Controller info
- Thread starter mraysberg
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w2inc
Active Member
I ran no controller on a 120 and a 40 gallon tank for years. Having a controller gives me some peace of mind. I like them, but my aquarium budget is a little higher these days.
Seneye is affordable but you have to keep paying for slides to keep it going. I liked it because it would text me if my pH shifted or if my temperature was out of line. With those two values I am able to determine a whole lot of things. I also like it also because it has a PAR meter on it. You don't have to pay for slides to use the light meter only, so even after I upgraded to an Apex, the Seneye is still useful to me.
The downside of the Seneye for me is that there was nothing I could do if I was away from home and I got an alert. I have a WIFI plug adapter that I could plug my heater into that allowed me to remotely turn it off, but a change in temp could be a leaking tank or a stuck ATO too. Basically the Seneye just tells you that you need to get home and check things. The other readings it offered didn't do me a whole lot of good.
I have Apex on my systems now. IMO it is expensive, but I do like the freedom I get from it as well as the ability to problem solve in real time. Now when I get an alert I am able to turn basically anything on or off from my phone. There are also convenient things it does like keeping my heater and chiller from coming on at the same time. It has an easier interface for light timers and its auto feeder and I like the fusion side of it for tracking my test values.
Before the controller I just used lots of analog things as safeguards. ATO had (still has) an inline stop valve that would stop all flow if it got wet. It was $12 and had to be replaced once it was used. My light timers, dosing pumps and auto feeders had sloppy interfaces that I pretty much avoided adjusting after they were set up. (There is some good to that.) My heaters always had a backup thermostat that would shut them off completely if the on board one failed. Analog worked for me, works for me. I still prefer a button or knob for my pump speed and light color like my Kessils. I don't like to have to open an app or pull a plug so I can manually feed my tank or show a visitor what the tank looks like with only blue channels on.
Once a system is up and running my controller is really just an alarm system that lets me know that something has gone wrong. Typically nothing goes wrong once thing are running, but if there is a pump failure when I am out of town, I will see it and can send a friend over to patch things up. Before controllers, I would pay someone to come over every other day and be sure that everything looked good.
The water quality things that need adjustment are picked up with water tests. Controllers are just beginning to do that for you. I like having a live reporting pH probe in my systems for several reasons, but I have run many successful systems without one.
I am just a little bit of a tech junky and the controller has been a cool new part of my hobby.
Seneye is affordable but you have to keep paying for slides to keep it going. I liked it because it would text me if my pH shifted or if my temperature was out of line. With those two values I am able to determine a whole lot of things. I also like it also because it has a PAR meter on it. You don't have to pay for slides to use the light meter only, so even after I upgraded to an Apex, the Seneye is still useful to me.
The downside of the Seneye for me is that there was nothing I could do if I was away from home and I got an alert. I have a WIFI plug adapter that I could plug my heater into that allowed me to remotely turn it off, but a change in temp could be a leaking tank or a stuck ATO too. Basically the Seneye just tells you that you need to get home and check things. The other readings it offered didn't do me a whole lot of good.
I have Apex on my systems now. IMO it is expensive, but I do like the freedom I get from it as well as the ability to problem solve in real time. Now when I get an alert I am able to turn basically anything on or off from my phone. There are also convenient things it does like keeping my heater and chiller from coming on at the same time. It has an easier interface for light timers and its auto feeder and I like the fusion side of it for tracking my test values.
Before the controller I just used lots of analog things as safeguards. ATO had (still has) an inline stop valve that would stop all flow if it got wet. It was $12 and had to be replaced once it was used. My light timers, dosing pumps and auto feeders had sloppy interfaces that I pretty much avoided adjusting after they were set up. (There is some good to that.) My heaters always had a backup thermostat that would shut them off completely if the on board one failed. Analog worked for me, works for me. I still prefer a button or knob for my pump speed and light color like my Kessils. I don't like to have to open an app or pull a plug so I can manually feed my tank or show a visitor what the tank looks like with only blue channels on.
Once a system is up and running my controller is really just an alarm system that lets me know that something has gone wrong. Typically nothing goes wrong once thing are running, but if there is a pump failure when I am out of town, I will see it and can send a friend over to patch things up. Before controllers, I would pay someone to come over every other day and be sure that everything looked good.
The water quality things that need adjustment are picked up with water tests. Controllers are just beginning to do that for you. I like having a live reporting pH probe in my systems for several reasons, but I have run many successful systems without one.
I am just a little bit of a tech junky and the controller has been a cool new part of my hobby.
