Why are people so excited over KH automation?

[d2mini]

I think the older I get, the less I care about futzing around with electronic devices. So it really has to make my life easier and it really has to be a good value.
I'm past the point of just wanting cool new toys. I'd rather keep things as simple as possible. Or it has to really add value in some way.
This is why I'm wondering what is so enticing about hardware like kh director, alkatronic, etc.
Explain it to me like I'm 5!

My feelings about Alk in general:
1. It's the easiest thing to test for. I use a hanna checker. From start to finish it probably takes me ~60 seconds. So NOT having to check it is not really doing me much of a favor.
2. Alk is so easy to keep stable once your tank is cruising. I'm less than 6 months in on the new tank and I test Alk around once per week and it's stable. Will eventually go longer.
3. A standard doser is so easy.
4. There are so many other elements to worry about... why so concerned with just Alk? If there is a sudden increase in Alk uptake, well then the same is probably true for calcium. Seems like there is no a bigger chance of things going out of balance.

So what am I missing? Why are these things so enticing?
I'm really curious and wondering if i *should* be wanting one or if it doesn't fit my style of reefing.

 

[blaxsun]

Fan boys?

 

[piranhaman00]

I don’t but I can see the allure.

 

[Dburr1014]

Same OP.
My carx is good enough for me.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

I wouldn't imagine you'd need one six months in unless you purchased a bunch of large colonies.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

It simplifies keeping track of one of the most important parameters and will make sure that the tests gets done irregardless if life is busy, you’re on a vacation etc.

Also most baling solutions these days are “balanced” meaning that if your alk uptake increases there’s a corresponding uptake of ca and mg making it really easy to automate ….my tank uptakes more ca than alk though so I’ve made that adjustment in the dosing.

You will also notice stuff like a clogged dosing line faster than if you’re doing manual test that, let’s be honest, most people won’t even do once a day…much less 4 times a day.

It’s one of those nice to have things but in no way something that you have to have. I went 20+ years without it and did fine..but I’m never going back to manual testing.

 

[XavierZ06]

Peace of mind. I travel for 2 weeks at a time for work and having something I can open up on my phone and see important parameters with is a relief. With the addition of a webcam I can focus on work rather than stressing on whether or not I'm going to come home to a glass box of dead / dying stuff.

Automation is the only reason I was comfortable getting back into the hobby after an 8 year hiatus.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

As mentioned, travel. It’s the most important parameter IMO and I had a major Acro crash while I was on a 4 week vacation years ago that wiped out more than half my colonies.

When we leave on vacation, after a day or two the CO2 will dissipate in the house and Cal/Alk intake increases. It’s very easy to notice when automatically monitoring. If you’re not monitoring/adjusting remotely it can crash your corals.

I travel several times a year for 2-4 weeks at a time and automating this one parameter brings me tremendous piece of mind.

 

[besskurz]

I have a pretty good and old KH automation here.
People call as Jauber systems.

 

[nothing_fancy]

At the end of the day its just a hobby right? So I think if it's something you want to play around with go for it, if you like graphs and metrics, have fun. Do you want that device to control alk in the form of dosing pumps? If so I think that's where its worth it, at least in my experience that has been helpful. If my trident went down tomorrow though I wouldn't cry about it.

 

[Dburr1014]

I have a pretty good and old KH automation here.
People call as Jauber systems.

How the reef Jaubert system work in aquariums | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

In the reef aquarium hobby today it is common to have an abundance of live rock and a hefty, powerful protein skimmer. This system, named the Berlin system is a very popular and stable way to keep a…

reefbuilders.com

 

[besskurz]

How the reef Jaubert system work in aquariums | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

In the reef aquarium hobby today it is common to have an abundance of live rock and a hefty, powerful protein skimmer. This system, named the Berlin system is a very popular and stable way to keep a…

reefbuilders.com

Quote from the link below:

"One of the more obvious questions to reefkeepers is, “How were calcium and alkalinity levels maintained?” The answer Jaubert gave was that acids produced by heterotrophs in the gravel bed dissolved the gravel, releasing calcium and carbon, and the dissolving gravel needed periodic replenishment (Jaubert 1989, 1991)

https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/eb/index.php

 

[d2mini]

Peace of mind. I travel for 2 weeks at a time for work and having something I can open up on my phone and see important parameters with is a relief. With the addition of a webcam I can focus on work rather than stressing on whether or not I'm going to come home to a glass box of dead / dying stuff.

