Seneye monitors - worth it?

[JingoFresh]

http://www.seneye.com/devices

They seem interesting because I can monitor ammonia remotely over the net.

This and salinity are really my only concern while I'm away from my tank, which is no more than a week at a time.

Has anyone used these? Would they recommend them?

Are there any alternate solutions aside from a controller that allow for monitoring salinity online?

[swclown]

I've never tested for ammonia after the cycle of a new tank in 20+ years( current tank is 155G) Even if a fish dies and I can't find him the ammonia wouldn't register and he will become nitrate soon enough. I rarely check salinity either. If your tank is smaller I could see why these might be much more important though. Both of these would be critical parameters in a small or nano tank.
The remote notification feature and the PAR meter are nice.
It kind of depends on the price, and what you're looking for, how large is the tank and how much control do you want. An Apex unit would be my choice for this but it is surely way more money.

[AQD_ottawa]

Its worth its weight for the built in underwater light meter! where can you get an underwater PAR for less than $200.

[Pluedke1]

IME these like most are not accurate in measuring par for led's. The apogee is my choice for par with led's. +1 on apex

[AQD_ottawa]

have you tried it, or is this just guessing,? interest in actual cross references

[ExpensiveHobby]

I just set mine up 2 days ago. IMO the par value readings and the temperature monitoring are the only real pro's. As someone else said the ammonia is always zero and so far my ph hasnt budged.

If this thing measured salinity, calc, alk, and mag it would be amazing

[chadfarmer]

don't u have to replace something every month?

[ExpensiveHobby]

Originally Posted by chadfarmer

don't u have to replace something every month?

Yes its a little card like an SD card. Theyre about $10 each

[jenn33426]

Still I'm looking into this.

[Johnic]

It's not cheap. You would also need to buy the wifi adapter to make remote monitoring work.

[AhmedLFC]

Yeah I like it , it gives me all key metrics to when I am away from home to keep the tank alive

Temp - is it where it needs to be (yes - great / no - call the mrs or the tank sitter and ask them to check the heaters/chiller)

pH - is it stable (yes - great / no - call and ask mrs or tank sitter to check gyre is churning and returns are kicking, if pH is crazy ask tank sitter ... not mrs to check calc reactor isn't doing anything stupid

NH3 - is skimmer doing what it needs to (yes - great / no - great mrs needs to clean it )

NH4 - is mrs / tank sitter feeding too heavy - if yes tell them off on the phone

O2 - it is what it is... if its depleting off track is there something going on with tank like a algae bloom? get a visual check via webcam or facetime

Lux/Par/Kel - are lights on or off when they should be (are corals getting light?) if no get someone to check. Also as you rightly spotted I don't need this to be a super accurate par meter I just need to understand the variance compared to the apogee (circa 10%) and when the reading start to drop , I need to get ordering tubes. Becomes a little less guess work and more controlled.

Must say all in all I am impressed with what seneye offer. I know some people want more tests, and no need for a pc interface. I do think these things will come as I have emailed seneye regards what developments are in pipeline.

All of the above at a pretty cheap price, and its not trying to run my system for me like most aquarium computer type devices. I think marine tanks are too tactile to try to run on fully auto via computers. This is a great price point to monitor the things that will keep my stock alive and healthy when I am not around to do it, or need to do a quick remote health check.

I will take some screenshots of the web interface it shows historic data and more importantly the trend in readings over a few days.

[Johnic]

I didn't realize it read O2

[Raul-7]

Originally Posted by Johnic

I didn't realize it read O2

It doesn't; that's a theoretical value. No way it has a DO probe installed.

And it's wrong; the saturation point in SW at that temperature is around 6.9

[AhmedLFC]

Originally Posted by Raul-7

It doesn't; that's a theoretical value. No way it has a DO probe installed.

And it's wrong; the saturation point in SW at that temperature is around 6.9

Originally Posted by Johnic

I didn't realize it read O2

It's dissolved oxygen potential worked out from your other readings.
Again the key for me here is to look at the trend I don't need this to be super accurate. I need it to be indicative so I can spot or get an sms from the seneye when out/away from home.

[matty0206]

Have they ever made it Mac compatible? I checked on them when they first came out and was told they had no intention of making them Mac compatible.

[Relativity]

Originally Posted by matty0206

Have they ever made it Mac compatible? I checked on them when they first came out and was told they had no intention of making them Mac compatible.

I also have a mac

[AhmedLFC]

Originally Posted by matty0206

Have they ever made it Mac compatible? I checked on them when they first came out and was told they had no intention of making them Mac compatible.

I use it via the web interface

Seneye + Seneye web link - don't see what you would need a pc/mac direct for. I just have it piggy backed off my wifi and use their cloud interface, don't see why that would not work on any platform?

[matty0206]

That wasn't available when I checked on them I don't think, I was told to use an emulator.

[ExpensiveHobby]

i use the Seney with the Wifi connector. Essentially I can get reading to my mobile or my work computer every fifteen minutes. But on my home computer its up to the second updates. I am glad I have one now because the Par meter told me how garbage my lights were so now I'm looking to upgrade.