Recommend me a controller!

[lion_crazz]

Okay, so I am finally at the stage where I am completely happy with how my nano reef tank is running. Everything is right where I want it. Now, I want to get a controller and I am trying to decide between the new Neptune unit or a Reef Keeper Elite by Digital Aquatics. Does anyone use either one of these? Do you like it? Any complaints or issues?

 

[aquaguy24]

sorry no experience but im keepin an eye on this thread as im interested in the reefkeeper elite for my 90g..cranberry is going to set her 100g with the reefkeeper elite..so waiting to see how she likes it..

 

[scsinet]

If I had to choose between the two I think I'd do the RK.
If I had to choose any controllers out there, I think I'd do the GHL Profilux, Aquadyne Octopus, or the Elos controllers. All are expensive though... and I am looking for features most people aren't.

 

[natclanwy]

I have the RK Elite on my 55g and have been extremely happy with it, but first look at the Neptune Apex looks promising. It appears that Neptune has decided to play on the minor flaws in the RKE but other than that they are pretty comparable. My biggest complaint with the RKE is you cannot set different reactions for different alarms on the same output. One hypothetical situation I can think of off the top of my head is I have an alarm setup to turn my MH lights off if my tank gets over 82deg but I would also like to have an alarm set to turn the lights on if my tank gets under 75deg as a backup if my heater fails. The way the RKE programing is setup you can only set the state of the output durning an alarm so if there is an alarm associated with the output you can select either on or off and it applies to all the alarms instead of each alarm. I don't know that the Apex has this ability or not but its something to keep in mind and hopefully they will update the RKE in the future so that it has this ability.

 

[lion_crazz]

SC, what features do they have that the RF or Neptune don't?

 

[scsinet]

The two controllers I mentioned can be (theoretically) interfaced with a PC in real time. It's a requirement I have as I want to tie the controller into a PC to allow remote monitoring and control as well as a GUI interface for the tank, but most people won't want that.

 

[natclanwy]

SCSI, the RKE has the option to be attached through to a network for monitoring and I believe control is possibly coming with the release of the Myreef software for the RKE.

 

[scsinet]

That's good to hear. That's the primary thing I am looking for is realtime sensor status and realtime outlet control.
From an electronics design perspective, it's easy to control AC loads with a PC, but I am having trouble figuring out how to read pH probes, etc, so I figured an off the shelf controller that can do that for me and just pass along the reading to the PC would work.

 

[natclanwy]

For Ph or any other input you would need a probe or a probe plus a transmitter that has a 4-20ma output (or similar output, 0-5v ect...) like the AquaMetrix P65 for Ph, the problem is most of these probes are almost as expensive as the RKE by itself. I had thought about using a PLC to control my aquarium then I started looking into monitoring solutions for the PLC and found that it was just too expensive.

 

[scsinet]

Oh no doubt... there are plenty of direct probe-PC interfaces out there. The problem is that this stuff is marketed as "lab equipment" which automatically triggers a 1000% markup.
I started my controller project around a Basic Stamp, but quickly ran out of code space and I/O, so I started playing with the PIC stuff. I am using one chip that has 40 I/O. It's easy to get a PIC to trigger outputs based on commands from a PC using a serial port. The only problem I have is that PCs are ... in a word... unreliable when it comes to things like livestock safety.
My plan was to use an off the shelf controller that would run a default failsafe program, and the PC would override it with it's own commands. That way, if contact was lost with the PC such as if it locked up or shut down, or if the program just failed, then the controller would pick up a failsafe status. GHL and Aquadyne are the two big companies who I understand have that sort of functionality, apparently the guy that runs GHL is actually willing to even modify the firmware somewhat for you if you have a custom purpose.
But if the RK will do it... sweet. As far as the myReef software is concerned, does it allow you to write your own programs to interface with the unit (more like a driver) or is myreef a closed source type deal where you'd have to reverse-engineer it to figure out how to do it?

 

[natclanwy]

I'm not really sure what the end product of My Reef is going to look like, I have never used it for there other controllers. They claim its supposed to have more functionality than previous versions but they haven't made any specific announcments. I am guessing it will be a closed source program that you would have to reverse engineer though.
I'm still trying to picture what you have planned, and why the need for the programming to run on the PC. The way I understand the previous versions of the Reefkeeper and My Reef works is the program runs on the controller and the PC can monitor and log the inputs and then can make changes to the programing on the controller remotely.

 

[scsinet]

I am planning to use a wall mounted touchscreen LCD mounted on the wall next to the tank. On it will be a fullscreen interface, likely written in in VB (yeah, I'm old fashioned), that shows a "dashboard" of the tank's current status, probably in the form of a process monitor screen - showing the plumbing layout and the status of various pieces of equipment, pumps, heaters, etc.
Touching a part of the screen will allow you to access or change information. For example, I want to be able to touch the temperature reading and get a graph that shows historical temperature data over a configurable time period, and a portion that allows me to change the temperature.
I even plan to use powerheads and lighting tweaks to simulate storm conditions and calm conditions in the reef, depicted by "weather" icons on the screen. The moonlight brightness will be controlled to simulate lunar cycles, again depicted with moon icons to show what is going on at any given time.
And the whole thing will be able to be connected to from anywhere with an internet connection, so I can monitor and control from anywhere.
Of course this is nothing that existing controller products cannot do, this is more of a "because I can" project...

 

[natclanwy]

I think you could accomplish this with the RKE, the NET module can export the logged data as a .csv file that you could utilize for your graphing functions in VB. It also has an RSS feed that I believe you could utilize for your graphing function also but I'm not sure since I really don't know much about RSS feeds. The control portion may be a little more difficult and might require a little reverse engineering to make it work depending on if and how they implement remote control functions.