Automation is the only reason I was comfortable getting back into the hobby after an 8 year hiatus.

As mentioned, travel. It’s the most important parameter IMO and I had a major Acro crash while I was on a 4 week vacation years ago that wiped out more than half my colonies.

When we leave on vacation, after a day or two the CO2 will dissipate in the house and Cal/Alk intake increases. It’s very easy to notice when automatically monitoring. If you’re not monitoring/adjusting remotely it can crash your corals.

I travel several times a year for 2-4 weeks at a time and automating this one parameter brings me tremendous piece of mind.

Ok, this is something I didnt think about! Travel! I can totally see that being really helpful.
I work from home most days now and my tank is in my office and I rarely ever travel.

 

[d2mini]

I wouldn't imagine you'd need one six months in unless you purchased a bunch of large colonies.

Even if the tank was a couple years old, there shouldn't be much of any change day to day or even week to week. Unless like someone else mentioned you have a clogged dosing line or something else is wrong.

 

[Spare time]

I don't like any reef automation. Caring for it is half the fun for me.

 

[oldmonk]

@d2mini

In yr starting post, you mentioned your tank's alk is stable. What exactly is stable? No fluctuations at all. or +/- 0.5 or bit more than that ? Question might sound silly!!

I am more or less in the same boat regarding Kh automation. Infact even overall automation. Lights and dosing pump are only two things that are automated in my 7 month old tank. For the longest time i have been pondering over this Kh automation thing but still not sure given the fact that i am away for 3 months at a stretch. My wife willingly does the basics like feeding, once in a while testing etc. Alk has always been between 8.3 - 9dkh. Cal- 390-425, Mag- 1250-1350.

Can call that stable enough to start a lps/mixed reef system ?

Thanks

 

[Crustaceon]

It's so people can monitor their alk while on vacation and feel completely helpless when that or another parameter is slightly off and there's nothing they can do about it until they get home because the issue isn't something that can be fixed remotely.

 

[nothing_fancy]

It's so people can monitor their alk while on vacation and feel completely helpless when that or another parameter is slightly off and there's nothing they can do about it until they get home because the issue isn't something that can be fixed remotely.

Ok devil's advocate on this one. Say your on vacation and you look at your app and your dKH drops down to say 6 or your ph is way low for some reason or way high. You could, if you had time to put down the pineapple you're currently drinking from, access your pumps or solenoids or whatever you got going on remotely and address the problem. Just saying

 

[reef_ranch]

Here are my reasons:

1. I can see what my alk is at a glance (as I do every morning when I walk into my dark sump room, the number is nicely illuminated on the top shelf). Manually testing for alk would take me at least 3-5 minutes (getting the test kit out, running the test, cleaning the vial and putting it back) AND I would have to remember to do it on a regular basis. Life too often prevents that.

2. Sending the test results to my controller allow it to alert me if it moves out of the standard daily range. This has helped me more than once when my kalk doser failed or when I miscalculated my two part dosing.

3. Logging. I test alk 6 times per day with an alkatronic and the logging function allow me to see trends in real time. if the peaks and troughs are trending up or down, I can act proactively to see whether something small is amiss.

4. Travel. As others have said, automation is critical when traveling. The ability to turn off or increase dosign as a result in a sudden spike or drop in alk give me additional peace of mind while traveling.

All of these reasons apply equally to why I don't manually test my pH or temperature but automate those as well. We don't need any automation, but it sure can makes this hobby easier and less risky. Oh, and the running costs of an Alkatronic (once you cry over the acquisition cost) are very small.

 

[Crustaceon]

Ok devil's advocate on this one. Say your on vacation and you look at your app and your dKH drops down to say 6 or your ph is way low for some reason or way high. You could, if you had time to put down the pineapple you're currently drinking from, access your pumps or solenoids or whatever you got going on remotely and address the problem. Just saying

Unless the problem was a clogged dosing line. Should've ordered those wifi-ready Apex robot arms with five axis gripping claws!