Aquacontroller Pro Question

[Joel]

I am looking for a way to monitor and control pH, temperature (chiller
or heater), water top off, calcium reactor, lighting, feeder,
wavemaker, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, and ORP. Is the
Aquacontroller Pro the way to go? To do all these things with it, I
will need all the proper probes and X-10 plugs, which add up to almost
2 grand. Is there a better way? How do people who are frequently on
the road for several days handle such problems? Would it be better to
buy a separate monitor/controller for each parameter?

[Mike Imbler]

I would consider getting their direct 4 outlets instead of using their x10
units. These give you four hard-wired outlets per unit that can be daisy
chained together to have 16 controls. Then you will not have to worry about
inteference with your X10 modules. It is just a simpler, more dependable
way to control essential life support systems.
Mike
"Joel" > wrote in message
om...
> I am looking for a way to monitor and control pH, temperature (chiller
> or heater), water top off, calcium reactor, lighting, feeder,
> wavemaker, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, and ORP. Is the
> Aquacontroller Pro the way to go? To do all these things with it, I
> will need all the proper probes and X-10 plugs, which add up to almost
> 2 grand. Is there a better way? How do people who are frequently on
> the road for several days handle such problems? Would it be better to
> buy a separate monitor/controller for each parameter?

[Joel]

Thanks.

What do you use in your setup?

"Mike Imbler" > wrote in message
...
> I would consider getting their direct 4 outlets instead of using their x10
> units. These give you four hard-wired outlets per unit that can be daisy
> chained together to have 16 controls. Then you will not have to worry
about
> inteference with your X10 modules. It is just a simpler, more dependable
> way to control essential life support systems.
> Mike
> "Joel" > wrote in message
> om...
> > I am looking for a way to monitor and control pH, temperature (chiller
> > or heater), water top off, calcium reactor, lighting, feeder,
> > wavemaker, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, and ORP. Is the
> > Aquacontroller Pro the way to go? To do all these things with it, I
> > will need all the proper probes and X-10 plugs, which add up to almost
> > 2 grand. Is there a better way? How do people who are frequently on
> > the road for several days handle such problems? Would it be better to
> > buy a separate monitor/controller for each parameter?
>
>

[Mike Imbler]

I use the direct 4 set-up. I monitor temp, ph, salinity and orp, and
control ph and temp. I got a couple of x10 modules to play with on
non-essential controls, but haven't tried them yet,
Mike
"Joel" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> Thanks.
>
> What do you use in your setup?
>
> "Mike Imbler" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I would consider getting their direct 4 outlets instead of using their
x10
> > units. These give you four hard-wired outlets per unit that can be
daisy
> > chained together to have 16 controls. Then you will not have to worry
> about
> > inteference with your X10 modules. It is just a simpler, more
dependable
> > way to control essential life support systems.
> > Mike
> > "Joel" > wrote in message
> > om...
> > > I am looking for a way to monitor and control pH, temperature (chiller
> > > or heater), water top off, calcium reactor, lighting, feeder,
> > > wavemaker, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, and ORP. Is the
> > > Aquacontroller Pro the way to go? To do all these things with it, I
> > > will need all the proper probes and X-10 plugs, which add up to almost
> > > 2 grand. Is there a better way? How do people who are frequently on
> > > the road for several days handle such problems? Would it be better to
> > > buy a separate monitor/controller for each parameter?
> >
> >
>
>

[Jason Pelzer]

I had a similar goal of lower maintenance periods for trips and
weekends, and I went with the AquaController and several over gizmos:

General system control:
Monitor: pH, ORP, temp
Control (with X10): heater, chiller, cooling fan, 3 separate controls
for 2 MH lights and a pair of PC's, sump return, C02 solenoid for calc
reactor, moon light, and a red night light.

For top-off, I have a float-valve filling a container which is in turn
pumped to the tank using a Tunze Osmolator (an item I highly recommend
for top-offs).

For feeding, I use a twice/day autofeeder. I recommend the digital one
that you can manually set the feed times, rather than the simpler one
that just spins slowly the whole day... I like the control.

pH is monitored to make sure the calc reactor doesn't go wild, but it
doesn't seem to ever happen. My reactor has been very stable, and for
giggles I tried opening the needle valve up, and the extra CO2 just
got blown off, so I'm reasonably confident that one could live without
a controller monitoring the reactor. It's nice to have a log of pH
though. ORP is just a general indicator of system health... If it
drops 50 points, look for something wrong, do a water change, etc... I
think dissolved O2 might be a stretch to actually make use of,
especially if the point is to automate your system while you're away.
Same for alkalinity.

