Auto Testers: What's your take? Yay or Nay?

[scottsweet]

I missed this post earlier in the year...I am an avid user and designed my tank with automation in mind. I test, water change, top off, feed (dry and Reef Nutrition), carbon dose, 4 part dosing all with automation in mind.

My tank shows the possible...

It is expensive and does require you to really understand what is going on technically, electronics and reef chemistry, so you can set things up properly. It also means you need to understand what you are trying to test and realize that chasing numbers can be the kiss of death. For me, the automation is part of the fun and the design.

Personally, I have an Apex, Alkatronic, Dosetronic, 4 GHL dosers and a Reefbot. You really need to get all the systems working together and don't necessarily trust the results as gospel. When I started in this hobby back in 1995 with my first reef, this stuff didn't exist and much of what we did was a guessing game. Add a little this ...try 20ml...no..30ml and so on. Today we can really test for what is really going on.

My automation regime:

1. My Alkatronic/Dosetronic automatically monitors my dKH and doses my Triton 4 part. When I change up my GFO, I simply change the testing interval to compensate for the drop in dKH and the Dosetronic doses more to keep the dKH stable. When things stabilize, I return the testing interval to the desired level. If I see a progressive drop in dKH, I simply bump up the dosing 5-10% for the additional consumption with a simple update.
2. Carbon dose for managing nitrate/phosphate.
3. Auto dose iodine as well.
4. With my auto feeder (see below), I am able to dose fish and coral food as well as coral trace elements.
5. Water change 2 gallons every day and automatically refill my 20 gallon salt reservoir in the house when it gets low from my 50 gallon reservoir that is outside.
6. I auto top-off from my 50 gallon RO/DI water reservoir that is outside.
7. Raise and lower my canopy.

My words of advise, use the automation to keep things on track. When something seems off, check it the old fashion way to validate...maybe something is out of calibration on the automated component.

The end result is that I spend about 1 hour a week checking that all things are full. I double check parameters manually about once every 4-6 weeks unless I see something acting up. I have learned the behaviors of certain elements and stay ahead of those things.

The best thing is that I don't spend so much time laboring over the tank. I can't tell you how many times I have been asked...."doesn't it take a lot of maintenance..." My answer is a smile and "No..."

If you have the means and the interest, it is a lot of fun and does work!

 

[alabella1]

I missed this post earlier in the year...I am an avid user and designed my tank with automation in mind. I test, water change, top off, feed (dry and Reef Nutrition), carbon dose, 4 part dosing all with automation in mind.

My tank shows the possible...

It is expensive and does require you to really understand what is going on technically, electronics and reef chemistry, so you can set things up properly. It also means you need to understand what you are trying to test and realize that chasing numbers can be the kiss of death. For me, the automation is part of the fun and the design.

Personally, I have an Apex, Alkatronic, Dosetronic, 4 GHL dosers and a Reefbot. You really need to get all the systems working together and don't necessarily trust the results as gospel. When I started in this hobby back in 1995 with my first reef, this stuff didn't exist and much of what we did was a guessing game. Add a little this ...try 20ml...no..30ml and so on. Today we can really test for what is really going on.

My automation regime:

1. My Alkatronic/Dosetronic automatically monitors my dKH and doses my Triton 4 part. When I change up my GFO, I simply change the testing interval to compensate for the drop in dKH and the Dosetronic doses more to keep the dKH stable. When things stabilize, I return the testing interval to the desired level. If I see a progressive drop in dKH, I simply bump up the dosing 5-10% for the additional consumption with a simple update.
2. Carbon dose for managing nitrate/phosphate.
3. Auto dose iodine as well.
4. With my auto feeder (see below), I am able to dose fish and coral food as well as coral trace elements.
5. Water change 2 gallons every day and automatically refill my 20 gallon salt reservoir in the house when it gets low from my 50 gallon reservoir that is outside.
6. I auto top-off from my 50 gallon RO/DI water reservoir that is outside.
7. Raise and lower my canopy.

My words of advise, use the automation to keep things on track. When something seems off, check it the old fashion way to validate...maybe something is out of calibration on the automated component.

The end result is that I spend about 1 hour a week checking that all things are full. I double check parameters manually about once every 4-6 weeks unless I see something acting up. I have learned the behaviors of certain elements and stay ahead of those things.

The best thing is that I don't spend so much time laboring over the tank. I can't tell you how many times I have been asked...."doesn't it take a lot of maintenance..." My answer is a smile and "No..."

If you have the means and the interest, it is a lot of fun and does work!

Holy crap!! That's amazing. Tell me more about that picture that appears to be a mini fridge.

 

[scottsweet]

Holy crap!! That's amazing. Tell me more about that picture that appears to be a mini fridge.

Got my fresh food autofeeder working today :).

Such a great idea!! Love it. Still using this and still working great??

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Frankyfish]

Many of us who have been in the hobby for more than the last few years remember when the idea of auto testing seemed like a pipe dream. Well, now for the last several years, this dream has become a reality! With auto testers like the Trident, GHL Kh Director, GHL Ion Director, Alkatronic, Mastertronic, Reefbot, and others, innovation has made testing much less work (although that time saved certainly comes at a premium). As this video discusses, there are many benefits to these automatic testers that even go beyond just the saved work:



So my questions for today's discussion are:

What's your take on auto testers in general? Are you a fan?
Which ones have you had experience with?
Do you think these have been the step forward that we hoped they would be?
What considerations/cautions would you give others considering using these?

