what would your dream controller do??

tzenda · 02/22/2005, 10:32 PM

thats it, tell me what you want to measure, turn off/on, log, alarm, ect.

dont get your hopes up i just want to see what people are tryin to do.

elephen · 05/30/2005, 11:16 AM

It would run everything so all I have to worry about is where to find more money for corals.

Well if it could print money to and do online orders and have the stuff juts show up, yeah that would be great to.

Falko · 06/05/2005, 11:42 AM

I would like it to control light intensity of my actinics. But I think that is not possible.

perpetual98 · 07/01/2005, 11:09 AM

Min would control all the lights, be easily programmable, monitor temp/Ph/Ca/etc, be wireless, hook up to my WAN and allow me to check anything I need from a web browser anywhere I am. Oh yeah, it would also allow me to stream a webcam to a browser too.

Travis L. Stevens · 08/29/2005, 08:33 AM

Whether or not ANY of this is possible, this is what I would like to see.

--Measures
Temp
SG
pH
Alk
Ca
Ammonia
Nitrates

--Controls
On/Off lights (Auto)
On/Off pumps (manual) - for feeding and maintenance
Auto-Dose Ca/alk
Control pumps/powerheads (like a tunze controller does)
Allows a "wavemaker" option
Ability to dim lights instead of On/Off

--Misc
ONE PLUG! I would have a huge box to plug the lights, pumps, etc into that way only one plug goes into the wall. Basically make it a built in GFCI

MiddletonMark · 08/29/2005, 08:37 AM

Add to that control of heater/chiller/fans. [temp control, allowing lights/equip to turn off in case of high heat]

I'd like it to email/notify me [or be able to] when parameters get past a certain range [like temp >81.5 or <75].

perpetual98 · 08/29/2005, 08:45 AM

Oh yeah, it would also have adjustable settings for automatically acclimating new livestock.

MiddletonMark · 08/29/2005, 08:52 AM

It would be made by someone in my reef club, so they could give it to me to test

j/k

orion76 · 12/25/2005, 10:02 AM

My dream controller would scrape algae and siphon detritus

chlupl · 12/26/2005, 10:28 AM

I'm with orion on the algea bit... maybe stir the gravel bed once a week... I find that is a great feeding source for some of the filter feeders...

Steven

gillies · 12/26/2005, 10:38 AM

Wher can I get one that will turkey baste my rocks?

garbled · 12/26/2006, 11:35 AM

Essentially, my dream "controller" is the lighthouse controller, with additional probes. I don't really want one that really controls things directly, I want one that monitors everything and just tells me about them.

I want to monitor PH, O2, NH3, Nitrates, Ca, ORP, Spec Grav., Alk, Temp. I know some of these cannot be monitored continually yet. But my key features are really the ability to store and graph all the values over the past day, week, month and year. Ideally it would just have lots of BNC ports where I could program in the value settings to convert from the raw probe data into whatever I needed, so when a new probe comes out, I could attach it, set the numbers, and then label it as a "Alk" probe.

Most importantly, it needs to be ethernet connected, and have a little webpage on it. I also want it to store all the values in a file that is accessible via httpd, like a CSV file I can download into a spreadsheet or database of my own and work with.

T Man · 03/20/2007, 01:40 AM

This is my wildest dream.......a remotely controlled submarine with a camera that can transmit realtime water and temp. data to and from any telephone or computer. And when you get done playing around with it, it continuosly scrapes the algae off your glass like that fancy vacuum! I think I'd sell some organs to have something like that...........would'nt it be someting though? Tinman

easttn · 03/30/2007, 04:49 PM

Mine would control time and space. I'd like to put on a mask, tank, reg, and flips hit the controller, and be here:

Anybody been to the desert planet Arrakis? Me and Muadâ€™Dib did some Spice together. Man we were trippin!

miwoodar · 06/28/2007, 07:23 AM

I want one that does something worthwhile for less than $400.

Nano Chris · 08/15/2007, 07:16 AM

I wold like all those features, and such as an auto ***ging system, coral growth monitoring, fish monitoring (such as stress levels and automatically adjusts the tank to help reduce it) feed the tank and corals. Maybe some other things too... like do water changes (automatically mix salt to desired salinity mix for a few days than do water change.)

Oh and its affordable.

rkcca · 10/11/2007, 01:37 AM

A dream controller would monitor all the vital parameters and include a "happy ending".

rustybucket145 · 10/22/2007, 03:29 PM

I'm stealing some ideas from Travis.... sorry buddy.

