KH guardian ?
- Thread starter fish head
- Start date
- Tagged users None
ReefTeacher
Active Member
I just got one for Christmas. It has been working just about a month. I LOVE it! It comes with the module to hook up to the Apex, so I can control Kalk additions depending on KH. I bought the Monitor version and use the Apex to do the controlling.
They went on sale at CoralVue for a discounted price, but the sale has been going on for almost a month, so I think this might be a new price.
One issue I have is the BNC cable to connect to the pH port on the Apex is VERY short, like 1-2 feet. Given my set-up I cannot have the module that close to my Apex, so I went to a video store and bought the shortest BNC video cable they had. It was only $6, but it is 50 feet long! Most of it is coiled in my stand, but the output to the Apex is quite noisy, it varies about 0.07 dKH quite randomly. I just use good programming technique with "MinTime"and "Defer" statements to smooth things out. I am not sure if the noise comes from the needlessly long cheap cable, or from the unit itself. I might pick up a PM1 and run a longer aquabus cable over to the KH guardian, and see if that improves things.
All-in-all, I am very happy with this.
They went on sale at CoralVue for a discounted price, but the sale has been going on for almost a month, so I think this might be a new price.
One issue I have is the BNC cable to connect to the pH port on the Apex is VERY short, like 1-2 feet. Given my set-up I cannot have the module that close to my Apex, so I went to a video store and bought the shortest BNC video cable they had. It was only $6, but it is 50 feet long! Most of it is coiled in my stand, but the output to the Apex is quite noisy, it varies about 0.07 dKH quite randomly. I just use good programming technique with "MinTime"and "Defer" statements to smooth things out. I am not sure if the noise comes from the needlessly long cheap cable, or from the unit itself. I might pick up a PM1 and run a longer aquabus cable over to the KH guardian, and see if that improves things.
All-in-all, I am very happy with this.
![[Cameron]](https://test9.reef2reef.com/data/avatars/m/93/93926.jpg?1516694201){kind=avatar}
[Cameron]
Active Member
A controller alkalinity monitor seems like mostly a toy and I would not trust it to control dosing to my tank. I would trust it to shut off scheduled dosing though. Course ph typically works just as well as a test for an out of control dosing unless someone is putting some CO2 into the tank as well.
ReefTeacher
Active Member
I do not think that pH monitoring is accurate enough to be used to control dosing. Very few put CO2 into their tank, but the pH variance between night and day shows that reaching equilibrium with ambient CO2 concentrations takes quite a bit of time.
Is it a toy? Sure! My whole tank is a toy! and I love it!
Is it a toy? Sure! My whole tank is a toy! and I love it!
CJBuckeyes
Active Member
I’ve had the monitor version on my tank for 4 months. I have an sps tank and travel a decent amount for work, so for me has been worth every penny.
If you don’t have sps, don’t travel, and don’t mind manually checking daily then I don’t think you need it. Otherwise, might be worth considering.
One issue I had with mine (and a few others I’ve seen) is the probe it comes with is pretty low quality. Mine died after 3 months. All the automated alk measurement devices out there are first gen products, so I wouldn’t trust them to manage dosing anything just yet.
If you don’t have sps, don’t travel, and don’t mind manually checking daily then I don’t think you need it. Otherwise, might be worth considering.
One issue I had with mine (and a few others I’ve seen) is the probe it comes with is pretty low quality. Mine died after 3 months. All the automated alk measurement devices out there are first gen products, so I wouldn’t trust them to manage dosing anything just yet.
ReefTeacher
Active Member
Just an update: CoralVue has lowered the price of the KHG dramatically. It looks like the monitor is now $499 and the full unit is only $599 which includes dosing. This makes these units far more practical than before.
Jdavison911
Active Member
Ordered the pro with aim today. I will put everything on my build thread.
Oldreefer44
Valuable Member
IMO this needs a lots of work. The computer interface is amateurish and the unit constantly changes isp addresses. The unit itself does a great job of maintaining a consistent kh level so there is an opportunity for it to become a very useful tool. Interesting that Coralvue refused to include what they probably consider to be a negative review on their site. Wonder how many others are also omitted?
wishntoboutside
Snow flake
I have the monitor version. It was a little tricky to set up but now that it is running I am very pleased with it. great unit for the price and it has helped me dial in my calcium reactor even.
