The Big Controller Comparison Chart.

RobbyG

Active member
The Big Controller Comparison Chart.

Hi guys this has been 5 weeks in the making. It started out as a nice little project that ballooned into major work. I spent 3 weeks using my spare time to read about and visit the web pages of every controller I could find then I started putting together the data and created a draft version. This draft version was emailed to each controller manufacturer asking them to correct any data they found in error and to also add in any features I might have missed. I had a good response from most of the companies, only a few decided not to participate. There was also a major problem in that some companies interpreted what I was trying to do incorrectly and thought that features of their PC software could universally be used as general features.
An example of this is one company figured that since there controller has PC software that allows you to see all the data from the controller on your PC's desktop, if you then use PCAnywhere or Remote Desktop and view that data remotely, there controller is basically Web Server Capable. I had many such problems and tried to strike some sort of balance between the wishes of the company vs what I thought might be seen as confusing to the RC members.

Ultimately this is a huge work in progress, it will be a few weeks from now before the Chart is 100% accurate, but it is a start!
I am hoping that RC members and Manufactures will help me to further edit the chart and correct any missing or bad data. This is why I did not post the Chart directly on RC because it is a work in progress. Also the prices have not been included because it was just very complicated to figure out pricing for all the dozens of configurations you can buy.

I hope that this chart will give RC members a better understanding of what controller is right for their situation. It has been a lot of work, I almost did not post it because I did not feel the Data was accurate enough, but as time passed I realized that something like this cannot be made accurate without Constructive feedback from actual users.

Heres the link

www.aquariumcontrollers.com

Enjoy
 
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Man great job on this. I was maybe expecting 2 or 3 controllers but you have them all covered (that I can think of!).

I'm in the market for a controller and this will be a great resource to help make my decision. Much appreciated! :)
 
Wow, a big thanks for the effort you've put into compiling this data! :thumbsup: I didn't know half of those controllers were on the market. I also didn't know there were so many features available. Wow....again thanks for putting in the time and effort. I'll be sure to refer this if I decide to replace my current controller.

Hopefully this will be a sticky under this forum. :)
 
Any owners of these controllers, please let me know if something is listed wrong on your controller. Thanks
BTW if you know of any (non commercial) units that I missed please let me know so I can add it
 
Robby,

I'm pretty sure the firmware on the Octopus 4000 can be upgraded. The firmware on my 3000 is stored in Flash memory and I have upgraded it before. My understanding is that the 4000 is pretty much a 3000 with some slight improvements, so I don't think they have eliminated that feature.

The Octopus has an IR printing port (one-way) only.

I'm not sure what you mean by "hysteresis mode for programming". You can program in a range around the setpoints on any of the probe readings (temp, ORP, pH, cond). Is that what you mean or is it something else?

Aquadyne does make two higher end controllers (the Aquanode EX and Aquanode XL) that do have more capabilities (and a higher price tag) than the Octopus.

Michael
 
Karma I am taking a look back over the 4000's Data. Thank you for pointing out the memory etc.

I think I remember seeing the EX and XL but I am pretty sure they are commercial controllers. I decided to leave out commercial units because they are not something that home tank owners would buy. Let me check this all out and I will post back and do the changes.

Thanks
 
Robby I sent over my revisions, sorry for the delay. This is my list and if the guys back in Italy want to add anything I will be sure to let you know.
 
RobbyG, I thought I was an equipment junkie, but this chart puts you in a whole different league. I just bought the LightHouse, so I don't have much feedback yet. In the meantime, if you don't have Excel, here's a 1-page PDF of the great spreadsheet RobbyG put together. You'll have to zoom in quite a bit for the details, but 1 page kept the file small.
 

Attachments

Nice job and much needed!

Judging by the data and guessing at the users, I'd like to suggest breaking up the "PC Connection" line into two separate rows for ease of deciphering of "RS-232" and "Ethernet."
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8786595#post8786595 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kbecker
For the Aquacontroller III Pro, you can have as many float switches as you have digital IO ports.


The same is true for the Aquacontroller III (non-pro). The base unit has two inputs for switches and each expansion ADDS six.

You might consider a "Yes" with a footnote for the AC III's (both pro and regular) on the "Leak detector" because standard water sensors like the one in the following link can be connected to the integral IO ports.

http://www.homesecuritystore.com/ezStore123/DTProductZoom.asp?productID=608


Paul
 
Just Updated the List, with new Data on Elos Biotopus II.
Elos is not 100% complete as we are still clarifying some of the Data.

Also thank you all RC members for your corrections. Most of them have been added.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8786077#post8786077 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefkeeper1
RobbyG, I thought I was an equipment junkie, but this chart puts you in a whole different league. I just bought the LightHouse, so I don't have much feedback yet. In the meantime, if you don't have Excel, here's a 1-page PDF of the great spreadsheet RobbyG put together. You'll have to zoom in quite a bit for the details, but 1 page kept the file small.

Thanks for the PDF :) You really have to zoom it up to read all the stuff but its nice to see what it looks like on one page.

Tech Junky, oh my wife might agree :) You should see the electrical part of my Tank ;)
 
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