Aquarium controller or individual controllers?

[mark]

Originally Posted by Parker

I prefer an all in one solution simply for the ease of use. Now I just have to figure out which one.

link to a Controller Comparison chart, might help

[BlueAbyss]

Don't get me wrong, I think controllers are great... I just missed the 'vote as if money were no object'. For someone of my thinking though, the controller would still be sort of an expensive timer, with e-mail

[Pan]

There was a thread about this on nano-reef.com (i'll look for the link) but the guy who originally started it, sort of the controller guru over there basically showed that every controller fails, Yes despite what SOME claim, they ALL fail. With that being said the consensus was a ranco (which fail as well but are cheaper to replace) or a high end system like was used in a recent rc totm (huge system, did everything, but was basically professional level, not hobby level like ALL the ones normally associated with reef keeping) I;m not against controllers personally, if i were to buy one i'd get a aquatronica, seems they along with the reefkeeper elite/lite and neptune have dropped prices..while some...raise them. I think it is like anything else, if YOU want it get it

[lastlight]

Interesting I'd love to read that thread if you ever track it down.

Right now I'm leaning towards the Profilux but if the prices on these continue to climb as they have I will likely go the Ranco etc route.

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

Don't get me wrong, I think controllers are great... I just missed the 'vote as if money were no object'. For someone of my thinking though, the controller would still be sort of an expensive timer, with e-mail

X 2 Expencive timer with an e-mail ! LOL

[lastlight]

Yeah that is pretty true depending on what you want to do.

I want temp, light and tunze control. Beyond that it's just extras.

I won't choose the ghl doser over spectrapure due to it only having 3 rollers and not 4 and it's likely less risky to use a ranco and tunze 7095 since they are simple and tried, tested and true devices. Lighting I could find some digital timers...don't need diming. Also plan on dosing so I don't really think measuring ph is all that big of a deal either.

But still it is a pretty slick unit and I'm not crazy about home depot light timers. It's going to be a tough decision.

[Aqua-Digital]

Pan

Without getting into hot debate and I write this as gentle banter

Show me a thread, a report anything where it shows a GHL ProfiLux controller has failed due to manufacturer fault odd component maybe even though thats rare.

Sorry I dont mean in any way for that to be taken as hit, jibe or anything else just wanted to have a level debate .

Lastlight - dont get hung up on roller numbers in dosers, the GHL doser has medical grade components, the amount of rollers has nothing to do with reliability, but the quality of the components used. I am not saying another make mentioned is unreliable, I am in no position to judge or comment but dont disregard a product just because it has less rollers, look more at the functionality it offers and client feedback of that product. And prices have not gone up

In regards to the controller comparison link. The Author is a long standing Aquatronica user that also helps with the support side on RC

we have asked the author countless times to update this for the profiLux but still has not done so, we do ask ourselves why?

[mark]

believe there has been the odd failure when dropped into a mix barrel of saltwater. Might be stretching the manufacturer fault bit but hey, these are made to be used around aquariums .

(I'm joking here)

[Aqua-Digital]

I was waiting for that

I did say manufacturer error

My biggest advise before buying a controller is go look at the support forums see how many main controller issues are reported and then decide, user feedback is paramount when spending this sort of hard earned cash.

Price is always a factor in everything we buy but a bargain is only a bargain if the product can be relied upon. I am not saying cheap or cheaper means unreliable as even more expensive things in this life can have its troubles too. But price is not a judge on quality whether higher or lower, user feedback and reports on forums etc etc is the best judge in my own oppinion.

So what is best controller or seperates? Well this comes down to personal choice. If lets say you want to only turn a light on and off a day and monitor/control pH and see the tank temp then hell no! A controller is not the way to go what ever the make. But if you for instance want to have level control, ph control, temp control, maybe even tunze control then just that little lot seperately would cost you more than a controller that can do all that in one box. It all comes down to what you want to do and if you feel comfortable having all your eggs in one basket which comes right back to choosing a controller you "personally feel" (irrelavant what the manufacturers claim) you can rely upon.

I appreciate readers will say my oppinions could be biased, but I hope I have come across as neutral as possible.

[Pan]

Originally Posted by Aqua-Digital

Pan

Without getting into hot debate and I write this as gentle banter

Show me a thread, a report anything where it shows a GHL ProfiLux controller has failed due to manufacturer fault odd component maybe even though thats rare.

Sorry I dont mean in any way for that to be taken as hit, jibe or anything else just wanted to have a level debate .

Lastlight - dont get hung up on roller numbers in dosers, the GHL doser has medical grade components, the amount of rollers has nothing to do with reliability, but the quality of the components used. I am not saying another make mentioned is unreliable, I am in no position to judge or comment but dont disregard a product just because it has less rollers, look more at the functionality it offers and client feedback of that product. And prices have not gone up

In regards to the controller comparison link. The Author is a long standing Aquatronica user that also helps with the support side on RC

we have asked the author countless times to update this for the profiLux but still has not done so, we do ask ourselves why?

I'll find it if i can and have the time...frankly i don't care really. He said he had evidence showing every controller failed...he didn't state why or how and if he did I didn't care to look...as I wasn't really interested. I only mentioned it as an alternative to the you need a 900 dollar controller for your nano banter that always goes on. I don't what anyone uses nor do i care if i really care if i influence that choice. rankly i see no difference in profilux or the aquatronica other than price...i'm sure there good units as most probably are and if one wants to buy a controller go for it. A pro-active consumer would search the nano-reef forums for that thread...if they don't again their problem. I wasn't knocking anyone's controllers specifically. That being said if i had the money i and the desire for a controller i would buy an aquatronica as it is cheaper than the profilux, if i had sufficient funds to burn i would buy the profilux. But i'm not lazy enough to need a controller