Timer recommendation

[Leebtattoos]

so I have fluval fresh&plant led’s. Everything I read about the fluval WiFi timer deal is bad.

Do any of y’all have a recommendation of a universal timer that would allow me to hook two strips up, and have the blue come on, followed by full light, then end with blue only? I don’t need to do sun up and down. But I do personally like having the blue on a while, especially before bed since the tank is next to my bed.

Thanks

 

[skjl47]

Hello; No suggestion about the sequence of lights, but do have a suggestion about a timer in general.
I have tried the newer digital timers and they have a flaw. If the power goes off they need to be reset. Even if the power is off a short time.

I have used the older style mechanical in the past and have gone back to them. If the power goes off they go back to whatever stage they were at. It does skew the time by how long the power is off, but if you have it set for 14 hours on and 10 hours off it will keep that schedule. The only thing I have to do is rotate the dial to make up for the time the power was off.

 

[HarleyK]

Old style mechanical all the way here.

 

[tiger15]

I have used a number of digital timers but returned to mechanical timer. Digital timers are quiet and accurate, but programming is not intuitive, and reviewing what has been programmed is not transparent, requiring pressing multiple buttons. I hate to read menu each time I need to reprogram. Mechanical timers can lose or gain time, but adjustment or reading what’s been programmed is straightforward, simply turning the wheel or changing the pin locations. I like the old fashion Intermatic mechanical that has red and green pins than the newer mechanical with infinite tabs to press. The newer is harder to read, wrong tabs can accidentally be bumped, and the manual override will not automatically resume programmed schedule.

 

[Cyanopica]

Chiming in to add my vote for mechanical timers. I got one for my second tank after reading reviews of digital timers failing. Other than having to tweak the time dial after a long power outage, I've had no problems with it and highly recommend it. I'd just get one for your white lights and one for the blue, unless you can find a mechanical timer that has two timer settings.