The 4 Best Aquarium Timers and Power Centers of 2023

Best Overall

Coralife Aqualight Digital Power Center

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The Coralife Digital Power Center has eight outlets—four for use all the time, two for daytime, and then another two for nighttime. The daytime sockets are color coded yellow and the nighttime sockets blue.

You can program the Coralife differently for each day of the week, setting custom windows for daylight or nighttime sockets. The digital display is easy to use and can be set up for any type of aquarium. Programming so many settings in the power center’s little screen is as intuitive as possible, but you’ll still likely need the manual for reference the first few times you go in to change your settings.

The Coralife was built specifically with fish tanks in mind, which results in thoughtful features like the built-in outlet covers, which allow you to close off unused sockets from splash damage. The Coralife Digital Power Center isn’t perfect. It requires a LR44 battery to preserve timer settings, which you’re probably less likely to have around your house than more common battery types. We also wish it had a dimmer option. But those reservations aside, this the best choice for most aquarium set-ups.

Price at time of publish: $40

_{Outlets: 8 (4 always on, 2 night, 2 day) | Timers: one digital | Dimensions: 4 x 12.2 x 2 inches, with 3-foot cord | Water Resistance: Limited}

Best Smart

TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip HS300

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The TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip lets you program on-off cycles for each of its six sockets individually using the Kasa Smart app. You can do other neat analytic things too, like monitor energy usage for each outlet. Once the Kasa Smart Power Strip is hooked up to your wi-fi you can turn on and off aquarium devices from wherever you are. It’s also compatible with voice controls via Alexa or Google Assistant.

We also like that the three-prong plug for the HS300 power strip is angled, so it sits flush enough against the wall that it can be used behind a cabinet or dresser. Unfortunately, the power strip’s cord is only available in one length—3 feet.

Price at time of publish: $47

_{Outlets: 6, plus 3 USB outlets | Timers: Unlimited in app | Dimensions: 2.49 x 14.17 x 1.48 inches | Water Resistance: None}

Best Budget

BN-LINK 24 Hour Plug-In Mechanical Timer

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This fully mechanical timer allows for a detailed daily program, but only for one plug at a time. The BN-Link 24 Hour Plug-In Mechanical Timer doesn’t require any batteries and doesn’t have a programming display. Instead, this timer features a big wheel representing 24 hours, which is surrounded by thin tabs, or pins, which represent 15-minute increments. First, you turn the wheel to align the current time with an arrow, then you push down pins for the times when you want the outlet activated. If you want a light to come on for two hours at night and two hours in the early morning, for example, you would push down all the pins inside of those two-hour sections of the wheel. It’s a relatively intuitive system, which allows you to cycle a device on and off at custom intervals throughout the day, but the narrow pins make it hard to program by hand—it’s much easier to press the pins down with a little screwdriver or other metal tool.

While you can set multiple on-off cycles through a single 24-hour period, there’s no way to have different settings for different days without reprogramming each time. There is, however, a switch on the BN-Link that changes the socket from your timer programming to always on, and back again.

Price at time of publish: $9

_{Outlets: One | Timers: Up to 48 in a 24-hour cycle | Dimensions: 3 x 4.8 x 3 inches | Water Resistance: None}