Thank you for your question. That should work. The digital thermostat is not a timed unit, just an on/off device that is set at a specific temp. There is no setting to mess up. When the timer unit gives power to the thermostat, the thermostat will go back to functioning the way it is meant to without messing anything up.

Thank you for your question. The Coralife Power Center has a circuit protection but not a surge protection.

Aquariumgirl, Thank you for your question. The batteries are not included in the Coralife Power Centers, however, they can be purchased at any local store. For this item you would need a AG13 Mercury Battery, which is similar to a watch battery. The battery is not necessary for this item to work, however, if you have power outages in your area often we would recommend installing the battery to keep your tank running.

Nope, when the top two are on the bottom two are off.

Thank you for your question. A member of our aquatics team sent this message along in regard to what you are asking: The customer can definitely use the Digital Coralife Power Center #25731 as timer for his wave maker. However, the on/off cycle is going to be far less precise than the Hydor Koralia SmartWave Pump Controller #75509. Digital Coralife Power Center would be great for basic on/off control of one circulation pump in “minute” intervals. The Hydor Koralia SmartWave Pump Controller controls two circulation pumps with finely tuned on/off cycles in “second” intervals. So, ultimately the choice is based on customer need and application. The Hydor Koralia SmartWave Pump Controller would definitely be the better choice for reef aquariums. The Digital Coralife Power Center would be great for fish-only tanks (freshwater or marine).

This timer works by cutting off power to the devise plugged into it. So, regardless of the mechanism to turn the light on/off, as long as it has a separate cord for the light you should be fine. The only exception that I can think of would be on some light fixtures that are static touch controlled, these type fixtures can sometimes be problematic with this type of timer devise.

Technically, fish don't need light to see. The light is for us to see them and to grow things in the tank that are photosynthetic. Depending on what you're keeping, you could use a variety of different light spectrum to achieve growth. Daytime lights are normally in the 3,500k (Orange/Red) to 10,000k (White) range. The actual sun produces 6,500k and is optimal to grow plants and if you put all 6,500k light on your tank then you can grow corals. Actinic, or blue lights, are bulbs producing below 500nm light. The lower the number the more blue the light, while the higher then number the more purple it will be. A rating of 420nm is true blue and 500 is more purple. Putting all daytime spectrum bulbs on your tank will not produce as much growth as adding actinic lights because the corals receive a full spectrum with mixed lighting. The tank color will appear washed out and not as pleasing to look at. Generally, the more daytime light you have on your tank the more microalgae will grow, but that can also be caused by high phosphates. You don't need a different timer to use actinics. Depending on the type of lighting system you have, you can use any color bulb in the same unit. For example, I have a 6 bulb T-5 unit that has three 6,500k and three 420nm bulbs in it and is controlled by one timer. If you have a cheap lamp timer plugged into a power center and you have a seperate cord for your actinic bulbs, then you would need another timer to control them. Advanced lighting schedules can be implemented using multiple timers, but they are not necessary.

The "day" timer will control whatever you plug into the yellow outlets and the "night" timer will control whatever you plug into the blue outlets. If you plug your 10k bulbs and your 420 bulbs into the yellow sockets then they will both turn on during the daytime settings. You can also use this timer to set up a reverse photoperiod by plugging all of your daytime bulbs into the yellow sockets and plugging your refugium light into the blue socket.

To program your timer, you have to first set the clock. To set the clock, you hold down the CLK button and press the Day, Hour, and Minute buttons until your day and time are set. To set the timer, you press MODE until the timer says AUTO and then press the PRG button. The first screen in the PRG feature is the first timer. You can set this timer by selecting the Day, Hour and Minute buttons until your timer is where you want it. Repear for additional times if you want different day/night cycles for different days. Your timer takes 24 hours to turn off and on automatically. The first day you get the timer, only the ON and OFF features would work. You can either set your AUTO feature the first day and control the lights manually or you can select the ON feature and then turn it to AUTO when you want the lights to go out.

It's not possible to set the lights to turn on at different times with this controller. If you want to control your blue lights and white lights seperately then you have two options. You can either buy an expensive aquarium controller or you can buy another timer and plug it into your yellow socket. For example, you could set your Coralife timer to control your 10k bulbs and plug another timer into the other yellow socket to control your 420 actinics. To do this option, you have to have one plug for each type of light. Single lamp timers can be purchased on Drs. Foster and Smith and local hardware stores for fairly cheap.