Photo: @W.vreeswijk

For me just getting into the hobby pictures like that are what has kept me away from getting into salt water. I've been in the freshwater game for 15 years and saltwater was always something I wanted to get Into but seeing a picture like yours I would look at it and go yeah thats way to complicated for me lol. I think auto testing is a big help for some and for others who are perfectionist wouldn't trust it. I would love to give it a shot but all that technical and computer gadgetry scares me. Im just getting used to biocube 32 and learning more and more everyday. I hope someday I can try this out and see how it is. What a great help that would be to just look at your parameters and see them in good standing and continue on about your day.

 

[Starganderfish]

For me just getting into the hobby pictures like that are what has kept me away from getting into salt water. I've been in the freshwater game for 15 years and saltwater was always something I wanted to get Into but seeing a picture like yours I would look at it and go yeah thats way to complicated for me lol. I think auto testing is a big help for some and for others who are perfectionist wouldn't trust it. I would love to give it a shot but all that technical and computer gadgetry scares me. Im just getting used to biocube 32 and learning more and more everyday. I hope someday I can try this out and see how it is. What a great help that would be to just look at your parameters and see them in good standing and continue on about your day.

Honestly, testing and dosing and the in-depth analysis stuff isn’t that important. Some folks go all out with daily parameter tests and thousands of dollars of equipment and hours spent on analysis. But you can have a perfectly happy and healthy reef tank without any of that. Regular water changes and a basic understanding of the nitrogen cycle is really all you need, unless you are aiming for super complex corals or crazy growth. I bought a bunch of Hama test kits a year ago and used them regularly for a few weeks, then only occasionally. Eventually I pretty much put them in the shelf and forgot about them. I did some tests this weekend for the first time in probably 6 months. Everything was fine, parameters were “good enough” and fish and coral are happy.
There’s nothing wrong with doing insane levels of equipment and testing but it’s just as acceptable to not bother and rely on water changes, good practices and letting the tank manage itself. It’s far too easy to get caught up in chasing parameters and it’s really not always necessary

 

[vlangel]

For me just getting into the hobby pictures like that are what has kept me away from getting into salt water. I've been in the freshwater game for 15 years and saltwater was always something I wanted to get Into but seeing a picture like yours I would look at it and go yeah thats way to complicated for me lol. I think auto testing is a big help for some and for others who are perfectionist wouldn't trust it. I would love to give it a shot but all that technical and computer gadgetry scares me. Im just getting used to biocube 32 and learning more and more everyday. I hope someday I can try this out and see how it is. What a great help that would be to just look at your parameters and see them in good standing and continue on about your day.

Honestly, testing and dosing and the in-depth analysis stuff isn’t that important. Some folks go all out with daily parameter tests and thousands of dollars of equipment and hours spent on analysis. But you can have a perfectly happy and healthy reef tank without any of that. Regular water changes and a basic understanding of the nitrogen cycle is really all you need, unless you are aiming for super complex corals or crazy growth. I bought a bunch of Hama test kits a year ago and used them regularly for a few weeks, then only occasionally. Eventually I pretty much put them in the shelf and forgot about them. I did some tests this weekend for the first time in probably 6 months. Everything was fine, parameters were “good enough” and fish and coral are happy.
There’s nothing wrong with doing insane levels of equipment and testing but it’s just as acceptable to not bother and rely on water changes, good practices and letting the tank manage itself. It’s far too easy to get caught up in chasing parameters and it’s really not always necessary

I agree with starganderfish. I have a high nutrient tank with lots of fish, predominantly soft coral, and macro algae. Maintenance wise, its the easiest tank I've ever had and I had reef tanks for 20+ years and yet its one of the prettiest. Basically, I do my 4-5 gallon water change every week and clean the glass once a week. I rarely test parameters and if I did I know that my Phosphates and nitrates are going to be on the high side and yet I do not have nuisance algae, so I am ok with it.

 

[Morpheosz]

I have spent the year building out my system with as much automation as I can dream up. I do it for 2 reasons:

1) The automation is a big part of the hobby for me. It is a lot of work to properly automate things as it's so easy to miss edge cases where things can go sideways with the automation so people are right to point out that it can be a risky path for people that think it would just be easier / simpler. However, for me, that's a big part of the hobby as I'm an engineer at heart. I spend many cycles dreaming up the next thing to do to simplify, streamline, add to the automation. When you get it dialed in over time, it can work extremely well and be extremely gratifying. Most of my "subsystems" (e.g. water change, top off, dosing, etc.) have been majorly tweaked or even completely reinvented one or more times since I started a year ago but most are pretty bullet proof now. That's another thing to consider going down this path - automation is not only expensive on the surface, but it's a lot more expensive because a lot of your initial ideas don't pan out and you spend MORE for the next iteration of equipment / parts. A few examples - my auto top off went from an automated pump based system to a gravity based system, my elaborate refugium setup is now a rollermat, I'm on my 3rd iteration of media reactor, 3rd return pump. All this has led to a few bins full of equipment from disused ideas that I need to sell.

2) It lets me spend my time on more valuable activities with the tank. I spend the same amount of time as I always have on the hobby, but instead of doing water changes, top offs, dosing, etc. I now spend it really fine tuning the environment for the inhabitants and fretting over details that I couldn't get to before when I was spending my time on the more mundane tasks. The end result is I have a much nicer looking / thriving tank than I've ever had before.