Accuracy of Seneye

[mrbluewildcats]

Specifically in regards to NH3, my Seneye usually reads between 0.006 and 0.009. This morning it jumped down to 0.002, the lowest I've ever seen. Slide has been in for 8 days, so no soaking isn't an issue.

Is seneye that accurate to really read 0.002? I don't think less than 0.01 is of any concern, just curious as to the accuracy.

 

[Rick Mathew]

Specifically in regards to NH3, my Seneye usually reads between 0.006 and 0.009. This morning it jumped down to 0.002, the lowest I've ever seen. Slide has been in for 8 days, so no soaking isn't an issue.

Is seneye that accurate to really read 0.002? I don't think less than 0.01 is of any concern, just curious as to the accuracy.

I have been wondering the same thing myself

 

[Dan_P]

Specifically in regards to NH3, my Seneye usually reads between 0.006 and 0.009. This morning it jumped down to 0.002, the lowest I've ever seen. Slide has been in for 8 days, so no soaking isn't an issue.

Is seneye that accurate to really read 0.002? I don't think less than 0.01 is of any concern, just curious as to the accuracy.

I was poking around on this subject and it hit me: there does not seem to be a calibration feature for the ammonia test. Can that be right? Is everyone just trusting this thing???

Couldn’t owners prepare an NH3 standard of 0.05 and dunk in the sensor?

I am a bit surprised no one has challenged this device yet.

 

[mrbluewildcats]

Here's the readings before the 0.002 and after. I'm guessing that one was an anomaly, but no idea what caused it.

 

[Rick Mathew]

Specifically in regards to NH3, my Seneye usually reads between 0.006 and 0.009. This morning it jumped down to 0.002, the lowest I've ever seen. Slide has been in for 8 days, so no soaking isn't an issue.

Is seneye that accurate to really read 0.002? I don't think less than 0.01 is of any concern, just curious as to the accuracy.

Here is the response I got from The SENEYE Support Team:

Thanks for your email.

The Seneye’ s NH3 reader is accurate to 0.005, and no the device does not need to be calibrated at all. Just soak the slide in tank/pond water for either 24hrs if in freshwater or 48hrs if in saltwater.

Do not place the slide in RO water or anything with a strong chemical presence as this will compromise the slide.


I hope this answered your query, please do let us know if you have any further questions.

 

[Randy Ruiz]

I've never really heard much about Seneye. Sounds pretty good. I found it on sale for $447. Looks like that is a package that includes a product for a pond. What should I expect to pay for a complete reef set up?
Thanks!

 

[W1ngz]

What should I expect to pay for a complete reef set up?

Have you looked at seneye.com? All of their pricing is there. It depends what you understand by 'complete reef set up'.

 

[Badilac]

I've never really heard much about Seneye. Sounds pretty good. I found it on sale for $447. Looks like that is a package that includes a product for a pond. What should I expect to pay for a complete reef set up?
Thanks!

209 brand new.

Seneye Reef Monitor

Seneye Reef Pack is an all in one monitor for Temperature, Ammonia, pH, Water level, and Lighting. With a PC you can connect your Seneye monitor directly to any PC or Seneye Web Server to monitor your aquarium. With the Seneye Web Server you can monitor your aquarium from anywhere you can get...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

I like mine and have been using it for about a year.

 

[Dan_P]

Here is the response I got from The SENEYE Support Team:

Thanks for your email.

The Seneye’ s NH3 reader is accurate to 0.005, and no the device does not need to be calibrated at all. Just soak the slide in tank/pond water for either 24hrs if in freshwater or 48hrs if in saltwater.

Do not place the slide in RO water or anything with a strong chemical presence as this will compromise the slide.


I hope this answered your query, please do let us know if you have any further questions.

So, they are saying, trust us. Oh, and please believe our sensors have a failure rate of 1 in 10000000000000. I wonder if a pH or ORP probe maker would get away with this?

Have you guys come up with a strategy to tell the difference between low NH3 and a bad sensor?

 

[W1ngz]

our sensors have a failure rate of 1 in 10000000000000.

Where do they say this please. I would like to read it in more detail.

 

[mrbluewildcats]

Here is the response I got from The SENEYE Support Team:

Thanks for your email.

The Seneye’ s NH3 reader is accurate to 0.005, and no the device does not need to be calibrated at all. Just soak the slide in tank/pond water for either 24hrs if in freshwater or 48hrs if in saltwater.

Do not place the slide in RO water or anything with a strong chemical presence as this will compromise the slide.


I hope this answered your query, please do let us know if you have any further questions.

