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Skyetone 
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 Topic: automated tank systems?
Posted: May 31 2005 at 11:48pm |
I know that there are some cool high end electronic metering systems for our tanks out there. Susan just kinda showed me hers and swears by it. I know firefish has something. I know a ton of other members have something too.
here is my deal. I am LAZY. But i care alot about my big system. Is there some sort of reasonably priced (opinions will vary on reasonable) plug in and go systems, that i could just go and look at a display and see my ph,alk,nitrate,temp, and so on? I can't find half my test kits to sit down and every once and a while test my system when I have a coral thats pissed. But if I could just peek under my stand by my sump and take 30seconds and see whats what I'd do it ALOT more.
who runs what and what did it cost you?
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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SharkByteShaz
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Posted: June 01 2005 at 6:48am |
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Don't go automated. Mandalay Bay Aquarium did when they built their systems and as of this date everything is manual now. They have the best setup I've ever seen. The only thing that I can see actually being manual is the power backup and the lighting. If our hobby was automated who would we ask for help.
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HOLD MY BEER, I WANT TO TRY SOMETHING...
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jfinch
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Posted: June 01 2005 at 9:12am |
There are no automated ways to monitor parameters such as alkalinity and nitrate. pH and ORP are really the only two continuous monitors out there (oh, and temperature). Everything else you'll still have to test for manually.
What controllers do is shut off or turn on systems to maintain pH and ORP (and temperature). They are just switches... if the pH gets high shut off the kalk pump, if the pH gets low shut off the calcium reactor, it the ORP gets high shut off the ozone, if the temperature gets high turn on a fan, etc. They just make decisions for you when you're not around.
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Xacttech
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Posted: June 01 2005 at 10:10am |
There is also Calcium monitors, but their accuracy I don't think is quite up
to snuff (an article I read on the pinpoint, can't think of the reference)
They also have salinity monitors, but I'll stick with a refractometer.
And the main tank maintanence... Water Changes...
If you can figure out a reasonable, and affordable system for doing water
changes, and still be able to be lazy you'll be rich. 
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Skyetone
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Posted: June 01 2005 at 4:24pm |
sounds like if I could have some machine do a test setup once a week and display the results it would be a million dollar idea.....
I was hoping that someone had already done that.
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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jfinch
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Posted: June 01 2005 at 4:31pm |
it would be a million dollar idea.....
And I could build that for you for a million dollars 
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meterman
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Posted: June 01 2005 at 5:49pm |
It's been done, only $2,065.00
For some reason, I can't get the hyperlink to function. Anyway at hach.com try a search for the DR2400 spectrophotometer. It has almost all of the tests we would ever desire.
Edited by meterman
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Alex
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Xacttech
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Posted: June 01 2005 at 11:55pm |
 Skyetone wrote:
sounds like if I could have some machine do a test
setup once a week and display the results it would be a million dollar
idea.....
I was hoping that someone had already done that. |
Wait a second... this is all ready available... and for way less than a
million dollars... hmmm... Oh yeah... you can get one at MSM, and
Aquatic Dreams, I even think Marine Aqautics has one!!
It even does the water change!!
They call it... I think... that's right, a service contract!! 
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Skyetone
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Posted: June 02 2005 at 6:24pm |
LOL
sure but then I'd have to have people like eric in picking my tank apart. like I need that. 
spectrophotometer .... .. spectro whosits whatsit? why does that scream lights to me?
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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jfinch
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Posted: June 02 2005 at 6:54pm |
spectrophotometer
We have one at work and I use it to test my water. Basically what it is is a machine with a sensor that will detect a very narrow band of light. Then you can dial in a specific light band and it will tell you how intense that color is. So you do essensially the same test as your test kit but the machine reads the color results. It's not automatic, you still have to catch the sample and run the test. But it's a very cool machine and takes out all the guessing when the color doesn't exactly match the color on the chart in your test kit
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deedo
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Posted: June 02 2005 at 10:53pm |
jfinch,
I use a spectrophotometer all the time. Never thought of doing water tests with one.
Can you just use any hobby test kit for this? How do you find out what absorbances=what concentrations? And what wavelengths to use for different tests? Would the test kit manufacturer be able/willing to tell me?
Sorry 'bout the hijack.
Edited by deedo
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"Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins the movie by telling you how it ends. Well, I say there are some things we don't want to know. Important things!" - Ned Flanders
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jfinch
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Posted: June 03 2005 at 8:46am |
We have a Hach DR/2000. Hach ( www.hach.com) has all the procedures on-line somewhere on their website. Search for "Water Analysis Handbook". I've got a hardcopy here at work, but I know it's also on their website. Typically, Hach sells the test kit to use with the spectrophotometer, but they are likely the same as the hobbiest kits with the exception that the spectrophotometer needs a 25 ml sample size. But as you are probably aware, there are usually more then one method to analyse a particular contaminate so you'd have to know which method the hobbyist kit uses. For example, in the Hach book there are 3 different methods of testing for ortho phosphates and each of those methods has a different adsorption waveband.
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