My Reefbot Arrived!

[stacksoner]

I purchased the Reefbot just a few days ago and it arrived in NYC today, shipped from Lebanon, which exceeded my expectations. I'm unboxing it now and hoping to set it up tonight. All parts arrived undamaged and everything was secured and packed with care and intelligence. I was able to dl the mobile app and configure my tank profile.

I'll post updates here as I imagine many folks are curious about how this badboy gets down in real life. Stay tuned for updates to come...

 

[Hemmdog]

I purchased the Reefbot just a few days ago and it arrived in NYC today, shipped from Lebanon, which exceeded my expectations. I'm unboxing it now and hoping to set it up tonight. All parts arrived undamaged and everything was secured and packed with care and intelligence. I was able to dl the mobile app and configure my tank profile.

I'll post updates here as I imagine many folks are curious about how this badboy gets down in real life. Stay tuned for updates to come...

Dang you have quite the view from that window! Jealous!

 

[rushbattle]

Today I got my second reefbot from Lebanon in 4 days from order to delivery, which was 1 day longer than the first order. (Sarcasm) I really wish they could get decent shipping service.

 

[khushtram]

Seems like a convenient product but that price tag is insane . Don’t forget to give reviews on here . I might just spend my life savings if it’s worth it.

 

[rushbattle]

Seems like a convenient product but that price tag is insane . Don’t forget to give reviews on here . I might just spend my life savings if it’s worth it.

Whether it’s worth it to you is up to you and your own preferences and situation. But the price is not insane, it is quite good for what the machine does. Huge amounts of work went into its development. The parts are expensive and mostly custom for this machine. It’s cheap, they aren’t making too much money per unit.

 

[Jason mack]

I dont have one but I'm on their fb page and have been following their progress since their launch ...if your away from home alot then this would be a good investment...but for someone who's at home everyday for me ..id rather do the tests myself ...but that's just me ...

 

[TX_Punisher]

Let us know how it goes.

 

[stacksoner]

Ok, folks. We are rocking and rolling.

Ok, so the RB is super simple to get setup. I chickened out from the setup last night because I thought I'd have to calibrate the syringe and supply lines, and program each type of test to the bot. I'm a dummy though. All you have to is plug in the supplied hoses to your RODI reservoir, sump, and waste container. Then you empty each type of test reagent into the supplied bottles and label them.

You open up the app, which is very cool. It allows you to enter the container size for the RODI container and waste bin so you don't run out of freshwater/have an accident), and simply asks what test you're using and confirms that the appropriate reagent containers are in the assigned slot.

After I plugged everything in, it asked me if I wanted to test. I was confused because the RODI and tankwater lines hadn't been primed. The calibration button was calling for me. Luckily, I learned it is it designated for extreme circumstances, which they prompt you to contact support before accessing. This was a huge help for a tinkerer like myself who sometimes gets himself into trouble.

I selected to test alkalinity to test immediately and setup a schedule to test it every 8 hours there after indefinitely.

So RB began setting up the KH test. It seems visit the self draining RODI before and after every step for a double syringe cleaning session. The results were right on the money with my Hannah checker, which surprised me because I have never been great at the color match testing. RB seems to take flash photos of the sample to observe color change with every drop that is added into the testing vial. After the test I was emailed the results which was cool because I appreciated seeing the how it arrived at the measurement.

I have the Red Sea Pro tests setup for Alk, Ca, Mg, and PO4. Each of the reagent vials, the syringe cleaning vial, and the testing vial all have a little magnetic stirrer on the bottom which work well to maintain consistency.

I'll post screenshots from the app as they roll in and will take a video of one of the tests so all can see the RB doing the Lord's work.

 

[ccombs]

so all can see the RB doing the Lord's work.

LOL. Thank you for the review, look forward to see how this all works out.

 

[stacksoner]

Seems like a convenient product but that price tag is insane . Don’t forget to give reviews on here . I might just spend my life savings if it’s worth it.

Running KH, CA,Mg, and PO4 takes me about 30ish mins each time, including equipment cleaning. If I did this once a day (which I don't), it would mean that I'd be spending over 1 week per year on testing my aquarium water.

As one who hates testing water, I chalk this up as a waste of time. The RB costs appx $1000 and I have it setup to make 3,000 tests/year since I'm testing all 4 parameters twice a day. Over the course of 1 year, the cost of this machine comes out to paying RB about $0.12 for every test it runs, which you can probably find in your couch cushions!

 

[Jonathan Iu]

Any problems with it? How close are Reefbot results with manual tests?

 

[SecondCityCorals]

How much noise does it make? How is the accuracy? How far can the unit pump wastewater? Does it have to be right next to the tank?

 

[ichthy]

Been looking at this for a while... do you have more pics?

 

[drernesto]

Ok, folks. We are rocking and rolling.

Ok, so the RB is super simple to get setup. I chickened out from the setup last night because I thought I'd have to calibrate the syringe and supply lines, and program each type of test to the bot. I'm a dummy though. All you have to is plug in the supplied hoses to your RODI reservoir, sump, and waste container. Then you empty each type of test reagent into the supplied bottles and label them.

You open up the app, which is very cool. It allows you to enter the container size for the RODI container and waste bin so you don't run out of freshwater/have an accident), and simply asks what test you're using and confirms that the appropriate reagent containers are in the assigned slot.

After I plugged everything in, it asked me if I wanted to test. I was confused because the RODI and tankwater lines hadn't been primed. The calibration button was calling for me. Luckily, I learned it is it designated for extreme circumstances, which they prompt you to contact support before accessing. This was a huge help for a tinkerer like myself who sometimes gets himself into trouble.

I selected to test alkalinity to test immediately and setup a schedule to test it every 8 hours there after indefinitely.

So RB began setting up the KH test. It seems visit the self draining RODI before and after every step for a double syringe cleaning session. The results were right on the money with my Hannah checker, which surprised me because I have never been great at the color match testing. RB seems to take flash photos of the sample to observe color change with every drop that is added into the testing vial. After the test I was emailed the results which was cool because I appreciated seeing the how it arrived at the measurement.

I have the Red Sea Pro tests setup for Alk, Ca, Mg, and PO4. Each of the reagent vials, the syringe cleaning vial, and the testing vial all have a little magnetic stirrer on the bottom which work well to maintain consistency.

I'll post screenshots from the app as they roll in and will take a video of one of the tests so all can see the RB doing the Lord's work.

This is a well written review!

Congratulations on your ReefBot and welcome aboard.

Rabih,
Reef kinetics

 

[ichthy]

I’d love to see a video of it doing its job

 

[Fishguywc]

It would be one long boring video! Lol some of the tests take an hour plus. That being said I am guilty of sitting and watch more than 1 test cycles because I’m so fascinated that there is a robot doing my water testing!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Will be interesting to hear your thoughts on operation and reliability

 

[SkiCatTX]

Yes, very much interested in how it works long term. Thanks for posting.

 

[Maplehillreef]

This seems awesome, it’s reminds of of that machine that never happen Theranos lol

 

[Rich Klein]

dang, I feel my credit card stirring. Looking forward to hear how it performs over time.

 

[markstubb]

Why do you have to replace the syringe so often? They worried it will wear out the seals?

Looks pretty cool although I wish they could have figured out how to turn the syringe at a right angle somehow to make the unit more compact