Remote Tank Monitoring

[sen5241b]

In this day and age more and more technology is coming under the control of computers. (I do comprehensive monitoring of huge IT infrastructures for a living). Has anyone tried one of the remote tank monitors?

Interesting but doesn't monitor water levels:

http://www.draquarium.com/

http://www.drdaq.com/

I'm guessing this technology has not yet arrived.

 

[fatman]

I use a system that was custom designed by three grad students at the university here in Faibanks, but they are not diificult according to them. They started out with premade systems and added to them. I receive pH, temperature, salinity, low water level alert, power on/off signals (continuity) for 8 circuits. They are hooked up to cheap lap tops with cable connections through the web to my home computer. I place these on all contracted maintenance tanks. I do not use one on my own apartment tanks. There are for monitoring only, no controls are run through them. They are set up however to run x-10 controls, however I do not use thse do to independability issues. That and I get paid for responses, as do my employees. My units with modifications were around $380 each. You can scab togeter cheaper systems but they are more cumbersome and require several inclosures instead of one. Any electronics person could make the additions for you once yopu bought a commercially available unit. My units were designed and are sold by a collefe professor in the lower 48 states. They are available on line. I willl look up the url.

 

[sen5241b]

Very interesting. I've seen the x-10 devices but did not see something to detect water levels.

 

[yote]

I've never used anything other than good ole test kits.But I'm pretty much old school anyhow.
I just dont trust electronic monitoring.

 

[fatman]

The water level is basically just using a continuity checker. A continuity check is just to check if there is a completed circuit. For an example there are devices that signal when there is water on the floor as the water completes an open circuit making it a complete circuit which can carry a charge thereby the electronic circuit activates a buzzer, or in this case just a electronic pulse to the computer. The water level indicators just indicate if the sump level falls below the set level for the ATO system. A signaler is also set up on the reservoir that feeds the ATO. It will not say what the levels are, it only says when they are lower than the floats are set. Just as lighting circuits tell you if light is either on or off depending. It takes a separate signaler to tell you if power is being supplied to the electric circuit supplying power to your tank system. Ditto with skimmers and such. The expensive aspect is the Temperature and pH aspect, as that is part of the purchased original package, but that ought to be cheaper fairly soon, well within a year or so. It takes manufacturers time to produce fairly new products for a market. As far as I know there is only one commercial market for the base unit. I bought mine back when he sold them from a home email site tied to a personnel web page. Electronic monitoring beats driving to many locations every day. I do not use the system on my home tanks, and then they just monitor not control parameters.