I have never experienced problems with the X10 controls, although some
people seem to distrust them. Maybe there are horror stories that I
just haven't heard. Seems like the most likely thing of the modules to
fail would be the relay, which would have the same likelyhood of
failure even on a hard-wired device. I do put failsafes in when
possible though... For instance, the chiller controls are not actually
able to chill the tank below my lowest annual temperature, and the
heater can't boil off the tank. The osmolator has its own failsafes
and warnings as well.

If you get nothing else, I recommend you get an autofeeder and an
osmolator... They are IMHO the two best and cost-effective automation
tools. Top-off and feeding are things that must happen on extended
trips. Lights can always be on cheap timers, and you could even do
manual pH readings.

But the AquaController II (which can handle ORP/pH/temp with no
problem) + modules is around $500, if I remember correctly. Osmolator
is around $120, feeder around $40.

(Joel) wrote in message >...
> I am looking for a way to monitor and control pH, temperature (chiller
> or heater), water top off, calcium reactor, lighting, feeder,
> wavemaker, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, and ORP. Is the
> Aquacontroller Pro the way to go? To do all these things with it, I
> will need all the proper probes and X-10 plugs, which add up to almost
> 2 grand. Is there a better way? How do people who are frequently on
> the road for several days handle such problems? Would it be better to
> buy a separate monitor/controller for each parameter?

[Joel]

(Jason Pelzer) wrote in message >...
> I had a similar goal of lower maintenance periods for trips and
> weekends, and I went with the AquaController and several over gizmos:
>
> General system control:
> Monitor: pH, ORP, temp
> Control (with X10): heater, chiller, cooling fan, 3 separate controls
> for 2 MH lights and a pair of PC's, sump return, C02 solenoid for calc
> reactor, moon light, and a red night light.
>
> For top-off, I have a float-valve filling a container which is in turn
> pumped to the tank using a Tunze Osmolator (an item I highly recommend
> for top-offs).
>
> For feeding, I use a twice/day autofeeder. I recommend the digital one
> that you can manually set the feed times, rather than the simpler one
> that just spins slowly the whole day... I like the control.
>
> pH is monitored to make sure the calc reactor doesn't go wild, but it
> doesn't seem to ever happen. My reactor has been very stable, and for
> giggles I tried opening the needle valve up, and the extra CO2 just
> got blown off, so I'm reasonably confident that one could live without
> a controller monitoring the reactor. It's nice to have a log of pH
> though. ORP is just a general indicator of system health... If it
> drops 50 points, look for something wrong, do a water change, etc... I
> think dissolved O2 might be a stretch to actually make use of,
> especially if the point is to automate your system while you're away.
> Same for alkalinity.
>
> I have never experienced problems with the X10 controls, although some
> people seem to distrust them. Maybe there are horror stories that I
> just haven't heard. Seems like the most likely thing of the modules to
> fail would be the relay, which would have the same likelyhood of
> failure even on a hard-wired device. I do put failsafes in when
> possible though... For instance, the chiller controls are not actually
> able to chill the tank below my lowest annual temperature, and the
> heater can't boil off the tank. The osmolator has its own failsafes
> and warnings as well.
>
> If you get nothing else, I recommend you get an autofeeder and an
> osmolator... They are IMHO the two best and cost-effective automation
> tools. Top-off and feeding are things that must happen on extended
> trips. Lights can always be on cheap timers, and you could even do
> manual pH readings.
>
> But the AquaController II (which can handle ORP/pH/temp with no
> problem) + modules is around $500, if I remember correctly. Osmolator
> is around $120, feeder around $40.
>
> (Joel) wrote in message >...
> > I am looking for a way to monitor and control pH, temperature (chiller
> > or heater), water top off, calcium reactor, lighting, feeder,
> > wavemaker, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, and ORP. Is the
> > Aquacontroller Pro the way to go? To do all these things with it, I
> > will need all the proper probes and X-10 plugs, which add up to almost
> > 2 grand. Is there a better way? How do people who are frequently on
> > the road for several days handle such problems? Would it be better to
> > buy a separate monitor/controller for each parameter?

Great post. I'm going to save this one. I'm currently living in a
music studio, so the only place I could put a small tank would be in
the bathroom near the bathroom window. I think the soundwaves might
disturb the animals.