Price and Pre-order info released for GHL's KH Director!

[d2mini]

I just switched back to a calcium reactor myself but for those running two part this is pretty cool, especially if you already have the doser.

https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/the-new-kh-director/

[VJV]

Hey Denis, thanks for the link. Pricing does look very good. One thing I am concerned about the control aspect is that if the software has any sort of glitch it has the potential to crash your tank...

I must confess that I would rather it was just a measuring device and one that also measures Calcium and Magnesium. I currently own a P4 so will not go for the Trident, but that is the product I would have liked GHL to release.

The control I guess is an option, so this is something I can wait a couple of firmware upgrades before using it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ca1ore]

Nice. I'm waffling big time over whether to eventually go GHL or Apex for alkalinity monitoring/control. The former because I run a Doser 2/slave combination; the latter because I do just about everything else with Apex (though I'd have to upgrade to the newest apex). Anyhow, thanks for posting. Will be very interesting to see how these things play out.

[d2mini]

There's no guarantees in life, but out of anyone, GHL is the only company I would fully trust when it comes to software/firmware. That same concern would be there with their Dosers by themselves and you will find zero instances of their Doser's ever going haywire. Can't say that for some other companies.

To me the Trident is overkill, testing all that stuff multiple times per day. Crazy.

But since I'm not personally in the market for this kind of device, I honestly don't know the ins and outs of either. Just passing along the info from my inbox this morning.

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by d2mini

you will find zero instances of their Doser's ever going haywire.

Dosers scare the bigebees out of me. Wouldn't touch a cheaply built on with the proverbial 10 foot pole; which is why I went with the Doser 2.

[slief]

I’ve got a Doser 2 so I am kind of excited about this and most certainly will be adding one to my system. If for no other reason than to be able to monitor alk. Ive also got a Profilux and could easily connect my Co2 solenoid to it but my calcium reactor is so stable and my alk is typically so consistent that adding a GHL power bar to my shed is kind of pointless when I’ve already got the Co2 under control.

[reefwiser]

Dennis, Matthias has already answered the question that you can use the director to control the Co2 valve on a calcium reactor. Giving you better control over your reactor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by reefwiser

Dennis, Matthias has already answered the question that you can use the director to control the Co2 valve on a calcium reactor. Giving you better control over your reactor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Oh really?
Because when I asked about it a couple months ago on FB, I was told it "doesn't monitor Calcium" which I thought was an odd answer but left it alone. lol

[shaginwagon13]

Subscribed.

[ca1ore]

Regarding CaRx control. I'd not seen the GHL reply, but I've yet to read a cogent response on how to do it. Controlling the CO2 seems the obvious way to do it, but I've got mine tweaked to the point that on/off control seems a step back.

[slief]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Regarding CaRx control. I'd not seen the GHL reply, but I've yet to read a cogent response on how to do it. Controlling the CO2 seems the obvious way to do it, but I've got mine tweaked to the point that on/off control seems a step back.

That would be the way to do it. Like you, my reactor is dialed in and never needs co2 solenoid intervention. We would use the added control that alk monitoring gives us as a failsafe more than anything else. It could shut the Co2 off if ever the Alk skyrockets or indicate a potential issue with the CaRx if the Alk dropped. Beyond that, for those of us with consistently stable calcium reactors, the benefit of reactor control will be minimal and mostly failsafe oriented but the upsides to alk monitoring will be really nice.

[d2mini]

Same here. I've only had my reactor for about a week and it's already dialed in.
I know things will progressively change as my coral grow, but it's so easy to tune and I'm never away from the tank for long so I'm not sure I'd personally need the added complication of another piece of equipment.

I still think it's pretty cool though.
I'll be watching because like Scott says above, having alk continuously monitored would be nice. If it was being monitored, I wouldn't mind making a quick adjustment manually to the reactor.

[rehype]

Is this unit only compatible with GHL dosers?

[ca1ore]

Agree on the alk monitoring, certainly. Just struggling with the CaRx control. Maybe the answer is: you don't. Just monitor.

[sfdan]

Was very excited until I saw I needed the the director unit + dosing pump to make it work. Still looks promising though. Mac compatible software would also help.

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by sfdan

Was very excited until I saw I needed the the director unit + dosing pump to make it work. Still looks promising though. Mac compatible software would also help.

