AquaController 3 Pro

[Thinslis]

I've been reading a lot about these controllers lately, all controllers in general. This one seems to do the most, what other test kits do you need that this unit doesn't test for?

Thanks,

[kaihonu82]

i really don't mean to hi-jack this thread but i had a question about aquacontrollers as well...

i'm just looking at the aquacontroller Jr...i want to program it so it will be able to turn my heater and fan on/off according to the tank's temperature. do i need to buy the power strip (http://www.neptunesys.com/modules.htm#DC4) that they sell on their website in order to do this or is there somewhere on the aquacontroller itself where i plug them in..?

[rutledgek]

Thinslis: If you look at the aquacontroller III, it only measures pH, temp, and ORP. So you would still need to test for nitrates, calcium, and alkalinity.

kaihonu82: I am fairly positive that you need the powerstrip to plug the equipment in. The powerstrip connects the controller and the equipment is controlled in that way.

[Thinslis]

I find that I'm not so good with the chemical based tests, are there electronic testers for Alk and Nitrates?

Thank you for your input =)

[rutledgek]

Yes but at a cost - There are

nitrate Monitors (http://www.toofishy.com/product.php?productid=80379&cat=0&page=1)

And

Calcium Monitor (http://www.toofishy.com/product.php?productid=19753&cat=0&page=1)

There doesn't appear to be an alkalinity monitor, though I could be wrong. For the price, it may be better to learn to use the test kits. These two monitors can not be used continuously like pH and Temp, which I guess is one of the main reasons for not being monitored with the AC3.

[kaihonu82]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10553325#post10553325 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rutledgek
kaihonu82: I am fairly positive that you need the powerstrip to plug the equipment in. The powerstrip connects the controller and the equipment is controlled in that way.



oy...that power strip isn't cheap either..:rolleye1:

[rutledgek]

I was pricing it and it seemed like everything necessary is around 600.00.

[Randall_James]

I would get a handle on water testing with kits way before allowing any electronic monitor tell me what is going on... Reason being is that electronic devices need checked and calibrated REGULARLY...

Titration kits work the best IMO as they leave very little to interpretation. They simply change color at X number of drops of reagent and you can then have a hard number to know what the level is. Having to decode shades of colors is troublesome at best.

Take a peek at Salifert tests