Is Ecotech ever going to make a controller?

[joshwaggs]

I don't know if you just miss worded that or what but I have never heard anyone say that the GHL controller is crap. I have only heard that the Interface is not very intuitive and the whole package is expensive. If the Ion Director came out it would mean that GHL had a lot more things than Neptune.
Even without the Ion Director the GHL has items like an SMS Module, Humidity sensors and their own lighting systems, plus better dosing pumps than Neptune. Neptune has the Calcium and Mg reading and pumps over the GHL but as I said with the Ion Director GHL would have that and a few other water tests.

Maybe it was the app they were talking about (it was on this site). With Apex it is easy to find a ton of people to ask "what do you think?". I havent met anyone that uses ghl to control. So I have to stick with what I see in forums and reviews. So far, Ive generally seen that ghl is generally passed up for Apex.

Im kind of over Apex. I have never had an issue with any of the Apex equipment I have. I just got tired of their pricing models. They want 400 for the base unit, but will sell the whole kit for 500. At one point they had an offer for the base unit and probes for 250. what the heck? So, why are you trying to sell me just the base unit for 400???

I know it's whinny, but Im just tired of it. I have the classic Apex and only want to upgrade for the wifi. I have put the base unit in the BRS cart several times. I just cant make it make sense. Im just ready for something fresh.

 

[User1]

So you think the DOS is in the same league as the GHL 2.1 doser?

I don't know, I don't own one. I own the DOS and it works great so that is realistically all I can say.

If you are asking me about aesthetics that is a bit different. Yes, GHL probably won that category but that wasn't a check box item for me. I only had two requirements. Automatic water changes and dosing. Since I already had an Apex it made more sense.

As for the App. I think to many people put to much importance in this fancy GUI stuff.
On a scale of 1 to 10 of controller importance I would give ease of use during setup and a Fancy looking GUI a "Five". I give reliability a solid "Ten".
At the end of the day a fancy GUI is not going to save your tank when your away from home but reliability will.

Of course, we agree. As far as the last point on reliability I've only had one issue with an energy bar which was honestly not their fault. It was our local utility company's lack of redundancy sending in 3 times the electricity into our neighbourhood tripping most if not all of our homes main circuit breakers. Trickle effect meant we lost some appliances which I lost dish washer, energy bar, ac unit, and two refrigerators, solar inverter, etc (I guess I could have had a whole home surge device but didn't - but in the works).

Anyway we are probably on similar pages. I don't get caught up too much in better since it is usually subjective anyway. And I'm biased I guess since I own the product which is why I said I really can't say one way or another. I do know people like GHL and I think that is a good thing.

 

[mitch91175]

So you think the DOS is in the same league as the GHL 2.1 doser?

As for the App. I think to many people put to much importance in this fancy GUI stuff.
On a scale of 1 to 10 of controller importance I would give ease of use during setup and a Fancy looking GUI a "Five". I give reliability a solid "Ten".
At the end of the day a fancy GUI is not going to save your tank when your away from home but reliability will.

Hence why I run Alkatronics. Don't slip on these guys. They are doing some pretty cool stuff and seem to have a new product each year.

 

[flabryth]

I really like their products but I already have most of them already and the only company I might ever consider ditching my controller for is an Ecotech. That is based on their ability to deliver inovative quality products. It would seem to me that something new in the product lineup like a controller would be a huge money maker for the company, since most of your other products have already saturated the market in the other areas.

From a software point of view they may not need to get into that market. All you need is integrated software to manage the pumps and such. If I were them the only why i would look to do this is to buy someone one who has the patents and experience making controllers and start with that and not create my own line from scratch.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Hence why I run Alkatronics. Don't slip on these guys. They are doing some pretty cool stuff and seem to have a new product each year.

I like my alkatronic and the fact that i'm not bound to them for reagent. My biggest gripe to them is that their app interface remains in an unrefined state. I've established a report with Eric Tang and used to converse with him on a regular basis concerning my issues. After he kept making excuses for each individual concern, I stopped.

