While on the topic of spending money (which I have gotten quite good at, THANKYOU Reef keeping ), I have been also thinking about getting a decent Aquarium controller. I have been messing around with a used Lighthouse controller I picked up, but despite the way cool ethernet jack and web server, there are several things lacking that make me want to get something else.
These are my needs:
1) Temp control. Sure, a Ranco Temp controller can do this really well, but at $130 for a dual, we are halfway toward a multi-controller.
2)
Ph monitoring Do not need control yet, but who knows down the line.
3) Logging. I would love to see Temp and
pH logged and graphed, even if just for peace of mind.
4) Feed timer. I manually unplug/replug my return, and Vortech when I spot feed, which is inconvenient and could lead to disastrous user error if I should forget to plug them back in. I could buy and/or modify a mechanical timer or microcontroler, but I'd end up spending $50-$100 putting that together when I could just apply the money to a multi-controller.
5) Ethernet connectivity. Being able to monitor my tank parameters over a LAN/WAN is really cool, and offers me more peace of mind. Sure, I do not have to have this - but it seems to make the controller more useful (and Mac OS X friendly). Most of the less expensive controllers have Serial port as an option, only support Windows OS, and require a computer host to support features like email alerts and WAN access.
6) Email alerts. It would be cool to have my controller send me notifications (especially power outages) if anything goes haywire.
7)
Fuge light timer. My Solaris has its own controller/timer.
Downside:
Micro-controllers are electronics, and electronics are to varying degrees fallable. I work intimately with computers, and over the years have seen at least one of every component that makes up a computer go bad. A simple bulging capacitor can go bad and render a less functional. On top of hardware there is software with all its glorious bugs and limits. Dedicated controllers (like a Ranco temp controller) may have more reliability because of overall less complexity.
Scanning through the posts on the RC vendor forums is quite revealing. You see certain issues pop up (sticking channels, interference, digital relay limits, fading displays, erroneous
pH readings, et cetera) that makes you think twice about putting so much trust into a single device.
The upcoming Digital Aquatics RKE seems interesting, although it will not (on debut) have ethernet connectivity. It is a bit more expensive than the entry level, but significantly less the current mid-range. It is design on a modular approach, and Digital Aquatics has alluded to many optional modules to extend RKE capabilities.
An alternative would be the DA RK2, or Neptune System's ACjr, leaving me with finding a way to upload data to an internet server. A second micro-controller could be programmed for this task, but the additional cost would bring you close to an RKE. Hmmm...
Perhaps for now I will just get a Ranco for dual temp control, and use the Lighthouse for monitoring only. Please excuse my thinking at loud, but if anyone would like to interject my brainwaves, I would welcome any suggestions.
