Aquatronica Controller

[BMW Rider]

I thought I'd add this review here for anyone else who is looking at getting one of these units.

I purchased this system from Aquarium Obssessed in Barrie Ontario. They were excellent people to deal with, the unit was shipped out right away and arrived in less than a week from the time of order.

What I got:

Basic package, including
- main unit
- 8 outlet power bar
- pH sensor with holder
- teperature sensor
- water level sensor
- PC interface and software
additional 8 outlet power bar
additional pH sensor and interface module





I began by first installing the main components. The two power bars, one in the upper cabinet to power the lights and fans, the second in the lower cabinet to power other equipment. the main display module I decided to locate on the outside of the cabinets for quick viewing and easy access. That required drilling a small hole for the connector cable to pass through.





The unit has a great deal of options for programming. Here is my basic setup. there are many more otions and additional sensors that can be utilized, some of which I may add in at a later time. The programming is simple once you figure it out, its even easier if you use the pc interface and do it from your computer. You can rename all components and sensors to suit, and even each individual outlet can be renamed for its use.

Lighting

Each bulb is controlled seperately at intervals to create a sunrise/sunset effect. The light canopy fans are turned on seperatly when the first bulb comes on until the last one shuts down plus a short cooldown period. The moonlights are turned on opposit to the main lighting period. The refugium light is also conected, but I currently run it 24 hours daily.

Temperature

I have two fans in my cabinets as well that are switched on at a preset temperature to cool the tank. The unit will switch on the heaters as well at a set temerature. Additionally, if the tank temperature rises above a desired maximum, the unit will shut down the MH lights. It will aslo go into alarm if the temperature rises or falls beyond the set parameters.

pH

I have two pH sensors connected, one for the tank, the second for the ca reactor effluent. The tank pH is set to alarm if it goes outside of the desired parameters. The ca reactor reading controlls the solenoid on the CO2 to maintain the desired ph within the reactor.

Water level

I have the water level sensor in my sump set to alarm if the water level drops. Since my TO system is gravity fed from a resevoir, it will alert me if it has run out in case I forget to refill the resevoir causing the level to drop in the sump.

The system also maintains a history of the readings from the sensors and displays them in a graph. I have it set for a seven day recording period. You can also program reminders to be displayed.

So far I am quite impressed with the unit, it has eliminated a clutter of timers and power bars form my aquarium allowing me to have a tidier more accurately controlled system.



A couple of things to note. The plugs on the power bars are very tightly spaced which causes larger plugs block adjoining outlets. The PC interface was included as a special bonus, it is almost essential as you cannot update the firmware without it. The unit comes with an older firmware installed which does not offer many of the features. The update process was easy. You will need a computer with a serial port or a usb to serial adapter since the interface has only a serial connection.

[niloc16]

thanks for much for posting this, i've been researching as to possibly getting one, keep us posted with pros and cons and you find them

[hawk]

What was the final cost? Can alarm mode be sent to email/cell phone?

[BMW Rider]

I was lucky to get in on a group purchase throught Reef Central so I got the everything for just under $1100 shipped. Would be about $1300 at regular price. There are two new modules available/coming soon, one is a gsm phone module that will alert you by phone, the other is an ethernet module that will allow you to recieve email alerts or view and set the parameters via a browser.

Lots more info at Aquarium Obssessed's web site or Aquatonica's.

[michika]

I'm debating the same unit you've purchased. This thread is very useful in helping me make my decision!

About the software/update process, is it all set up for a PC or is it also Mac compatable?

Overall do you like the system now that you've been running it for awhile?

[Psyire]

The PC Software is for Windows. If you run emulation software you might be able to get it to work with a mac, but the connection is serial port, so that might take some trickery. (Serial -> USB -> Emulated) or something.

The Ethernet module is on the verge of shipping and that is browser orientated, so that is universal. However it's 'control' over the Aquatronica is limited. (no firmware, updating or program changing. ..Yet anyway)

(I actually have one of the Beta Ethernet modules that I'm testing, and so far it is working quite well)