Next up, I'm going to talk about monitoring and controlling.
New tech
[inaudible].
So I have always tried to stay away from too much automation with my
tank, since I don't like to have too many moving parts,
just the chances of something going wrong increases in my view when there are
more variables in play.
So keeping it simple has always been a goal of mine when it comes to running a
reef tank. However,
I do believe a quorum controllers and automated monitors,
despite all the complex functions that they can perform are very
important pieces of equipment.
Since they can provide valuable data and help prevent disasters.
I also believe in investing in high quality equipment that is
reliable and can last a very, very long time,
about five and a half years ago,
I purchased a Neptune apex controller for my new 187
gallon tank. And, uh, you know,
I had used Neptune controllers in the past and I went with another one since I
was familiar with them. But two years after the purchase,
the LCD touchpad started to fail and I was having trouble performing
certain functions. You know, I was bummed since it was relatively new.
And I started to wonder whether I should go in a different direction to replace
it. I did have a GHL dozer,
2.1 as well as the cage director.
And I was really very happy with these German made products.
They were reliable and very well built.
A reef keeping buddy of mine had made the switch a while ago to GHL products,
including the prophylaxis for controller,
and he had nothing but really great things to say about their stuff.
So based on my experience with DHL products and my buddy's input,
I decided to go all in with GHL and go with the [inaudible].
It also made sense since I already had a GHL doser and the KHD.
So those could be integrated with the [inaudible]. Now,
there certainly was a learning curve making the switch from apex to the pro
Filex, but in the end it was definitely worth the extra work.
I did find it easier to program the P four,
since it had dropped down menus and checkboxes versus a coding needed to program
the apex, the people was pretty intuitive in this regard,
so it made the transition easier. Okay. So with that background,
let's get into my plans for using the prophylaxis and other monitors and
controllers for this new tank built,
let's start with the P for my P four mega set has four
probes that monitor pH temperature, conductivity,
and redox for pH temperature and conductivity.
I plan to set up alarms to alert me if any of these parameters stray off course,
I've never worried about monitoring redox, but you know,
that might change in the future.
Another thing I plan to do is add these two water sensors to the P four toll
alert me via text and email. If water is detected on the floor near the sum,
I will be attaching them to this leakage interface,
which will be connected to the [inaudible].
I have the setup on the [inaudible] I use to control my 187 gallon tank,
and it really does provide great peace of mind to prevent my skimmer cup from
overflowing.
I did program the P four to delay the start of my skimmer pump by five
minutes,
when a power outage is detected to further ensure against overflows,
I installed this, do it yourself, float switch,
that will turn off the skimmer pump via the P four. When the cup is full,
besides the floats, which I needed to install this breakout board,
as well as an expansion card inside the P four GHL expansion cards
are really cool because they allow you to increase the peep Wars functionality
to fit specific needs.
So there really is a lot of flexibility to go beyond what it can do out of the
box. A second expansion card I added was born additional pH probe,
which monitors the pH inside my reef, octopus calcium reactor.
This will allow the PS4 to shut off the CO2.
If the pH inside the reactor gets too low,
this will not only prevent the media from melting due to low pH,
but it will also prevent a potential disaster.
If my regulator malfunctions and dumps a bunch of CO2 into my tank,
a third expansion card is being used to wirelessly control my matress light
fixtures via the P four. Okay.
Let's move on to monitoring and controlling other parameters,
not directly measured by the [inaudible].
I do have the cage director up and running,
and right now I have it set to measure the DKA. H one time per day,
I will likely increase the measurement frequency.
If I end up using the adaptive control feature.
This automated function is really great.
Since the KT can be used to adjust DKSH levels up or down,
whether you are using either two part or a calcium reactor.
The final thing I want to touch on is GHS.
I on director the soon to be released, I undirect her.
We'll provide lab grade measurements for calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium,
and nitrate. And, uh, yeah, I have a spot for it right here.
The I and D has a multi ion sensor requires no reagents.
So that's pretty cool.
Similar to the cage D the I N D will be able to automatically control parameters
and keep them stable. For example,
the ind will be able to maintain a target level of magnesium if it is being
added by GHL dozer 2.1.
So that is my plan of attack in terms of monitoring and controlling
this new tank. Anyway, many, thanks for watching. If you liked the video,
please give it a thumbs up and hit that subscribe button.
If you haven't done so already,
I will put links to Marine Depot and reef foam in the video description below.
See you next time.