Alkalinity monitor/controller -experiences

[Ken Lee]

Yeah I got the go ahead directly from Jonas that the reagent was fine to add back with a minimal affect on dkh

Haha,last time i read in other thread that Jonas is always against putting back the test waste to your tank. Maybe he have new formulation which it is safe now...which is good.

 

[ZaneTer]

I had the KH Director.
It was an utter disaster. First unit failed within 6 weeks but it was a complete failure so fairly safe. Customer support were a complete nightmare from germany. Eventually got a replacement that also lasted around 6 weeks before deciding to dump 600ml of triton 3a into my tank. It killed almost every coral. Customer support wanted nothing to do with it. I am an automation engineer by profession. I was incredibly disappointed by the handling of the situation by GHL.
Anyway I threw the unit and profilux away and built my own with a PLC I had lying around and am currently in the process of programming an HMI.
Results are far exceeding what i could ever achieve with the profilux/KH Director.

 

[mitch91175]

Haha,last time i read in other thread that Jonas is always against putting back the test waste to your tank. Maybe he have new formulation which it is safe now...which is good.

It is actually in the manual now

 

[erky]

I have KHG monitor, it is not realiable product, product setup is very technical & sensitive, customer service is not responsible at all, user interface is not user friendly (no phone app), not wifi/bluetooth build in, i gotten 2 monitor units in separate time period & after 2weeks messing with it, turn out to be all faulty & send back for repair. Here i have not much choice, only KHG or GHL is available. I wanted to get Alkatronic but they not willing to send me one here.
The main concern of general Alk device, it consumes your saltwater daily like 700ml to 1L daily or more, if your tank is smaller, u away from your tank for sometimes, without saltwater top up, u are risking salinity drop. The test waste is not safe to dump back to your DT (though some claimed it is, but not for my experience so far). i have some issue with my sps after couple weeks doing that.

where are you located, maybe someone could ship you one for an extra cost.

 

[Ken Lee]

It is actually in the manual now

Wow, didn’t know that Jonas has change his mind and found new solution. Good stuff

 

[Ken Lee]

where are you located, maybe someone could ship you one for an extra cost.

Now I am located in China, I did contact HongKong distributor and he connect me direct with Focustronic and at that time no stock on hand and didn’t agree either to send me one when they have stock. So up to now no news from them.

 

[erky]

Now I am located in China, I did contact HongKong distributor and he connect me direct with Focustronic and at that time no stock on hand and didn’t agree either to send me one when they have stock. So up to now no news from them.

https://www.coralvue.com/alkatronic-alkalinity-controller
they might ship it to you...

 

[RaikOu1989]

I had the KH Director.
It was an utter disaster. First unit failed within 6 weeks but it was a complete failure so fairly safe. Customer support were a complete nightmare from germany. Eventually got a replacement that also lasted around 6 weeks before deciding to dump 600ml of triton 3a into my tank. It killed almost every coral. Customer support wanted nothing to do with it. I am an automation engineer by profession. I was incredibly disappointed by the handling of the situation by GHL.
Anyway I threw the unit and profilux away and built my own with a PLC I had lying around and am currently in the process of programming an HMI.
Results are far exceeding what i could ever achieve with the profilux/KH Director.

Since I am a PLC programmer, I think you can make way more reliable than KH Director. Good luck!

 

[AquamanE]

Anybody with a KH Guardian that can chime in? Please? There, you made me beg. [emoji17]

I have the Guardian and so far love it. Only had it running for one month.
Quiet
Little reagent use
Relatively easy set up.
Accurate
It came with AIM module that allows you to send reading to Apex, but i havent installed it yet.
New price off $499 is awesome.
I wouldnt get Pro version since it only doses Alk. And not A and B.

 

[mitch91175]

I have the Guardian and so far love it. Only had it running for one month.
Quiet
Little reagent use
Relatively easy set up.
Accurate
It came with AIM module that allows you to send reading to Apex, but i havent installed it yet.
New price off $499 is awesome.
I wouldnt get Pro version since it only doses Alk. And not A and B.

Big price difference between it and the Alkatronic. Wonder why?

 

[FarmerTy]

Big price difference between it and the Alkatronic. Wonder why?

$600 for the pro model that doses like the alkatronic. Alkatronic $800 before it jumped $100 due to demand is my guess.

 

[mitch91175]

$600 for the pro model that doses like the alkatronic. Alkatronic $800 before it jumped $100 due to demand is my guess.

Glad I bought mine early

 

[FarmerTy]

Yeah, I got my version 2 for $800. What did you get your version 1 for?

 

[AquamanE]

Big price difference between it and the Alkatronic. Wonder why?

So In your opinion more expensive = Better?

In my opinion, I dont need anything fancy. I run a CaRx. I like to keep thinks simple. All I need is an accurate daily reading, I get 6. It serves my needs perfectly, and I have a few bucks in my pocket.

Come on Mitch. I’ve been watching your posts about the aquatronic and you seem to love it. That’s great, but not everyone needs an aquatronic.

 

[FarmerTy]

So In your opinion more expensive = Better?

In my opinion, I dont need anything fancy. I run a CaRx. I like to keep thinks simple. All I need is a daily reading I get 6. It serves my needs perfectly, and I have a few bucks in my pocket.

I don't think he said better, he just sounded like he was curious why two machines with the same ability cost that much different is my guess.

 

[FarmerTy]

I would guess cost to produce in each originating market (Europe versus Asia) and how long they've been out... Which could reduce production costs as efficiencies could be found in production or cheaper sourced parts.

 

[AquamanE]

I don't think he said better, he just sounded like he was curious why two machines with the same ability cost that much different is my guess.

Fair enough. So then my response should say:

I don’t know why it’s cheaper. All I know is that it meets my needs.

 

[biecacka]

Farmerty, since you use a calcium reactor do you just the alkatronic to test your alk? Or does it also control you reactor on/off?

Corey

 

[FarmerTy]

Fair enough. So then my response should say:

I don’t know why it’s cheaper. All I know is that it meets my needs.

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] Hilarious!

 

[FarmerTy]

Farmerty, since you use a calcium reactor do you just the alkatronic to test your alk? Or does it also control you reactor on/off?

Corey

Hey Corey!

I'm still in testing mode. I was talking to the creator, Roman, about it. I got too much money in livestock to hand over the keys until I finish out a trial run of it first. If it pass the tests and I feel comfortable, I'll give it control to dose all 2-part when needed and kill my solenoid on the calcium reactor when needed as well. If I don't trust it, I'll just leave it in monitor mode.

Current status, I'd give it my netflix password right now. [emoji23] Smooth sailing so far.