Low tech or high tech?

Hallo guys
I would like to ask you guys/gals a personal question?
Wich do you guys prefer and why?
A low tech setup or a high tech setup?

 

define hightech and low tech - do you mean planted tanks?

 

Dont know much about planted tanks?
Im asking more about the maintaining and control of the different conditions in a fish\planted tank like:
Temperature control, lihgting, algea control, bacteria and "toxin" control
ect.
Guess what im asking is do people prefer the setup to be more "automatic"
or do they prefer a more "manual" setup

 

well i run 2x 250watt MH units, co2 etc etc etc all on timers

 

everyone in the long run switch over to a more automatic setup like henk has indicated with timers etc

 

does that mean that the co2 is being controlled automatically or does the timers switch the equipment on and off at certain times only.
What are these MH units?
still new at this so dont laugh

 

MH - Metal Halides...these are the supreme lightning units which are fairly expensive and mostly used in Marine Aquariums and heavily planted tropical aquariums.

 

the CO2 is on a selenoid that is linked to the MH lights timer unit

 

thanks wimpy, iknow what Metal Halides are just wasn't sure abbout the abbreviations? Thanks any way its much appreciated

 

Hey Control...

To put it into perspective, MH lights are nobbing great big powerful lights that get really hot, so unless they are lighting a larger tank, in Henks case a 2.5m tank, they are overkill!!

T5 lighting is more what us mere mortals choose as our lighting, and for those of us who cannot afford T5's use T8's. Both T% and T8 are types of 'flourescent' Tube types. The tubes have ballasts rated for their wattage. Each wattage is a specific length, so you choose your wattage kind of by the length of your tank!

Hope that makes sense??

As has already been said above, I think most people use timers for at least their lights, although I have to get new timers for my setups!! As for CO2, most people using CO2 will have some sort of regulator on their system which allows a certain volume of CO2 through over a certain period of time. It is not neccessarily electronically controlled, and more often that not, are similar to the screw type valves used in Hospitals.

Heating is usually done with a Heater with a built in thermostat, so thats auto on its own! Some people may have Canister Filters with a heater built in, but these are usually much MUCH more expensive (sometimes over twice as expensive) than buying the cannister filter and a seperate high quality heater would be!

Regards
G!

 

ok so would people go for something like this???
A single controller that controls the lighting, temperature, ph, oxygen levels, water level and basically any thing else you wanted to control?

 

ooooh - you have LOTS of money if you want to buy that sort of system. I know some marine guys run a PC with an output to their tank.... but that is BIG money

 

I think people would go for automatic water changes and topups, lighting temperature etc etc, but just don't have the money!!

Regular Joe (no offence to any Joes out there) would at best be content with Auto Lighting via a timer!!

IF I didn't know any better Control, I'd think you were canvassing??

Cheers
G!

 

From what i read i can see that the type of system a person is running is budget related(obviously). So if you guys had the money, would you get something like this?
Im a Control Technition(or like to think i am) and i have been working in the HVAC industry. I write custom programs for the PLC's(programmable logic controllers) that control the aircons and ventilation in buildings,super market ect.
I am currently working on a program for a fish tank but sadly i lack most of the knowledge about how a fish tank actually functions and therefore i am stuck.

Sorry Big G im not sure what you meant by canvassing?

 

Haha!! I meant looking for customers!! The way you had phrased your post sounded like you were weighing up the potential for business! Not a good thing to do as a newbie! People here are very sensitive at the moment to things like that, so be warned!! Lol!!

But with regards to your theory, if price is not the issue, then I think most people would settle for an easier life, especially the water change side of things, but even if the programming was not 'expensive' the 'other equipment' outlay would be too much, like Plumbing, storage tanks, etc!!

Just my 2c!!

Cheers
G!

 

I would only spend such amount of money on a reef tank to be quite honest as I feel it is overkill for a tropical aquarium.

Most of those automatic systems already exists such as the top-up systems, automatic feeder, light timers, chillers and wave makers. You will have alot of competitions out there but like Big G said if it is affordable there will be people investing in such a system for their tropical aquariums.

 

Okay well is there any customers out there?
JOKE!!!:bigsmile:
I see how i might have confused you, but i assure you thats not what i am doing.
I only want to know if it is actually worth the time and effort( witch i personally think it would be considering the end result):bigsmile:HAPPY FISHES AND PLANTS:bigsmile:

 

What do you want to automate exactly?

 

Haha!! No Problem!

As Wimpie has said, these systems already exist, although I do not think that any of them run from one controller?? Having said that, I guess there is, since as Henk pointed out, there are some Marine systems that run off a PC!!

As I also said earlier, I think most of the expense comes from the 'Peripherals' you would need for the system to work, like the water change holding tank and plumbing (since we cannot just put tap water straight in), or the Thermostat to connect to the system. And thats before you've tackled things like automatically adding the dechlorinator into the holding tank, heating the holding tanks wter to the same temp as the display tank, etc?

I don't want to put you off trying, I think it has good potential, but just want you to see how quickly it can become 'expensive'!!

Enjoy, and best of luck!!

Cheers
G!

 

Lol my question exactly.
I dont want to automate to much, because i like to do the maintanance myself I basically want to just Monitor all the different variables that a person will need to monitor in order to maintain a healthy living enviroment for fishes and plants alike.

guess im lucky in that way as i have most of these things lying around as i always keep most of the spares that i haven't used in an installation.
But its true what you say G, the price off a setup is quickly ramped up due to all the different peripherals