HELP me choose a controller

Fairymary58 · Aug 19, 2020

HI,
I live in Australia and am in the process of building a 12-foot tank. I need to have a controller as I'm a nurse and I need to be able to check in on things and have things done when I cant get home. Hubby is a computer programmer so can write code if needed. Actually he's a little annoyed at me because he wanted to build me a controller but I said no.
So what would you buy for a controller, I will be running 2 return pumps and am aiming to have a full reef setup.

SPR1968 · Aug 19, 2020

Neptune Apex is probably a popular choice and certainly what I use.

Its very easy to set up and use, a HD camera is also very useful

Welcome to R2R as well!

SuncrestReef · Aug 19, 2020

The two industry leaders are the Neptune Apex and the GHL Profilux. There are numerous threads here on R2R comparing these products, with often heated arguments both ways. Personally I prefer the Apex and published a series of programming tutorials: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/neptune-apex-programming-tutorials.700483/

The other alternative your husband would probably like is the ReefPi project, which utilizes the popular Raspberry Pi computer board and other off the shelf devices.

Good luck!

Fairymary58 · Aug 19, 2020

SuncrestReef said:
The two industry leaders are the Neptune Apex and the GHL Profilux. There are numerous threads here on R2R comparing these products, with often heated arguments both ways. Personally I prefer the Apex and published a series of programming tutorials: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/neptune-apex-programming-tutorials.700483/

The other alternative your husband would probably like is the ReefPi project, which utilizes the popular Raspberry Pi computer board and other off the shelf devices.

Good luck!

He would very much like the ReefPi project, he did make me an ato using tape instead of a float switch but i accidentally knocked it into the tank and broke it

ReefBeta · Aug 19, 2020

Fairymary58 said:
He would very much like the ReefPi project, he did make me an ato using tape instead of a float switch but i accidentally knocked it into the tank and broke it

Definitively go with ReefPi then. Might as well make him a contributor of it. :D

Fairymary58 · Aug 19, 2020

zsxking said:
Definitively go with ReefPi then. Might as well make him a contributor of it. :D

No raspberry pi controller here. If I let him do it I'll never have a controller.

ReefBeta · Aug 19, 2020

Fairymary58 said:
No raspberry pi controller here. If I let him do it I'll never have a controller.

You can buy the whole set of hardware to have it work at https://www.robo-tank.ca/, so you can start using it right away. But you can still build on top of it since it's open source.

Ranjib · Aug 19, 2020

Fairymary58 said:
He would very much like the ReefPi project, he did make me an ato using tape instead of a float switch but i accidentally knocked it into the tank and broke it

Reef-pi will be some work, but if your hubby is into tech it may involve him more into reef-keeping :-). Most commercial controller will be easier, safer but less hackable. At this sized tank, bulk of control might be offloaded to individual products as well (light, power head, ato controller etc). They are less end to end automatable, but more reliable option that you can add incrementally,. Let us know if we could be of any help.
Godspeed

Fairymary58 · Aug 20, 2020

Ranjib said:
Reef-pi will be some work, but if your hubby is into tech it may involve him more into reef-keeping :). Most commercial controller will be easier, safer but less hackable. At this sized tank, bulk of control might be offloaded to individual products as well (light, power head, ato controller etc). They are less end to end automatable, but more reliable option that you can add incrementally,. Let us know if we could be of any help.
Godspeed

Hubby is more than into it, but he doesn't have enough time to build it properly, that's how the last one ended up broken and knocked into the tank. He didn't have time to put it together properly and kinda half did it.
don't need him invested in the tank as he doesn't mind I if have one and happily lets me have my tank. He's the one who pushed me to buy my dream tan in the first place