-Measures, charts and uploads data to a nice web statistics program that's modifiable and scalable, kinda like iGoogle homepage. So basically, no matter where I am I could log in and get tank stat updates... kinda like a stock ticker... updated every 10min or so.

Temp
SG
pH
Alk
Ca
Ammonia
Nitrates
Room Temp
Outside Temp

--Controls
On/Off lights (Auto)
On/Off pumps (manual) - for feeding and maintenance
Auto-Dose Ca/alk
Control pumps/powerheads (like a tunze controller does)
Allows a "wavemaker" option
Ability to dim lights instead of On/Off

--Water Alarm... When water hits the floor everything shuts down. I get an alert email, cell phone call & work call.

--Misc
ONE PLUG! I would have a huge box to plug the lights, pumps, etc into that way only one plug goes into the wall. Basically make it a built in GFCI

Video Monitor!! Video monitor and stream from 5 or 6 cameras to show livestock. Ability to pan/zoom at least one camera.

This is the BIG one for me!! I want it to be fully controllable via web interface. For example if I'm out of town I want to be able to shut down pumps, skimmer, lights...etc. System override if you will. So if for some reason I'm seeing a temp spike for some reason I can kill the halides to keep things from getting out of hand.

mk2flip · 01/07/2009, 09:35 PM

mine would wipe me

mk2flip · 01/07/2009, 09:37 PM

I would also agree with miwoodar

mk2flip · 01/07/2009, 09:53 PM

Hey Middletonmark, cute kid by the way. very mischevious look on the face.

Texxxx · 08/06/2009, 06:02 AM

As I read everyones post and think Yes I would like that and that. I realized that the the thing I love about this hobby is the work it takes to do it. If it would be just a push of the button then it wouldn't have near the enjoyment. It might look great but not near as fullfilling. So I guess the only thing that I need more automatic is the button that spits out money so I dont have to work as many hours to pay for this hobby.

lordofthereef · 10/01/2009, 04:55 AM

Just something that full automates the tank and is customizable if anything ever needs changing. Alerts, dosing, temps, etc. Honestly most everything feasible in a controller has already been put into higher end controllers. The biggesest thing these lack is a variety in chemical tests/

Beaner3 · 10/04/2009, 11:32 AM

my dishes and laundry

AaronReeph · 10/21/2009, 06:46 PM

Measurements: (not sure if there even are electrical probes for all of these but if there were I would buy them )
Tank Temp
Room Temp
SG
pH
ORP
O2
Alk
Calcium
Nitrate
Phosphate
Magnesium

Control:
All lights, MH and VHO or T5 and dimming
Moonlights, and be able to control moon phase for time of month
Temperature (chiller/heater) and be able to vary temperature for time of year
Auto dose Cal/Kalk
Auto dose Mg
Auto control of ozone
"Settings" for feeding or acclimating
Don't really care if it has wavemaker, etc., now that Vortec pumps are out
Don't care too much for video but it would be nice

All viewable and configurable via ethernet and internet
Auto data/graph logging (all parameters measured)
Also, agree with one box to plug it all into (with GFCI built in)

Yep...thats all I can think of at the moment!

02/22/2005, 10:32 PM	#1
tzenda Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Mad City Posts: 16	what would your dream controller do?? thats it, tell me what you want to measure, turn off/on, log, alarm, ect. dont get your hopes up i just want to see what people are tryin to do.

06/05/2005, 11:42 AM	#3
Falko Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: South Africa Posts: 119	I would like it to control light intensity of my actinics. But I think that is not possible. __________________ Naturally high on sea water. Current Tank Info: Disaster

07/01/2005, 11:09 AM	#4
perpetual98 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Oconomowoc Posts: 1,242	Min would control all the lights, be easily programmable, monitor temp/Ph/Ca/etc, be wireless, hook up to my WAN and allow me to check anything I need from a web browser anywhere I am. Oh yeah, it would also allow me to stream a webcam to a browser too. __________________ Used to have many SW tanks, now starting over with one...