In its current state it works adequately but there's so many little bugs that can easily be squashed to make things work better.

 

[mitch91175]

I like my alkatronic and the fact that i'm not bound to them for reagent. My biggest gripe to them is that their app interface remains in an unrefined state. I've established a report with Eric Tang and used to converse with him on a regular basis concerning my issues. After he kept making excuses for each individual concern, I stopped.

In its current state it works adequately but there's so many little bugs that can easily be squashed to make things work better.

Agree. I've seen improvements through the time I've had mine. Definitely could be better, but overall like you mentioned reagent is pretty much free and device is easy to maintain. Nothing detrimental that completely hoses the unit which I like. Seems that SD card can become corrupt and need to be recreated (something they need to resolve). Even then I still pick it over the others that I've used (haven't use the GHL unit for likely obvious reasons).

Patiently waiting for the Mastertronic to be released soon. Anytime prior to Christmas works

 

[proxy001]

If ecotech made a controller, this is how things would work:
"We use 2 different wattage usage, the total wattage and the partial wattage. Each plug can have their own wattage, you can set it as in the general wattage section but also in the plug section"
"Time zone we use is GMT, you can input your own GPS coordinates to change the time zone"
"Ph measure is given as a measure of the proton concentration"
"You can control your reef using bluetooth, anytime you are within range of the controller"

 

[LiamPM]

Maybe it was the app they were talking about (it was on this site). With Apex it is easy to find a ton of people to ask "what do you think?". I havent met anyone that uses ghl to control. So I have to stick with what I see in forums and reviews. So far, Ive generally seen that ghl is generally passed up for Apex.

Im kind of over Apex. I have never had an issue with any of the Apex equipment I have. I just got tired of their pricing models. They want 400 for the base unit, but will sell the whole kit for 500. At one point they had an offer for the base unit and probes for 250. what the heck? So, why are you trying to sell me just the base unit for 400???

I know it's whinny, but Im just tired of it. I have the classic Apex and only want to upgrade for the wifi. I have put the base unit in the BRS cart several times. I just cant make it make sense. Im just ready for something fresh.

To be fair you won’t find too many GHL users here because it’s a predominantly US user base forum.

Much like GHL is priced up in the states Neptune systems is priced up in Europe, so Europe tends to choose GHL whilst the states chooses Neptune.

It’s not really fair to think it’s based on features and ability as it’s generally down to availability and pricing.

This is why I imagine Ecotech could slip right into the market if they did, their pricing in the states doesn’t seem to be much different than Europe, so the choice would be on function and use, not purely availability and pricing like the two others mostly is.

 

[robbyg]

If ecotech made a controller, this is how things would work:
"We use 2 different wattage usage, the total wattage and the partial wattage. Each plug can have their own wattage, you can set it as in the general wattage section but also in the plug section"
"Time zone we use is GMT, you can input your own GPS coordinates to change the time zone"
"Ph measure is given as a measure of the proton concentration"
"You can control your reef using bluetooth, anytime you are within range of the controller"

 

[robbyg]

I like my alkatronic and the fact that i'm not bound to them for reagent. My biggest gripe to them is that their app interface remains in an unrefined state. I've established a report with Eric Tang and used to converse with him on a regular basis concerning my issues. After he kept making excuses for each individual concern, I stopped.

In its current state it works adequately but there's so many little bugs that can easily be squashed to make things work better.

I like the Alkatronic but I am a little concerned about the Mastertronic after seeing that short video on reefs.com I am getting the distinct feeling that they plan on using needles and syringes and a reefbot like system. IMHO when it starts to get to complicated it's time to rethink the plan.

 

[joshwaggs]

To be fair you won’t find too many GHL users here because it’s a predominantly US user base forum.

Much like GHL is priced up in the states Neptune systems is priced up in Europe, so Europe tends to choose GHL whilst the states chooses Neptune.

It’s not really fair to think it’s based on features and ability as it’s generally down to availability and pricing.

