none of the probes are designed for freshwater - 'cept maybe bluelab; but truth be told my question is which is easier to use and monitor data which is relevant to this thread. You are questioning my desire to monitor certain data et all but that is not relevant to my question.
Actually in the wild many fishes live in extremely low tds (approx 17ums); for buffers in blackwater tank you use leaves and similar or peat. discus like angels and a quite a few (but not all) cichlid can adapt to harder water though softer is always better but there are other fishes that can't adapt to harder water and do best when kept in water with ph 4.5-5.5 and almost no tds. The problem with using pure ro water with no buffer is you can get large ph swings - you want a stable low ph. There are also many species of gourami that require very pure water.
It is a good question. My understanding is they work like tds hand meters and just measure conductivity to approx salinity. Since they are measuring conductivity they give the same approx as any other tds meter.
Would a TDS meter used for measuring the TDS on a RODI work for what you are doing?
The reason I ask is there is one that will hook up to the sense port of a Hydros. I have one but use it on the output of my RODI. It has two channels but only one is tracked. I do not have it set to alert but you can do that in the settings and if it gets out of the safe range you will get an alert.
Can you link the actual product ? I haven't seen it - i should probably send apex support an email.The reason I ask is there is one that will hook up to the sense port of a Hydros. I have one but use it on the output of my RODI. It has two channels but only one is tracked. I do not have it set to alert but you can do that in the settings and if it gets out of the safe range you will get an alert.
Here is a link to the TDS meter https://www.coralvue.com/hydros-dual-inline-tds-sensor . You will need one of the Hydros controllers with a sense port to hook it up. Here is a link to the controllers https://www.coralvue.com/hydros/hydros-controllers . It depends on what all you will want to monitor as to which one would be right for your use. They can be combined in a collective if you need more inputs.
I'm confused - this is a different product not neptune at all - that is ok if they support monitoring of ph and temp and have alerts but thought you were talking 'bout an ec pen for neptune.
I am not aware of one for Neptune.They may have one though. The Hydros has a couple of controllers that will monitor pH. The X3 and X4 have a probe port input. The X4 has two of them. Any controller with a sense port will monitor temp. I have 9 of their controllers in a collective. Four are at the tank and the other five are in the garage 35ft from the tank. You seem to be more interested in monitor only and they do have a monitor only starter kit but it comes with pH, temp and a leak detector and that uses all the input ports on the X3 so there would be no where to hook up the TDS unless you put it in place of the leak detector and leave it off the controller. The only difference is it does not come with a wifi strip so it has no outputs but will send alerts. Most all inputs have safe zones you can set. If it gets out the safe zone if setup to it will send an alert. If did want to start controlling all you would need is a wifi strip or XP8 if it is AC power you want to control. For ATO or dosing it is better to use a drive port and a Hydros dosing pump.
I'm confused about this - does the X3 monitor communicate at all with the outside world (does it have its own wifi). Yea if the tds probe they have works with it (it is not listed as being supported) i would use that an drop leak detection. What kind of data do these provide? I mean is it web base/cloud base or stored on the device and in the case of the X3 can you view it via computer or phone. Are the alerts email or text ?
All the controllers have wifi access and once setup in your account and setup for wifi access will comunicate to the cloud which is on the Amazon servers. The alerts can be push notifications on the devices with the app installed or email. You can have them sent to both. You can also get it to send text if you use the email to text for your carrier. There are several different alerts from none, yellow, orange or red. The later is even audible at the controller so use that one wisely. I have a X3 in my collective. In the screenshot below from the app the controller named INP 1 42g is my X3. The inputs from it are 42g Temp, 42g pH and Skimmer Full. The other controllers here are also at the tank and are a XS for four more inputs and a XP8 which powers my heaters, cooling fans, return pump and skimmer pump. The other one here is a wave engine v2. It is also the wifi master for the collective and controls a couple of Ecotech MP10's. I have 5 other controllers in the collective vut they are in the garage. You can setup separate pages which I have done here. The one in the screenshot is the top part of the Hex Tank page. The outputs are down below the inputs but it all won't fit so it will show in the screenshot. The second screenshot is of a screen full of push notifications. It will repeat the notifications every 30 minutes the way I have it setup until the issue clears. As you can see I had to refill my All for Reef reservoir today. It was getting low. Once I did after the 30 minute timer it sends a alert condition no longer present. There is also a web app you can access from their website for use on a computer of from a web browser. I do use mine for control also, but even if you get the monitor package it still comes with a controller and all you would need is an output device such as the wifi strips or a controller with the type output device you need. They do have a wifi feeder that it can control since it is it's own output device.
The price point is certainly nice; when compared to apex jr (their brand new monitor only entry); felix, and ghl. Any negative or complaints ?All the controllers have wifi access and once setup in your account and setup for wifi access will comunicate to the cloud which is on the Amazon servers. The alerts can be push notifications on the devices with the app installed or email. You can have them sent to both. You can also get it to send text if you use the email to text for your carrier. There are several different alerts from none, yellow, orange or red. The later is even audible at the controller so use that one wisely. I have a X3 in my collective. In the screenshot below from the app the controller named INP 1 42g is my X3. The inputs from it are 42g Temp, 42g pH and Skimmer Full. The other controllers here are also at the tank and are a XS for four more inputs and a XP8 which powers my heaters, cooling fans, return pump and skimmer pump. The other one here is a wave engine v2. It is also the wifi master for the collective and controls a couple of Ecotech MP10's. I have 5 other controllers in the collective vut they are in the garage. You can setup separate pages which I have done here. The one in the screenshot is the top part of the Hex Tank page. The outputs are down below the inputs but it all won't fit so it will show in the screenshot. The second screenshot is of a screen full of push notifications. It will repeat the notifications every 30 minutes the way I have it setup until the issue clears. As you can see I had to refill my All for Reef reservoir today. It was getting low. Once I did after the 30 minute timer it sends a alert condition no longer present. There is also a web app you can access from their website for use on a computer of from a web browser. I do use mine for control also, but even if you get the monitor package it still comes with a controller and all you would need is an output device such as the wifi strips or a controller with the type output device you need. They do have a wifi feeder that it can control since it is it's own output device.
The only one is with the wifi strips but I have 4 of them and never had the issues. My guess is it depends on the network that you connecting to. Mesh networks seem to be the most troublesome, but there is always the dedicated access point you can setup just for the Hydros and wifi strips if you eventually get them.