It's headed that way... once you are connected to MyGhl it's all done on your mac's browser, and @reefwiser might be able to confirm but pretty sure an app is coming soon to make the pc completely unnecessary. I think that was mentioned in one of his youtube vids from MACNA interviewing Marco from GHL.

[slief]

Originally Posted by sfdan

Was very excited until I saw I needed the the director unit + dosing pump to make it work. Still looks promising though. Mac compatible software would also help.

If the Doser was built in, it would have increased the initial cost and since there are many users out there with the GHL dosers, I think it made sense to offer it without the Doser. Those that have Doser 2’s or Doser 2.1’s can either use their existing doser for the KHD or buy a slave doser to control it. GHL is also offering the solution as a bundle. The nice thing about having the doser serpate from the KHD is that if something failed, you have a spare doser head on the Doser to transfer that function over to and aren’t down. Plus the Doser 2’s and 2.1’s are user serviceable. Having it all in one would mean that if a head failed, your KHD would be completely down until you replaced the failed part. Granted, GHL dosers aren’t known to fail but I do like the idea of having the doser seperate from the monitoring device. Plus I have a Doser 2 so that makes by investment in the KHD much less painful.

Originally Posted by d2mini

It's headed that way... once you are connected to MyGhl it's all done on your mac's browser, and @reefwiser might be able to confirm but pretty sure an app is coming soon to make the pc completely unnecessary. I think that was mentioned in one of his youtube vids from MACNA interviewing Marco from GHL.

MAC support is coming. I spoke with Matthias about that at MACNA and they recognize the need for heterogeneous interface support and are working on a new web based interface that will be implemented for all GHL products. It will allow all the functions of GHL Control Center (GCC) in a web based interface. This means that everything from initial setup to programming will be able to be done from a web browser within any operating system. I don’t know the time frame for the release but I do know they are working on it and I don’t think it’s far off. That said, GCC works well and while needing a Windows based system may not be ideal for many, most have access to a computer or lap top and or boot camp or similar with a MAC. Hopefully we will hear more about the web based interface around the time of the KHD release.

[reefwiser]

Originally Posted by sfdan

Was very excited until I saw I needed the the director unit + dosing pump to make it work. Still looks promising though. Mac compatible software would also help.

I use GCC with a bootcamp partition. Works great I know not everyone wants to have to use windows. There is an app coming and I do most changes in myGHL I use several GHL dosers as I like to make sure things happen instead of missing a dose or treatment that my reef needs. I like the modular nature of the setup as this is the way GHL designs all their equipment so you can Taylor the the equipment


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[VJV]

I must say that my experience with myGHL in my Mac is less than stellar... sometimes it is not accessible, connection takes a while and there is a huge lag between input and reaction. So to me managing such a key component with myGHL is definitely a no-no. Hope they improve things in next generations and above all hope the app delivers on its promises.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chema]

I use GCC in a Mac Book Pro with Parallels to emulate a Windows environment and everything works flawlessly. You can switch from the whatever Windows OS you use to the MacOS desktop in a second.

[chema]

Originally Posted by slief

If the Doser was built in, it would have increased the initial cost and since there are many users out there with the GHL dosers, I think it made sense to offer it without the Doser. Those that have Doser 2’s or Doser 2.1’s can either use their existing doser for the KHD or buy a slave doser to control it. GHL is also offering the solution as a bundle. The nice thing about having the doser serpate from the KHD is that if something failed, you have a spare doser head on the Doser to transfer that function over to and aren’t down. Plus the Doser 2’s and 2.1’s are user serviceable. Having it all in one would mean that if a head failed, your KHD would be completely down until you replaced the failed part. Granted, GHL dosers aren’t known to fail but I do like the idea of having the doser seperate from the monitoring device. Plus I have a Doser 2 so that makes by investment in the KHD much less painful.

Good explanation. My only complain is that I have and old GHL peristaltic dosing system that I no longer used and I thought I could use with the Director, but then I realized this only works with Doser 2.0 or 2.1. Guess I'll have to go for the bundle and try to sell the old doser.

[reefwiser]

The older doser doesn’t have the ability of reversing the pump as well as changing speeds that the newer models do. I have 2 doser 2 ‘and one doser 1 so I bought the package as I have all the other pumps doing other duties and will have one free pump now the new doser 2.1 slave unit taking over alk duties. Hmm what can I use an extra dosing pump for.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro