KH Guardian: Automatic Alkalinity Controller- My Experiences

CoralWealth · Dec 15, 2018

ihavecrabs said:
Well I just have the monitor, but I am able to adjust my dosing pumps accordingly.

Yup it still helps a lot!

lnevo · Dec 15, 2018

Yeah, I'm only looking to get the monitor as I have some pretty complex algorithms for dosing on my controller already for volume and adjustments, so this is the perfect complement.

My main concern now is that one site shows as discontinued (although maybe it was just a different model), but then I saw an ebay ad that showed it as clearance. I'm more worried about reagent refills or finding an alternate supply to keep this running if distribution becomes a problem. Can't figure out how to tag Carlos... anyone with more info in that regard?

samparker · Dec 15, 2018

Monitor is no longer produced, but the professional controller is and parts are all the same :)

I have three, love them all! Very accurate and easy to work with. It’s kind of a set and forget thing, so you’ll only hear from people when it isn’t working. Alkatronic is still new, so everyone is talking about it.

You won’t be dissapointed with a KHG, join the Facebook group while you’re at it :)

Sam

lnevo · Dec 15, 2018

That makes sense as I see a lot of activity in the FB page. I’ve sent a join request for the group.

I like that DVC can supplied parts etc and how he treats his customers. I look forward to picking one up soon.

LobsterOfJustice · Dec 15, 2018

What’s the title of the FB page, the only one I see doesn’t look like it’s bad any posts since 2017?

lnevo · Dec 16, 2018

KH Guardian---KHG Auto alk dosing ; auto KH controller Dr. Bridge

I took the plunge...

samparker · Dec 18, 2018

yep that's the group!

lnevo · Dec 20, 2018

Good news from UPS. They moved up the estimate till tomorrow night instead of Monday! My PH expansion for the ReefAngel is also due tomorrow. I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend :)

lnevo · Dec 22, 2018

Ok so after cleaning out my aquarium cabinet and making room for this thing. I managed to get everything setup pretty smoothly and flawlessly I must say. My only issue thus far is it didn't come with calibration fluid. The fish store had some 4.0 packets that were pretty old and I also used some older 7.0 solution I had a bottle of. I submitted a ticket to coralvue and expect to get some new ones to test with. We'll see if any differences, but in the meantime, I've gotten everything configured, de-gassed, and running tests! Woohoo!

Here's my results so far.

Code:

  12/22 14:16:52 W.118 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.10
  12/22 14:26:22 Save New System Environment.
  12/22 14:29:54 Save New System Environment.
  12/22 15:04:41 W.116 %0 KH :8.10
  12/22 15:53:43 W.118 %0 KH :7.90
  12/22 16:12:56 W.113 %0 KH :8.00

The results seem high compared to the exact iDip so I'm about to do some tests with that and with the Hanna which I just received new reagents for. I think I need 5 tests to use the new adjustment setting so we'll see what the other kits say before I do that.

Is there anyway to remotely see the progress while it's testing?

Also, if anyone wants a UNIX command line to pull the ALK value:

Code:

curl -s -d "EAPK=YOUREAPK" -X POST http://YOURIPADDRESS:8090/EDAC | sed -n '6,6p' | tr -d '<>,\r' | awk '{print $1}'

samparker · Dec 22, 2018

Nice work with the api and unix!

Let it run a few tests, get some fresh calibration fluid and then see where your tests are at. You can always set an adjustment value in the KHG to have it match your other tests if that’s what you’d prefer.

lnevo · Dec 22, 2018

Here’s some test comparisons I just performed. Fresh batteries and reagents for the hanna kits.

Alk
Hanna - 135, 136, 137
Idip - 120, 120, 123
KH Guardian - 143, 148, 143

Just thought I’d share these as well. Nice performance from the iDip :)
Phosphate
Hanna .37, .38, .34
Idip .39, .38, .34

I’ll wait to do any adjustments until I can recalibrate for sure. I’m still amazed at how well everything came together and how nicely its all working. Great job Dr Bridge!

lnevo · Dec 24, 2018

I did some integration with my portal. Have a lot of questions on API!

First I’d like to be able to trigger a test directly through a POST action. KHG also becomes unresponsive through most of the testing, would love to get current step. I’d also like to be able to read in the SD_Dump history. It seems the EAPK only works with /EDAC endpoint URL and the other pages can be read by curl but only when logged into GUI. I’ve tried a POST to the /Login page but I get wrong password.

Any suggestions would be great!

lnevo · Dec 25, 2018

Ok, I was able to automate some of the URLs on the KHG web page. This will allow me to capture the record log and add into my portal as well as being able to get the full LCD status from the /Default page. I can also use that to trigger a manual dKH test :)

You have to login before you can do anything. Once you enter the first command, the rest will work. You can then use the last command to log out and close the session.

Code:

curl -s -d "password=YOURPASS" -X POST http://10.0.0.20:9000/Login
curl -s http://YOURIP:YOURPORT/Default
curl -s http://YOURIP:YOURPORT/SD_Dump
curl -s -d "name=ACT_NAME&value=Get dKH" -X POST http://YOURIP:YOURPORT/Default
curl -s -d "lout=Log out" -X POST http://YOURIP:YOURPORT/Default

My one issue right now is since I'm getting that status on a regular basis I'm either always going to be logged in or I will log my interactive session off. A small security issue. I may put an HA Proxy in front of the KHG with a normal HTTP authentication, we'll see.

lnevo · Dec 25, 2018

Ok, I managed to put a proxy with basic http authentication in front of the KHG, but the problem is that my firewall on my router won't let me block all ip except the web server. So much for being a "firewall" Didn't matter which order the rules were in or anything.

Anyway that one down, I ended up putting logic in my code. If I'm not already logged in, it will login, parse the pages, then log out again. If I'm logged in already, it will just get the data and move on and not get in my way. Security crisis averted :)

Loving my Guardian so far. Quick question though. On the guardian itself you can see dkh incrementing in hundredth precision, but end result is only showing tenths on all my test so far. Does it ever get precise in the hundreths of a dkh?

ihavecrabs · Dec 25, 2018

lnevo said:
Ok, I managed to put a proxy with basic http authentication in front of the KHG, but the problem is that my firewall on my router won't let me block all ip except the web server. So much for being a "firewall" Didn't matter which order the rules were in or anything.

Anyway that one down, I ended up putting logic in my code. If I'm not already logged in, it will login, parse the pages, then log out again. If I'm logged in already, it will just get the data and move on and not get in my way. Security crisis averted :)

Loving my Guardian so far. Quick question though. On the guardian itself you can see dkh incrementing in hundredth precision, but end result is only showing tenths on all my test so far. Does it ever get precise in the hundreths of a dkh?

Mine reads to the hundredths.

lnevo · Dec 25, 2018

ihavecrabs said:
Mine reads to the hundredths.

Thanks. I think my issue is the ph probe calibration. I looked at the mv and it's very close compare to what I've seen others post. I have new fluid on the way so we'll see after that.

I managed to integrate the login/logout and get dkh into my page now so quite pleased with myself at the moment :)

I'm considering putting my guardian manual mode and triggering the testing on my own schedule now. One thing that I'm not sure the impact of is the fluctuation of the timing because of when the last test ends, it could be closer or further from when I'm dosing alk and could potentially impact my readings. No idea without running a lot more frequent tests.