Iām looking into a light timer for my tank and I was wondering if you all had any brands you recommend. I donāt need anything fancy, I just want my light to get turned on and off at the right times while Iām out of town. Iād rather the pet sitter not have to worry about that.
I use a smart plug which is also controllable via an amazon echo. It adjusts automatically when clocks are adjusted for daylight savings time. I used to use a mechanical timer but that would often need resetting due to power failures or daylight savings time.
Smart plugs have come down in price and are my choice for controlling aquarium lights. You can set specific on-off times on the plug via a smart phone.
And being compatible with an amazon echo is a bonus. I have 3 tanks, all of which are controlled by smart plugs. āAlexa....turn on fish tank lights!ā
Fishmanic's suggestion sounds ideal, if you understand such things. I'm old enough not to have a clue.
But on regular timers, the digital ones are better because they will retain the time if the power goes out, and they can do this for more than 24 hours. During a power outage they do not keep the tank lights on, but they do maintain the current time, so when power is restored, the tank lighting will continue as it should be at that time, whether on or off. The regular manual timers would bring the tank lighting on if power went out during an "on" period, which can be a nuisance if it is during the middle of the night. When I had the manual timers, I went around the tanks and unplugged them when the power went out (if I was awake) and then went round and plugged them back in and reset them when power was restored. The digital timers avoid all this fuss.
