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jcoulter17 
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 Topic: Monitor your Salinity from a apex controller
Posted: January 19 2010 at 1:15pm |
Neptune is ending its testing for the probe module 2. This thing will Monitor/Control Conductivity/Salinity and temperature for your tank. They are taking preorders right now and will ship out at the end of the month. Here is the webpage Probe Module 2
Edited by jcoulter17 - January 19 2010 at 1:36pm
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Shane H
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Posted: January 19 2010 at 1:49pm |
Adam and I were just talking about what we would want a controller to control. Alk and Ca were at the top. Salinity wasn't even on the list.
When are the going to come up with probes for the REALLY important stuff?
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: January 19 2010 at 2:06pm |
Geez Shane lighten up... you sound like me. 
Adam
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downhill_biker
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Posted: January 19 2010 at 2:10pm |
 Shane H wrote:
Adam and I were just talking about what we would want a controller to control. Alk and Ca were at the top. Salinity wasn't even on the list.
When are the going to come up with probes for the REALLY important stuff? |
I would have to disagree greatly with this comment. Salinity is very important. How many of us check our salinity often? I know of several large systems that have crashed due to an auto top off sticking or someone forgetting to turn off a topoff, and the salinity drops to 1.00 overnight, killing everything...I think that ca and alk would be great, but salinity monitoring is a great idea, and important.
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Dion Richins
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Posted: January 19 2010 at 2:21pm |
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Only if it has a loud freaking siren. Otherwise I would sleep through the night.
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Shane H
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Posted: January 19 2010 at 4:12pm |
Salinity is very important.
Agreed. But not something I would ordinarily worry too much about. I have tanks that I have never checked the salinity - since initial set up. Granted, these tanks do not have ATO, so a failure is something to consider.
I didn't mean to imply it wasn't important, just not on my list of things to check frequently.
Will this controller add FW or Salt to the tank if the salinity is low/high? That would be cool. It may be able to control a pump in a tub of FW and a pump in a tub of SW. You would want also to have a water height control to insure you don't inadvertently flood the tank as your controller balances the salinity.
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jcoulter17
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Posted: January 19 2010 at 4:16pm |
Shane H wrote:
Will this controller add FW or Salt to the tank if the salinity is low/high? That would be cool. It may be able to control a pump in a tub of FW and a pump in a tub of SW. You would want also to have a water height control to insure you don't inadvertently flood the tank as your controller balances the salinity.
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this has 6 digital inputs for float switches, water on floor sensors, pressure sensors, etc.
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Shane H
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Posted: January 19 2010 at 4:17pm |
As far as alarms go: Top 5 include
1) Water outside the tank
2) Power failure
3) Temperature
4) Ammonia
5) Water outside the tank
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superman1981
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Posted: January 19 2010 at 4:54pm |
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I find that the less I monitor my tank, the better it does... But then again, I'm crappy reefer #1, so what would I know?
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Sure you are, you are Crappy Reef Club Member #1 -Chk4tix 6 gal nanocube 65 gal build thread
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Aquarium Creations
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Posted: January 19 2010 at 6:50pm |
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<----- have 5 on order we will be some of the first stores to get them. We have the aqua controller pro and it does all these functions as well as some others.
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BobC63
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Posted: January 20 2010 at 9:41pm |
I have to admit that I think the whole Apex thing is pretty cool.
I may even have to break down and get one.
Now, IF I spent that much $$$ to have one, I would want there to be at least the option to monitor / alert on as many different parameters / conditions as possible.
I like Shane's "top 5 alarms" list - with "the water on the floor" listed twice
Do they have probes for any of the following yet?
- pO4
- nO3
- nH4
- Ca
- dKH
How about something to monitor "power draw", so like if your return pump froze up, you'd get an alert - that would be cool!
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- My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) -
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Nick801
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Posted: January 20 2010 at 10:11pm |
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So how much do these units go for?
Edited by Nick801 - January 20 2010 at 10:27pm
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BobC63
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Posted: January 20 2010 at 10:29pm |
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I think the Apex model retails for close to $500
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- My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) -
* Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 *
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Nick801
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Posted: January 20 2010 at 10:51pm |
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No I mean just this additional module =)
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dew2loud1
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 1:35am |
The technology is there for calcium/alk testing, http://afishybusiness.com/Controllers_Monitors/American_Marine/American_Marine_Pinpoint_II_Calcium_MonitorAmerican marine also makes nitrate, salinity etc testing, http://www.americanmarineusa.com/ Applying this to aquarium controllers is just an input of the Mv of the probe after calibration The problem is the calcium and the nitrate probes need to be calibrated before each use so they can't be used continuously to monitor/control operations I'm not sure of longevity of the probes on their site nitrate testers are $259, but a replacement probe is $200, not good if you have to replace it every year/couple years. Ideally yes the controller would read calcium levels and could have tons of options to raise it, send top off through kalk, bypass kalk, turn on reactor, operate calcium chloride dosing pump etc..... I know people are planning on doing automatic continuous water changes with the salinity meter, have a brine tank and change 1-2 gallons a day. In theory its awesome but when you get that complex it makes me a bit weary, as long as the controllers aren't running windows is guess, I don't want to see a blue screen of aquarium death.
Edited by dew2loud1 - January 21 2010 at 1:43am
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Wudan
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 10:38am |
Shane H wrote:
As far as alarms go: Top 5 include
1) Water outside the tank
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I've always wondered - couldn't a probe be made to measure the water pressure? E.G. you put the probe low in your tank and it has a value returned indicating pressure, and if the value lowers, water is evaporating, and the water level is lowering, but if the value lowers a lot, it is either really hot (and rapid evaporation is occuring) or you have a leak ... I guess the logic could get dodgy, but it's a good idea, I think. But I think things like salinity and flow can have a bad impact on the sensor, so maybe it's not that great of an idea - but I still think it's a plausible concept. If it was paired with a salinity probe / monitoring system, you could feasibly tell if you had a leak.
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dew2loud1
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 10:56am |
There are leak detectors that just send electricity between point a-b and when there is water present it conducts, There actually is exactly what you're talking about for auto top offs, its a good idea if you had two one to top off the other even lower to identify a major leak. http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=254
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