Thanks, not sure why it suddenly dropped to 0.002, but looks like it can't test the difference between .002 and .007. I still really like it, and used the par meter to test spots throughout my tank. I got some surprising results in a few places factoring depth and shading from the rock work.

 

[Dan_P]

Where do they say this please. I would like to read it in more detail.

LOL! I am sure they are very nice people.

 

[mrbluewildcats]

I've never really heard much about Seneye. Sounds pretty good. I found it on sale for $447. Looks like that is a package that includes a product for a pond. What should I expect to pay for a complete reef set up?
Thanks!

That $447 price is for their web server and the seneye monitor. Mine is hooked up to an old laptop I wasn't using anymore giving me access to readings on my phone. The monitor itself should be right around $200

 

[Admann]

I have had one in service for about 2 years. About 2 months ago I had some questionable frozen food because evetytime I fed the ammonia would jump to .007 and then back to my zero setting of .002. I theorize the food was bad and created the NH3 which disappeared after about 2 hours each time I fed. Fresh food not more jumps.
Unfortunately my SUD died about 2 weeks ago. Handy tool but I won't be replacing it, it taught me enough that I won't be needing it and my new tank will have an APEX. If you use it correctly it is a handy tool for learning.

 

[Admann]

If you decide to use one don't bother with the webserver. More trouble than it was worth. Hookup to a laptop or PC morning and evening to download the data, study it and learn what is happening to your water when you do things to your tank. It is a helpful learning tool to quickly check a few water parameters over time. Much can be gleaned when you begin to see how things correlate to your actions.
Could I have done without it yes.
Would I use it again? I'm not sure, but I did learn some things and feel confident enough now not to need it.

 

[W1ngz]

I keep mine around for the light meter.

 

[Rick Mathew]

So, they are saying, trust us. Oh, and please believe our sensors have a failure rate of 1 in 10000000000000. I wonder if a pH or ORP probe maker would get away with this?

Have you guys come up with a strategy to tell the difference between low NH3 and a bad sensor?

No strategy developed by me...sad to say....If I suspected something I most likely would confirm it with a test kit...When I first got my SENEYE I measured a tank sample spiked with ammonia to see how close the SENEYE was and it was close....I mostly have been using it as a second pH monitor and to watch for changes in NH3 but it sounds like I should set up a confirmation procedure to be sure the measurement is within "reasonable range...hope this is not another "rabbit hole"

 

[BZOFIQ]

Downloading the data to a computer for graphing and trends is fine but does the device alert (via email or text) you if reading is out of range?

 

[User1]

Let us take a step back and look at what it offers. Once you do this I think the price will be a no brainer for a tool in the tool box. First, you should be paying $199.00 or so US dollars for the "reef" Seneye. This will get you:

1. Temperature - constantly monitors water temperature, so you can get an alert if your heater breaks or your chiller fails

2. Free Ammonia - monitors the highly toxic free ammonia (NH3) at very low levels, so you can stop your fish from dying from Ammonia poisoning

3. pH - the seneye monitors pH in your aquarium or pond water between 6.4 and 9. This range is ideal for most aquatic life and by focusing on this range increased accuracy has be achieved

4. Water Level - readings are only taken when the seneye device is in water, no false readings

5. LUX - monitors ambient LUX and can be used to take direct LUX readings, understand how your light degrade over time

6. Kelvin - understand where on the kelvin range your lights are and how light can change over time

7. PAR - monitor the Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR), understand if you have the correct quantity and quality of light for your corals or plants

8. 1 month slide / disc

Now - that is a lot to measure right out of the box. Connect USB cable to computer and you will get the data in real time. Plain and simple. You do not need the $400 dollar version unless "You want to see the data in their web portal". It monitors and measures the same data - nothing different.

So 200 bucks, decent light meter, can plug in when you want or leave it in, get alerts on water level even after the slide is bad. Well worth the 200 bucks in my opinion. Also check out the BRS Tv video on it. It is pretty decent par meter. All in all probably the best bang for the buck tool for our hobby and the slides, well, they work. 35 bucks for 3 months. Cheaper than most automated test kits and use as you see fit.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dan_P]

No strategy developed by me...sad to say....If I suspected something I most likely would confirm it with a test kit...When I first got my SENEYE I measured a tank sample spiked with ammonia to see how close the SENEYE was and it was close....I mostly have been using it as a second pH monitor and to watch for changes in NH3 but it sounds like I should set up a confirmation procedure to be sure the measurement is within "reasonable range...hope this is not another "rabbit hole"

If it wasn’t $200, I would be testing it already for accuracy, precision, response time/hysteresis, etc. If I have fun with the Oxydator investigation (~1\10 the cost), I may join you in this rabbit hole. Might also try validating the other sensors as well.