08/29/2005, 08:33 AM	#5
Travis L. Stevens Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Perry, OK Posts: 13,946	Whether or not ANY of this is possible, this is what I would like to see. --Measures Temp SG pH Alk Ca Ammonia Nitrates --Controls On/Off lights (Auto) On/Off pumps (manual) - for feeding and maintenance Auto-Dose Ca/alk Control pumps/powerheads (like a tunze controller does) Allows a "wavemaker" option Ability to dim lights instead of On/Off --Misc ONE PLUG! I would have a huge box to plug the lights, pumps, etc into that way only one plug goes into the wall. Basically make it a built in GFCI __________________ Travis Stevens Current Tank Info: Restarting 28g Bowfront

08/29/2005, 08:37 AM	#6
MiddletonMark Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 14,441	Add to that control of heater/chiller/fans. [temp control, allowing lights/equip to turn off in case of high heat] I'd like it to email/notify me [or be able to] when parameters get past a certain range [like temp >81.5 or <75]. __________________ read a lot, think for yourself Current Tank Info: 58g stony reef [250w10k, 250w 20k MH, 2x vho act, Octopus150, 6060 + 6000] ; 60g mixed tub

05/30/2005, 11:16 AM	#2
elephen Moved On Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: kc Posts: 2,763	It would run everything so all I have to worry about is where to find more money for corals. Well if it could print money to and do online orders and have the stuff juts show up, yeah that would be great to.

08/29/2005, 08:45 AM	#7
perpetual98 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Oconomowoc Posts: 1,242	Oh yeah, it would also have adjustable settings for automatically acclimating new livestock. __________________ Used to have many SW tanks, now starting over with one...

08/29/2005, 08:52 AM	#8
MiddletonMark Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 14,441	It would be made by someone in my reef club, so they could give it to me to test j/k __________________ read a lot, think for yourself Current Tank Info: 58g stony reef [250w10k, 250w 20k MH, 2x vho act, Octopus150, 6060 + 6000] ; 60g mixed tub

12/25/2005, 10:02 AM	#9
orion76 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: South East Asia Posts: 550	My dream controller would scrape algae and siphon detritus

12/26/2005, 10:28 AM	#10
chlupl Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 36	I'm with orion on the algea bit... maybe stir the gravel bed once a week... I find that is a great feeding source for some of the filter feeders... Steven

12/26/2005, 10:38 AM	#11
gillies Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 901	Wher can I get one that will turkey baste my rocks?

12/26/2006, 11:35 AM	#12
garbled Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Glendale, AZ Posts: 255	Essentially, my dream "controller" is the lighthouse controller, with additional probes. I don't really want one that really controls things directly, I want one that monitors everything and just tells me about them. I want to monitor PH, O2, NH3, Nitrates, Ca, ORP, Spec Grav., Alk, Temp. I know some of these cannot be monitored continually yet. But my key features are really the ability to store and graph all the values over the past day, week, month and year. Ideally it would just have lots of BNC ports where I could program in the value settings to convert from the raw probe data into whatever I needed, so when a new probe comes out, I could attach it, set the numbers, and then label it as a "Alk" probe. Most importantly, it needs to be ethernet connected, and have a little webpage on it. I also want it to store all the values in a file that is accessible via httpd, like a CSV file I can download into a spreadsheet or database of my own and work with.

03/20/2007, 01:40 AM	#13
T Man ~PPPPPPP~ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Emerald City Posts: 1,045	This is my wildest dream.......a remotely controlled submarine with a camera that can transmit realtime water and temp. data to and from any telephone or computer. And when you get done playing around with it, it continuosly scrapes the algae off your glass like that fancy vacuum! I think I'd sell some organs to have something like that...........would'nt it be someting though? Tinman __________________ He that can have patience can have what he will. ~ Benjamin Franklin Current Tank Info: click the "TzFuture" folder in my profile

03/30/2007, 04:49 PM	#14
easttn Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: East TN thank God Posts: 2,423	Mine would control time and space. I'd like to put on a mask, tank, reg, and flips hit the controller, and be here: Anybody been to the desert planet Arrakis? Me and Muadâ€™Dib did some Spice together. Man we were trippin! __________________ HONOR.......Simply put, A VETERAN - whether Active Duty, Retired, National Guard or Reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America," for an amount of "Up to and including my life." That is HONOR, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand that. --Author Unknown-- Current Tank Info: Maintenance Free

06/28/2007, 07:23 AM	#15
miwoodar Likey the bikey Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,371	I want one that does something worthwhile for less than $400. __________________ Mike On hiatus. I'm either out riding my bicycle, playing with my family, or throwing ferts in my planted tank. Or working. I hope I'm not doing that though. Current Tank Info: 140 DIY Cube

08/15/2007, 07:16 AM	#16
Nano Chris Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 2,758	I wold like all those features, and such as an auto ***ging system, coral growth monitoring, fish monitoring (such as stress levels and automatically adjusts the tank to help reduce it) feed the tank and corals. Maybe some other things too... like do water changes (automatically mix salt to desired salinity mix for a few days than do water change.) Oh and its affordable. __________________ Chris ------- 34 Gallon Red Sea Max 130! Setup (Just got back into the hobby) Current Tank Info: 34 Gallon RedSeaMax!

