Profilux Vs Aquatronica Data Logging

[cyautoman]

I am currently using my Home Automation controller to control my 3 fresh water tanks. This basically switches on/off the lights and takes care of the autofill-up and water changes. Everything is done using relays.

I also use DrDAG data logger to monitor the temperature and the PH of my discus tank.

I am now considering getting GHL Profilux Plus II and its main use will be to log temperature, PH and Redox data from all 3 tanks (upgrading to PIII as to get 3 water temperature probes later on) and get alerts in case of alarms. For getting remote alerts I will connect some of Profilux's plugs to the input zones of my HA controller. This will give me voice alerts to my mobile phone.

Having searched the forums it seems that both Profilux and Aquatronica offer limited data logging features both in terms of memory as well as graphs presentation. I have seen Aquastats for AQ which seems to be a great supplement for AQ and I am now not sure which controller I should choose.

Which controller in your opinion offers the best data logging features and it is the most reliable in this area?

 

[AQD_ottawa]

We can only talk about ProfIlux being the ProfiLux forum

GHL will be implementing great data logging features with the launch of the PIII so you are in the right forum for sure

In regards to reliability GHL has a strong reputation for being extremely reliable in all areas and has no reported bugs, hang ups or lock ups, or simply dead controllers. I think a quick forum search will add testiment to that statement.

So if you are looking for above and beyond reliability, an extemely open and supported product that is continuing to expand rapidly, then for sure GHL is the way way to go IMO.

I am sure other users could add to this.

 

[cyautoman]

Indeed, I spent quite some time searching the forums and it is obvious that GHL is the most reliable controller. I am located in Cyprus / Europe and as far as I know there is currently no GHL distributor. So reliability is extremely important to me since if I end up with a faulty controller I will have pay for the overseas shipping cost plus wait a month or so for getting back a working controller.
Aquatronica is in my shortlist for 2 main reasons: it already offers multi-tank temperature monitoring and Aquastat seems to fulfil my data logging needs. However, I am very much concerned with its reliability…
I think I should wait till more details of PIII features and specs are announced before I make up my mind.
Still interested to find out more details for current PII data logging features. I downloaded the user manual but it does not give any details on this subject.

 

[AQD_ottawa]

Drop GHL an email directly in regards to supply, they have distributors all over Europe.

I think in regards to GHL reliability and functionality. This is an area GHL takes very seriously, as a controller with a billion functions is great but if it stops working then it has no functions at all That is why GHL take so much pride in this area.

The ProfiLux may not have ALL the data logging functions you require right now, but that is purely because they are being held back for the PIII launch, so when it does come you will have all the functionality coupled with a pedigree of reliable use.

My suggestion, go for the PII so you can benefit from the price break you will get when the PIII kit is launched.

 

[cyautoman]

Thanks for the advise. There are some UK on-line shops that export to Cyprus but obviously UK is still far from Cyprus and maybe they have a nearer dealer.

I can't find any contact details of their German office. So I just emailed their UK Distributor at http://www.ghl-profilux.com/.

Let's see what they will reply

 

[AQD_ottawa]

There are dealers in Spain, France, UK, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, russia, UAE, Australia, Japan, S Africa of course North America and others, GHL has very wide market in Europe you will easily find closer supply.

 

[Matthias Gross]

ProfiLux II is able to record 600 measurement values. The interval and sources (probes) can be selected.
If the buffer is full the old values will be overwritten.
But this is usually no problem if you load the values regularly.

The ProfiLux III will have a nearly unlimted measurment storage.

regarding multiple tanks:
this is no problem with ProfiLux Plus II. One PH and Temp-input are built-in, if you want to control another tank just insert a pH-Temp-card then you have both inputs twice.

 

[cyautoman]

I have downloaded the ProfiluxControlII and played with it in Demo mode. I saw that gives you the option to set the measurement period in minutes as well as the max storage size but it was not clear to me what the 'max storage size' means. Btw the help file is not installed when I run the setup so I can't use the help (?) function. Also in Demo I can't realy see any examples of the graphs you can get. Can you name the probes and overlay probes data by group? e.g. Group all probes of tank 1 together, tank 2, etc?

PIII seems to have a lot of improvements. Being able to have a bigger memory capacity will be useful especially in cases of multiple tanks

Thank you for clarifying that the PH/Temp module (I guess is the PL-0007) is used for measuring water temperature. The catalogue does not clarify that and I initially thought it was the same as PL-0278 (measuring air temp.).