Controllers and the wireless Internet lets talk about em

burning2nd

burning2nd

Well-Known Member
Lets talk about internet and Controllers...

meny of us have controllers for our tanks for more accurate control of temperature and lighting, pumps valves and other niffty things.

At work we have meny compputers in PLC cabinets contolleing automation for things that a few years ago i couldnt even dream of... kindda like "how its made"

where im going with this is the other day i was at the Lfs with my bag of snails... and i over hurd the guy at the store steave, and a customer i think i might have seen there once or twice b4 over the years talking about ports...

ports on the router... turns out the guy had some sort of aquacontroller hooked up via wireless or wired router at his house.. had a static address made, and had an App on his iphone....
apex... something...

showed him his temp, ph, what pumps where on what times were doing, and if the power had gone, out....

THIS BLEW MY MIND....... not only would he be able to check when ever he wanted, or where ever he wanted... i though this would bring me a great deal of relief from this...

so i got thinking about other E-controllable items.


What could we hook up besides controllers to a router or laptop that could be view and or contolled via Applacations for things like iphone or blackberry, or remote desktop.......

geting real deep in to it now...

allen bradley
rockwell automation
midwest

Water changes away from home... 24-7 real time monitoring from anywhere in the world with a internet connection.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Yeah the new APEX has a ton of potential! I'm looking into it also the new Profilux III system. Both will be fully debuted next week at MACNA so after next week there could be a whole new BUZZ about controllers.
 
Cloudburst2000

Cloudburst2000

Member
Yeah, I was just researching controllers last night, and the capabilities of some of them blew my mind. But talk about big bucks. A good one is going to run hundreds of dollars. Now, if I had the systems that some of you do...large #s of gallons, large # of fish/corals, etc, then a controller like that would make financial sense. But my tank is 25 gallons and being small, can only hold a limited # of coral/fish. Not sure spending that kind of money makes sense in my situation. I do know they make controllers w/limited capabilities for less moolah (that only measure like temp/ph) etc. I might consider one of these though.
 
D

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Controllers are nice, and they can do a lot of "tricks" especially in the area where you want to control something based upon something the controller can measure. They are also great for recording conditions on a constant basis, and saving the data for use by your computer. For many other functions, like controlling lighting or heating or pumps, you can do just as well using timers that are available at a far lower cost.

In addition, if the controller breaks, and you have a everything controlled by it, you now have nothing controlled. A timer can usually be quickly obtained at far lower cost at your local Home Depot or similar store.

The bottom line is get a controller only when you already have all the other basic reef equipment you need. A controller is a fine add on, but it's not strictly needed to have a great reef.

As for computer connections, yes they are great for recording data, and passing it off to a computer. They could also notify you if there is a problem that the controller can detect, and it can still get out to the net to notify you. If you have a power failure that effects your local router, ut's no help at all.
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
Check out reefnook.com. The guy made a site where it's really easy to hook your controllers to and it will record and graph your readings. I don't have any controllers, but you can just type in the numbers and keep track anyway. It's a cool little site.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
I have the AC Jr on my 10g Frag tank and absolutely LOVE it! It's the least expensive of that line of controllers and I wouldn't do it differently at all. I don't have it connected to the internet but it is connected to the laptop for uploading the programing or downloading stored DATA.

One point that I want to make is that my controller is AMAZING at remembering to turn my pumps back on after feeding. I kept forgetting to turn them on after feeding but thus far the controller hasn't forgotten yet.

One of point to make is although DaveK is very right about "power failure not way to notify" you can just check in on your system and if it's "OffLine" then you know to investigate further. Not ideal but it's a redundant way to at least have a clue something is wrong.
 
Cloudburst2000

Cloudburst2000

Member
BigAl07 said:
I have the AC Jr on my 10g Frag tank and absolutely LOVE it! It's the least expensive of that line of controllers and I wouldn't do it differently at all. I don't have it connected to the internet but it is connected to the laptop for uploading the programing or downloading stored DATA.

One point that I want to make is that my controller is AMAZING at remembering to turn my pumps back on after feeding. I kept forgetting to turn them on after feeding but thus far the controller hasn't forgotten yet.

One of point to make is although DaveK is very right about "power failure not way to notify" you can just check in on your system and if it's "OffLine" then you know to investigate further. Not ideal but it's a redundant way to at least have a clue something is wrong.
Click to expand...

What is an 'AC Jr'? I was looking at some of the 'Jr' controllers yesterday. Was curious which one you are referring to. What company does 'AC' stand for? The first thing that pops into my mind when I see AC is air-conditioning or AC Slater from 'Saved by the Bell' :lol:
 
JeF4y

JeF4y

Member
I have the new Neptune Systems Apex and it is an absolute godsend. Expensive, yes. But well worth it IMHO.

I can do anything anywhere at anytime (so long as there is still power).

and if you want to see what my tank is doing:

http://www.kufalk.com/reef/apex.php

Still need to clean up that display, but it's a quick "what's going on". (and that second pH probe is broken. Ignore it)
 
burning2nd

burning2nd

Well-Known Member
since i can get a 100dollar discount for tradeing my Reef keeper 2 in... i think im gonna get the elite soon... its the same as the apex. and i already have the free app downloaded on my phone....

so i think im sold... but ill let ya all know later how that goes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top