10/11/2007, 01:37 AM	#17
rkcca Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: OC, So Cal Posts: 236	A dream controller would monitor all the vital parameters and include a "happy ending".

10/22/2007, 03:29 PM	#18
rustybucket145 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: valdosta, ga Posts: 3,707	I'm stealing some ideas from Travis.... sorry buddy. -Measures, charts and uploads data to a nice web statistics program that's modifiable and scalable, kinda like iGoogle homepage. So basically, no matter where I am I could log in and get tank stat updates... kinda like a stock ticker... updated every 10min or so. Temp SG pH Alk Ca Ammonia Nitrates Room Temp Outside Temp --Controls On/Off lights (Auto) On/Off pumps (manual) - for feeding and maintenance Auto-Dose Ca/alk Control pumps/powerheads (like a tunze controller does) Allows a "wavemaker" option Ability to dim lights instead of On/Off --Water Alarm... When water hits the floor everything shuts down. I get an alert email, cell phone call & work call. --Misc ONE PLUG! I would have a huge box to plug the lights, pumps, etc into that way only one plug goes into the wall. Basically make it a built in GFCI Video Monitor!! Video monitor and stream from 5 or 6 cameras to show livestock. Ability to pan/zoom at least one camera. This is the BIG one for me!! I want it to be fully controllable via web interface. For example if I'm out of town I want to be able to shut down pumps, skimmer, lights...etc. System override if you will. So if for some reason I'm seeing a temp spike for some reason I can kill the halides to keep things from getting out of hand. __________________ 400gals of various tanks in the same system. Current Tank Info: 2 175w MH, 2 VH0 Actinics, Lots of Live Rock, tons of copepods, a Fat Mandarin Goby, Niger Trigger, Yellow Tang, Falco Hawkfish, Bi-Color Pseudo, numerous soft, SPS and LPS Corals

01/07/2009, 09:35 PM	#19
mk2flip Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: earth? Posts: 89	mine would wipe me __________________ _____________________ (insert BS here) Current Tank Info: 75 gal bow, 30 gal sump\refugium......300 gal in the works

01/07/2009, 09:37 PM	#20
mk2flip Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: earth? Posts: 89	I would also agree with miwoodar __________________ _____________________ (insert BS here) Current Tank Info: 75 gal bow, 30 gal sump\refugium......300 gal in the works

01/07/2009, 09:53 PM	#21
mk2flip Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: earth? Posts: 89	Hey Middletonmark, cute kid by the way. very mischevious look on the face. __________________ _____________________ (insert BS here) Current Tank Info: 75 gal bow, 30 gal sump\refugium......300 gal in the works

08/06/2009, 06:02 AM	#22
Texxxx Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Lubbock, Texas Posts: 172	As I read everyones post and think Yes I would like that and that. I realized that the the thing I love about this hobby is the work it takes to do it. If it would be just a push of the button then it wouldn't have near the enjoyment. It might look great but not near as fullfilling. So I guess the only thing that I need more automatic is the button that spits out money so I dont have to work as many hours to pay for this hobby. __________________ Tank: 125gal money pit Current Tank Info: 125gal, 55 sump with fug, 3x250MH, 2x60" VHO, Euro-Reef RC250 skimmer, Ca reactor, ATO Kalk, 2500gph closed loop

10/01/2009, 04:55 AM	#23
lordofthereef One reef to rule them all Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Leominster, MA Posts: 5,299	Just something that full automates the tank and is customizable if anything ever needs changing. Alerts, dosing, temps, etc. Honestly most everything feasible in a controller has already been put into higher end controllers. The biggesest thing these lack is a variety in chemical tests/

10/04/2009, 11:32 AM	#24
Beaner3 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Goodbye Minnesota, Hello Leadville CO Posts: 266	my dishes and laundry

10/21/2009, 06:46 PM	#25
AaronReeph Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Posts: 220	Measurements: (not sure if there even are electrical probes for all of these but if there were I would buy them ) Tank Temp Room Temp SG pH ORP O2 Alk Calcium Nitrate Phosphate Magnesium Control: All lights, MH and VHO or T5 and dimming Moonlights, and be able to control moon phase for time of month Temperature (chiller/heater) and be able to vary temperature for time of year Auto dose Cal/Kalk Auto dose Mg Auto control of ozone "Settings" for feeding or acclimating Don't really care if it has wavemaker, etc., now that Vortec pumps are out Don't care too much for video but it would be nice All viewable and configurable via ethernet and internet Auto data/graph logging (all parameters measured) Also, agree with one box to plug it all into (with GFCI built in) Yep...thats all I can think of at the moment!