it didn't trip the breaker.
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All other outlets were totally fine, but that particular outlet is now unusable. Could have been something like that but everyone else that experieced it said it was the actual plug that heated up too much and started melting/smoking. One thread didn't involve a ghl powerball at all, just a normal outlet.

And yeah very surprised it didn't trip the breaker either. Maybe I caught it right before.
 
Fishfoo said:
Could have been something like that but everyone else that experieced it said it was the actual plug that heated up too much and started melting/smoking.
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Could certainly be the plug. Those are almost always molded plugs and would have no way to check good connection. If it happened right after you switched to the higher heaters that actually makes a lot of sense.
 
MistakesWereMade said:
Could certainly be the plug. Those are almost always molded plugs and would have no way to check good connection. If it happened right after you switched to the higher heaters that actually makes a lot of sense.
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Did not happen right away but my GHL profilux is the primary temp controller so maybe it was shutting off the inkbird (somewhat) in time before if got too hot finally.
 
Last edited:
Looks like I never posted my Aquabiomics DNA & Microbiome test results from last July for anyone that is thinking about getting one and wants to see what the results look like.
 

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