[Aquarium Co-op Heater Flashing Code]

On 10/20/2023 at 11:03 AM, quikv6 said:

It is now flashing "EL", even though it was barely ever on. I must say, that in itself is a bit frustrating. 

Wow, so much for my theory that you could delay the onset of that with a controller....

[Aquarium Co-op Heater Flashing Code]

On 10/20/2023 at 1:47 AM, Pepere said:

I use the Inkbid as the controller instead of as a limiter, and i set it with a 2 degree differential.to turn on heat when tank gets down to 74 and off when it hits 76.  As such the heater is not on very much..

 

And doing this from the beginning would greatly delay the appearance of the flashing "EL," since the heater would take much longer to reach the requisite number of hours before that "feature" kicks in.

Although it obviously has other benefits (i.e., redundancy and safety), the cost of an Inkbird controller is quite out of proportion to these cheap heaters.

I must say that, whether it's a flashing "EL" or a yellow light, it's disconcerting that ACO and/or the ODM finds this "end of life" warning to be needed. It appears that there is a lack of confidence in the design. Combined with other complaints of these heaters starting to make noise or just plain failing, I'm not sure that these things were ready for prime time....

[Aquarium Co-op Heater Flashing Code]

On 9/17/2023 at 2:09 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I believe that the Coop has updated that for V2 of the heater, in that a yellow light will now flash instead of the display flashing “EL”. Probably describes the manual being updated for V2 as well. 

OK, thanks. I didn't realize that the heater was in v2. Makes sense now.

[Aquarium Co-op Heater Flashing Code]

I don't get it. The screenshot that nabokovfan87 posted says that a yellow light will come on after two years of operation, which sounds like it would be OK. But it doesn't say anything about the display flashing "EL," which sounds very irritating. And the downloaded manual also mentions the yellow light but not the "EL."

Tamra, how long had the heater been in operation before the "EL" started flashing?

[Easy Plant LED Questions]

On 4/2/2023 at 10:55 AM, Cory said:

The ramp up of our lights is quick, like over a few seconds. We find that it doesn't startle the fish this way.  Light should be in within the next 2 weeks if everything goes to plan.

As for getting help, the forum is definitely a place to get help, lots of hobbyists here can help you with fish and plant questions. However with product related questions our actual customer service can assist you better as we have dedicated staff. Tagging a couple of people on here, those people can be busy or on vacation. I myself didn't get tagged and didn't see this. But our the customer service is staffed every day.

Thank you very much for your response!

On 4/2/2023 at 10:27 AM, jwcarlson said:

Yep, it does the same ramp on/off on a timer.  I have mine on a Kasa. 

Thank you!

[Easy Plant LED Questions]

On 3/30/2023 at 6:28 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

@Jim O Hello, welcome to the forums!  I would recommend emailing support if you don't receive the answers from the team here.

Cc @Candi @Zenzo can you help us out!?

Thanks. I had mistakenly thought that Aquarium Co-Op provided customer support via this forum, since there's a link to it in the "help" and "contact us" sections of the web site...

[Easy Plant LED Questions]

Two questions for ACO:

When using the light with a timer (I already use TP-Link Kasa smart plugs, as you recommend, with other lights), does it still gently ramp up and down when powering on and off?

As I write this, your site shows all but the 24-inch version as unavailable. Do you have an estimate as to when the other sizes will be back in stock (it's the 30-inch unit I'd initially be trying)?

[Nerite Snail for 55 Gallon tank]

I've often seen a recommendation of one snail per each five gallons. I wouldn't treat it as a hard and fast rule, but it's probably a reasonable guideline. I have nerites in three tanks, and I'm just a bit below that ratio. I've started at about half that level and just added a few until they seemed to have any algae or diatoms under control. And I move them around from tank to tank as needed.

I agree with the other poster, Phirefase, who is annoyed by the eggs. I also find them quite annoying but I'm willing to accept them as the tradeoff for the algae eating.

I also have some mystery snails and I really like them--they're bigger, prettier, and more fun to watch than nerites. But they just don't do the algae-eating job that the nerites do.

[Best fish food brands]

Has Northfin food fallen from favor? I was surprised not to see it mentioned in this discussion, as I know it had developed quite a following a few years back. In many of the forums, it seemed to be getting people to defect from NLS...

[Fritz A.C.C.R powder Vs. Seachem Prime, are they the same?]

Unlike Seachem does with Prime, Fritz tells us what's in ACCR: sodium hydroxymethanesulfonate; i.e., exactly the same thing as Cloram-X or Amquel.

And as varianidguy pointed out, the dosage of ACCR/Cloram-X/Amquel is MUCH higher than with Seachem Safe, but the pricing doesn't reflect that. Safe is likely to be the better value in dollars spent per amount of water treated.

Another product that is just as concentrated as Safe and often a bit less expensive is Continuum Aquatics Fraction D, which is available on Amazon.