victoly Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 It's happening.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 It's happening.... Uh yeah, gonna need more info on that! You can't just drop a bomb like that and run Ian! [emoji15] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 www.alkalinitymonitor.com It's a device in development. Probably a year or two out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 I feel the earth trembling.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 Yeah, this is gonna be a game changer for sure. I'm really interested in how this thing works. I suspect it's just an auto-titrator that basically does what the lab grade probes do which is to measure the amount of acid dispensed to consume all available bases, which in terms of our tank pH is almost exclusively bicarbonate (alkalinity). You would basically need a pH probe and a stepper or syringe motor that can quantify how much acid is dispensed. Either way, it's super exciting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Then all we need is a reasonably cheap automated valve to control the CaRX effluent and presto! 100% automated tank! I'm excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 There is a thread on RC about this. I looked into becoming a beta tester. Wasn't 100% confident that it wouldn't nuke my tank. I'll let Ty experiment with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 There is a thread on RC about this. I looked into becoming a beta tester. Wasn't 100% confident that it wouldn't nuke my tank. I'll let Ty experiment with it.Sign me up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reburn Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Sign me up too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 There is a thread on RC about this. I looked into becoming a beta tester. Wasn't 100% confident that it wouldn't nuke my tank. I'll let Ty experiment with it. As long as yout dont use it for control, i would think that nuking isn't a possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 im in! where do i sign up?! n/m, signed up *lol* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 There is a thread on RC about this. I looked into becoming a beta tester. Wasn't 100% confident that it wouldn't nuke my tank. I'll let Ty experiment with it. As long as yout dont use it for control, i would think that nuking isn't a possibility. Yeah I would definitely use it entirely as a monitoring tool to send alerts when levels start moving out of range too quickly. Also just to see the variations in alk throughout the day. I can definitely see wanting to use it as a controller, but I would feel more comfortable using it that way if there were some solid fail safes added in. If this sensor is proven reliable and incredibly stable, then I probably wouldn't mind using it to help control the calcium reactor, but I would have to see it perform without any accidental crazy swings first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 Yeah, you would have a failsafe built into your CaRx with effluent pH monitoring. I could see it being a bit more dangerous if you were just dosing though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 There is a thread on RC about this. I looked into becoming a beta tester. Wasn't 100% confident that it wouldn't nuke my tank. I'll let Ty experiment with it. can you link that thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Yeah, you would have a failsafe built into your CaRx with effluent pH monitoring. I could see it being a bit more dangerous if you were just dosing though. But would effluent pH monitoring tell you if your flow rate had increased by 10 cc/min? I feel like you wouldn't be able to tell a difference in small flow rate changes like that, but you would see a change in alk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 I guess I'm just thinking in terms of risk assessment. It seems much more likely to have a solenoid fail open and blast your tank with CO2 than to have your flow increase intermittently. Either way this monitor solves that problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Here is the link: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2473045 True, monitor v. control. I believe this was a titration method and definitely used to control alk dosing v. CaRx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I think a solenoid is pretty likely to fail and you'd be able to notice that with your reactor pH probe when the pH flat lines. I know with my setup I'm able to distinguish the relative flow of my reactor effluent based on the pH graph of my reactor and how far apart the pH spikes are from each other. IMO a continuous alk monitor would serve more to monitor the overall health of your corals throughout the day. If alk starts rising or flatlined you can tell that either the reactor is pushing out more, the lights may not have come on, the ATO is stuck on "on" or ran out a while ago, or any other number of things have gone wrong that is causing your corals to suffer. There's a number of factors that could affect alk levels in a tank throughout the day and I guess I would be nervous to link any equipment to it because it could be a false reaction to an issue that is rooted elsewhere. I wouldn't want me calcium reactor flow rate to increase if the alk dips due to corals being PO'd because the lights didn't come on or the water temperature/chemistry is off that day. That might cause more harm than good as a safety measure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 Here is the link: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2473045 True, monitor v. control. I believe this was a titration method and definitely used to control alk dosing v. CaRx I think the one I posted is different than the one you did, although the concept is the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FluxCapacitor Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 A PID control using this data (as long as it's relatively accurate) would work well. I'm all for redundancy so having a solenoid fail would be something I planned for. I dunno how I would plan for it but if it were my project I'd definitely be using two solenoids in line so that it's not likely they both can fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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