Current USA Orbit PowerCompact light

[degbowl]

I just filled my new tank with water. I started to set up the light. I purchased the aqualight digital power center. The light has three plugs. Which plugs go into the daytime plug and what goes in the night time plug? I will have it going 9am to 9pm, then the night time is 9pm to 9am. Does any of them stay on 24hrs? I just want to get it right before everything is cycled. Thanks!
Jim

 

[ColdFish]

Not exactly sure if this will be helpful since mine isn't digital, but it is for the aqualight series from coralife so color coding is probably the same. Mine has 2 timers. The Lunars (black outlets) and the Actinics (blue outlets) are set on the same timer so when one is on the other is off. The 10K's go to the yellow outlets which is timed seperately. I have my timers set so that my actinics come on and run for 9 hours total. The 10K's run for the 6 hours in the middle of that 9 hour block, and the lunars are on for the entire period that the actinics are off.

If all you have is daytime/nightime outlets then you'll more than likely need another timer to handle either your 10K or your actinic. They are probably in a one on/one off arrangement. and since you want both of them running for part of the cycle, a single timer can't handle it. If you have lunar lights then you would want to set lunar on the night cycle and actinic on the day cycle. Then all you need is another timed outlet that will kick your 10K on and off when you need it. Hope this helps, and wasn't too confusing

 

[degbowl]

My aqualight timer has two yellow(daytime outlets) and 2 Blue(night time outlets). My question is with the light itself. It has three plugs. Which ones do I put in the daytime and which ones in the night time? Does anyone have this light and know about the plugs? TIA. Jim

 

[ColdFish]

The light has 3 plugs because 1 is for the lunar lighting, 1 is for the actinics, and 1 is for the 10K. You can figure out which is which by just attaching the plugs to a regular outlet and see which bulbs that they power. Then just mark it with a piece of tape. You cant control all 3 on the current timer that you have. When the yellow outlets are on, then the blue ones are off and have no power. You can attach the plug that powers the lunar lights into one of the blue outlets, and attach the plug that powers the actinic into the yellow outlet. Then set the timer for the time that you want the actincs to come on and shut off. When your actinics come on in the morning (start of day cycle) then your lunar LED's will shut off. In the evening it's the reverse, actinics shut off and the LED's come on.

The problem is that you want to have the 10K come on part of the way into your day cycle (will be on at the same time as the actinic) and shut off while the actinic is still running. That is going to require a seperate timer to plug the 10K into.

Coralife makes a powerstrip called a "dual power center" that actually has 2 timers, one at each end of the strip that will handle the 3-plug lights and that's what you need. This one has 3 different timed outlets, Black for LED's, Blue for Actinic, and yellow for 10K.

Otherwise you either have to add another timing device, or manually switch the 10K lighting on and off.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1

Look at the "dual" controller at the above link and that will give you an idea of what you need.

 

[degbowl]

I wish I knew that before I bought the power strip. I currently have the timer set for 9am to 9pm. Then the led's go on at night. When should I put the 10k on. 12pm to 6pm sound good?

 

[cmor1701d]

Usual photo period is 12 hours of actinic and 10 hours of 10k for the dusk to dawn effect.
That would put your 10k lights on at 10am and off at 8 pm.

I run my LED moonlights 24/7. I think most people here do the same instead of using another timer.

 

[ColdFish]

Wouldn't running the lunars 24/7 still leave you the problem of not having the 10K and the actinic come on independently? It would still require a second timer if you want it to be automatic, not that it has to be. Am I missing an easy solution to this?

I have a 36" strip on my smaller tank that doesn't have the lunars at all. It still took me 2 timers to get it working right. I got one timer at Lowe's that was a digital one which had "2 Timed Outlets" but unfortunately it turns both outlets off and on at the same time. Left me still having my actinic plugged into an old marineland single outlet timer. At least the second outlet on that digital timer allowed me to plug a powerhead into it which only runs when the 10k lighting is running. Adds a little variety to the current so it wasn't a complete waste.

 

[cmor1701d]

Ah, but I do use two timers. Wish they had the corallife dual power center when I set mine up.

 

[degbowl]

I just ordered the coralife dual timer from bigalsonline.com . They have free shipping on orders over $50. The timer was $29.99. That was the cheapest I could find. I just added a couple of other things I needed. Under the 30 gal I will have a 10 gal qt tank. I need another power strip for more plugs anyway. Thanks for everyones advice. It really helped me out.