I think the spirit of MFK is diverse.
I am old school, personally. The OP is new to owning an aquarium, and I do not consider it to be basic equipment.
It's always fun to play, but let'm know it's playing....
HarleyK
Aquarium Monitor?
- Thread starter joeg
- Start date
I think the spirit of MFK is diverse.
I am old school, personally. The OP is new to owning an aquarium, and I do not consider it to be basic equipment.
It's always fun to play, but let'm know it's playing....
HarleyK
Well, my response was in response to this post. You may not believe in these monitors or things like pressurized CO2, but that doesn't mean they do not have a place in the hobby. I just don't think it's doing anyone any good to simply state that they basically will never be useful and we shouldn't even talk about them.
"We are a unique community of Fish Keepers who seriously take our hobby to extremes and the NEXT level. The majority of our fish collections include RARE & EXOTIC Species of all sizes, BIG FISH with BIG APPETITES and BIG TANKS. It's not easy for most people or other "regular" fish keepers to understand why we maintain this type of collection and spare no expense on this fascinating hobby."
I am sure many people scoffed at the idea of emerging technologies we now consider essential to our every day lives... If a cheap and accurate monitor came out I would get one for sure, I don't see how it could be a bad thing, a lot of the things we use are really not essential to basic aquarium health...
I think it qualifies as taking the hobby to the next level......
Im an old schooler. The more strraightfoward the better.
But, I travel alot. On a good year, Im gone about 200 days. A controller gives me the ability to access anything plugged into the system, while I'm traveling. Any light, pump, filter, fan, heater, etc. From my laptop. Or my iphone. I can access all programming from anywhere in the world, but the beauty of the controller itself, is that once you program your specific parameters into the controller, the controller does all the work. If my tank goes above 84degrees the heaters are bypassed and the fans and airpump kicks on. If it doesnt come down in a certain amount of time, it'll kill the lights as well. The heater controls are much more focused too. Far greater acuracy using the controllers thermostat.
Once my tanks online, I'm emailed anytime the controller makes a "change" to deal with an issue, like the example above. Any change in the temp or ph and im alerted. Anything malfunctions, like a stuck heater, it'll cut it's power and shoot me an email. Once i setup an auto water changer, the controller can monitor the tank level via a float switch. It can add it's own water as needed. I can do water changes from my phone, or better yet, program them on a timer to automatically do them every Sunday at noon.
Lighting options are pretty cool too. Not sure how deep Ill dive in, but the controller gives you dimming control with the appropriate lights. Seasons can be simulated as well as cloud cover. Storms lol......... its a little ridiculous
My wife and daughter are sympathetic to my hobby(addiction) and love the fish, but they are not fish people. Technically, I could program feedings too, but they really like feeding the fish,...... If I can build a system that gives me total access and control from anywhere in the world, for me , it's worth it. Even for freshwater.
And for salt a controller can do so much more....
Im an old schooler. The more strraightfoward the better.
But, I travel alot. On a good year, Im gone about 200 days. A controller gives me the ability to access anything plugged into the system, while I'm traveling. Any light, pump, filter, fan, heater, etc. From my laptop. Or my iphone. I can access all programming from anywhere in the world, but the beauty of the controller itself, is that once you program your specific parameters into the controller, the controller does all the work. If my tank goes above 84degrees the heaters are bypassed and the fans and airpump kicks on. If it doesnt come down in a certain amount of time, it'll kill the lights as well. The heater controls are much more focused too. Far greater acuracy using the controllers thermostat.
Once my tanks online, I'm emailed anytime the controller makes a "change" to deal with an issue, like the example above. Any change in the temp or ph and im alerted. Anything malfunctions, like a stuck heater, it'll cut it's power and shoot me an email. Once i setup an auto water changer, the controller can monitor the tank level via a float switch. It can add it's own water as needed. I can do water changes from my phone, or better yet, program them on a timer to automatically do them every Sunday at noon.
Lighting options are pretty cool too. Not sure how deep Ill dive in, but the controller gives you dimming control with the appropriate lights. Seasons can be simulated as well as cloud cover. Storms lol......... its a little ridiculous
My wife and daughter are sympathetic to my hobby(addiction) and love the fish, but they are not fish people. Technically, I could program feedings too, but they really like feeding the fish,...... If I can build a system that gives me total access and control from anywhere in the world, for me , it's worth it. Even for freshwater.
And for salt a controller can do so much more....
I agree with this!
Check out trickle systems, they are so easy it kills me every one isn't using them.
These two statements are the key to the answer you are looking for. You don't need a controller for a freshwater tank. If you ever decide on an SPS reef tank, then you'll want a controller. Reef tanks are far more finicky than freshwater tanks. Freshwater tanks will take immense amounts of abuse (other than the cycling period).
Yeah but a controller would be so cool! Maybe have it go to your phone or down load the data to excel and graph stuff........... But I agree, fresh water tanks just need a trickle system and a heater with a good controller. A small generator just incase of extended power outages and the tank pretty much is maintenance free. Filter changes, I guess, would be the next thing to automate.
when you say "other than the cycling period," i think i know what you mean... but just for the sake of not killing everything in my tank, can you explain what you mean exactly?