This is why I imagine Ecotech could slip right into the market if they did, their pricing in the states doesn’t seem to be much different than Europe, so the choice would be on function and use, not purely availability and pricing like the two others mostly is.

Interesting. I didn’t realize that.

 

[ScottB]

Staying off-track but while there are so many interested and experienced controller folks paying attention:

Does GHL have a user community similar to Neptune's? I never thought I would be glad to be rid of a firm's tech support team but I am. If a default does not suffice for me (often it does) then I ask the Neptune community a specific question and cool code comes back in minutes. After a while it all makes sense. Copy paste.

Given my experience with reeflink... it will take some convincing before I move to ETM. Easy and reliable has been my experience with "over-priced" Neptune.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

A monthly charge would never fly. Mindstream had the monthly subscription and was a turnoff for do many.

Plus this is a controller, we as hobbyist have options, if I had to shell out money every month or pay a big upfront cost, 100 times out of 100 I'm opting out of a monthly fee.

Lol SAS for a fish tank? Yeah, I'm 100% out of that noise 6 ways from Sunday!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I like the Alkatronic but I am a little concerned about the Mastertronic after seeing that short video on reefs.com I am getting the distinct feeling that they plan on using needles and syringes and a reefbot like system. IMHO when it starts to get to complicated it's time to rethink the plan.

To tell you the truth, I assumed that they were working on an ion probe solution. I never would've thought that they would go the route of the reef bot. If that's in fact true, consider me not interested.

 

[robbyg]

To tell you the truth, I assumed that they were working on an ion probe solution. I never would've thought that they would go the route of the reef bot. If that's in fact true, consider me not interested.

I also thought it would be an ion probe design!
It’s kind of strange that no one has been able to successfully produce an ion based system.

 

[JoshH]

I also thought it would be an ion probe design!
It’s kind of strange that no one has been able to successfully produce an ion based system.

I think most manufacturers look at refining an ION based probe as an expensive R&D project and potentially not worth the investment. GHL has a higher price point on there products which makes investing in this type of technology a bit more of an easier pill to swallow. Just my thoughts. I also agree that while not owning a DOS myself I have seen one in action and GHL is definitely out front when it comes to product quality and even price. But those are just my thoughts...

 

[TheHarold]

I think most manufacturers look at refining an ION based probe as an expensive R&D project and potentially not worth the investment. GHL has a higher price point on there products which makes investing in this type of technology a bit more of an easier pill to swallow. Just my thoughts. I also agree that while not owning a DOS myself I have seen one in action and GHL is definitely out front when it comes to product quality and even price. But those are just my thoughts...

Still though, even their ion based probe requires calibration fluid before each test. If it is a “subscription” to buy reagent, kind of the same thing for the calibration fluid. Also curious on lifespan of the probe before replacement is needed.

 

[JoshH]

Still though, even their ion based probe requires calibration fluid before each test. If it is a “subscription” to buy reagent, kind of the same thing for the calibration fluid. Also curious on lifespan of the probe before replacement is needed.

I never said anything about any kind of "Subscription" or probe replacement as I don't really care about all that, so I'm not really sure why you're bringing that up. Merely sharing my thoughts on why GHL is the only one to venture down the probe route when it comes to testing.

 

[TheHarold]

I never said anything about any kind of "Subscription" or probe replacement as I don't really care about all that, so I'm not really sure why you're bringing that up. Merely sharing my thoughts on why GHL is the only one to venture down the probe route when it comes to testing.

My bad, I was still thinking of yesterdays's thread content about how reagent is a forced subscription model etc. Was biased. I do agree with your post regarding GHL having the R&D budget and experience to do ionic probes well.

There is also Xepta going the route of ionic probes, but I have not heard anything in months and months about their progress.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Merely sharing my thoughts on why GHL is the only one to venture down the probe route when it comes to testing.

That's not true, xepta was the pioneer in ion prope. Although they're extremely silent, they're more than likely making progress as well.