The Big Controller Comparison Chart.
- Thread starter RobbyG
- Start date
IKS Aquastar available at http://deltecusa.us/aquastar/index.php
IKS Aquastar available at http://deltecusa.us/aquastar/index.php
The IKS Aqustar does have 110V plugs and can be found at http://deltecusa.us/aquastar/index.php. I am still on the fence about this one versus the Aquacontroller Pro 3 and was hoping someone could provide more feedback.
IKS Aquastar available at http://deltecusa.us/aquastar/index.php
The IKS Aqustar does have 110V plugs and can be found at http://deltecusa.us/aquastar/index.php. I am still on the fence about this one versus the Aquacontroller Pro 3 and was hoping someone could provide more feedback.
1diverdown
New member
just as a clarification, everything for the IKS on the Deltec USA site is 110v.
hth
Doug
hth
Doug
Sorry about the link...here is the correct one...
http://deltecusa.us/aquastar/index.php
Pretty sure it is the 110v...I have bought a ton of Deltec equipment from that site and have been talking about the IKS with them as well. It seems very hard to decide when you get into the higher price range fo controllers especially when it comes to the number of outlets. Do people double up on controlled outlets to save money?
http://deltecusa.us/aquastar/index.php
Pretty sure it is the 110v...I have bought a ton of Deltec equipment from that site and have been talking about the IKS with them as well. It seems very hard to decide when you get into the higher price range fo controllers especially when it comes to the number of outlets. Do people double up on controlled outlets to save money?
MyLittleReef
New member
Thank you for all of your work on this.
RobbyG
Active member
Update Chart 8 Jan 07
ADDED
Links for most controllers Manuals.
CHANGED
Neptune ACIII & ACIII Pro Prices (Mistake in package prices)
Aquatronica LCD description
Reorganized List order to reflect price changes
______ ______ ______
Thanks Joshua for finding my mistake.
Ingbrdz and Mylittlereef your welcome
ADDED
Links for most controllers Manuals.
CHANGED
Neptune ACIII & ACIII Pro Prices (Mistake in package prices)
Aquatronica LCD description
Reorganized List order to reflect price changes
______ ______ ______
Thanks Joshua for finding my mistake.
Ingbrdz and Mylittlereef your welcome
I own an ACIIIpro so here's my feedback on that controller:
The ACIIIpro can monitor 8 temperature, 15 pH and 8 ORP probes. The ACIII (non-pro) can do 16, 8 and 8 respectively. It can monitor the state of up to 42 switches. I think the lines 16, 17, 18 and 25 should read: Yes/Yes/15(16), Yes/Yes/8, Yes/Yes/8 and Yes/Yes/42.
The AC has a season table that can be programmed to reflect the photoperiod as well as lunar phases of any place in the world. Is that what you meant by 'Regional Settings'.
For the leak detector, since you can connect a regular water detector (waterbug for example) to an I/O breakout box, it should be Yes/42.
The power bar maximum rating is 15A for the bar itself or 15A for each of the 8 outlets (4 for the DC4) when using a socket expansion box. One socket expansion box per outlet would allow you control up to 120A perpower bar (60A for the DC4).
One thing that is not well captured is the flexibility of the programming language (script) used by the AquaController. With it, the control possibilities are endless. For example, I can simulate the rise of the sun from east to west based on the photoperiod in Hawaii with my VHOs and Metal halides configuration. If the temperature gets too high, I can selectively turn off some heat generating equipment. If the power goes out, I can delay the restart of my equipment and avoid extreme inrush current. Etc, etc, ...
I can be away from my tank, and still monitor and control it via internet. There's a built-in web server that lets me turn on/off devices, display probe values and even graph the datalogs. If I receive an alarm on my phone (SMS via email) I can connect (with my phone) and check the status off my tank. I can remotely correct the problem or make sure it does not get worse by overriding the state of some devices to ManualOn or ManualOff. I can also modify the program remotely.
The ACIIIpro can monitor 8 temperature, 15 pH and 8 ORP probes. The ACIII (non-pro) can do 16, 8 and 8 respectively. It can monitor the state of up to 42 switches. I think the lines 16, 17, 18 and 25 should read: Yes/Yes/15(16), Yes/Yes/8, Yes/Yes/8 and Yes/Yes/42.
The AC has a season table that can be programmed to reflect the photoperiod as well as lunar phases of any place in the world. Is that what you meant by 'Regional Settings'.
For the leak detector, since you can connect a regular water detector (waterbug for example) to an I/O breakout box, it should be Yes/42.
The power bar maximum rating is 15A for the bar itself or 15A for each of the 8 outlets (4 for the DC4) when using a socket expansion box. One socket expansion box per outlet would allow you control up to 120A perpower bar (60A for the DC4).
One thing that is not well captured is the flexibility of the programming language (script) used by the AquaController. With it, the control possibilities are endless. For example, I can simulate the rise of the sun from east to west based on the photoperiod in Hawaii with my VHOs and Metal halides configuration. If the temperature gets too high, I can selectively turn off some heat generating equipment. If the power goes out, I can delay the restart of my equipment and avoid extreme inrush current. Etc, etc, ...
I can be away from my tank, and still monitor and control it via internet. There's a built-in web server that lets me turn on/off devices, display probe values and even graph the datalogs. If I receive an alarm on my phone (SMS via email) I can connect (with my phone) and check the status off my tank. I can remotely correct the problem or make sure it does not get worse by overriding the state of some devices to ManualOn or ManualOff. I can also modify the program remotely.
RobbyG
Active member
1) Thats covered in the Expansion section for the unit and requires a separate PX1000 dedicated for that purpose. It should be noted that you would have to purchase seven (7x) PX1000's to obtain the numbers you mentioned but like other controllers it is something that can be acheived if you have the money.
2) If it's not listed as a feature on Neptunes page it's not on the Chart. I can tell you that from what I have read, I think that controllers such as the Elos Biotopus only require that you input a Location and the controller does the rest. I have not used one but that is what I believe it does.
3) If Neptune sells a leak detector I will List it. All the third party items that one could buy and Modify to work with any of the controllers on the list is beyond the scope of this Chart and may void your warranty if something goes wrong.
4) Make sure you have the Fire Department outside when you plug in that 120 Amp / 14,000+ Watts of load. I think you need to reread what you saw on the Neptune website
5) Yes it's very flexible and for some people including me that is very appealing, for other people, they might say that the chart does not reflect the difficulty of learning how to program the controller properly, versus other models that are much simpler to use and most times give the same results.
6) Pseudo SMS can be done wih most controllers that have an ethernet hookup and can send emails, I do not list a controller as SMS capable unless it has a true SMS module. The reason is that a real SMS module has the major benefit of not being tied to an ISP to deliver the message, this offers a layer of redundancy and an almost instantaneous delivery of the message, with SMS via email you sometimes see delays in message delivery that in a few cases I have seen can be 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the load and speed of your Cell phone companies internet servers. IMO its not nearly as reliable as true SMS.
With regards to controlling the Tank Via SMS are you saying that the controller receives Emails\text messages and decodes them? That would seem unlikely to me as emails have a lot of header information that could potentialy send your controller into a nose dive. Please clarify
2) If it's not listed as a feature on Neptunes page it's not on the Chart. I can tell you that from what I have read, I think that controllers such as the Elos Biotopus only require that you input a Location and the controller does the rest. I have not used one but that is what I believe it does.
3) If Neptune sells a leak detector I will List it. All the third party items that one could buy and Modify to work with any of the controllers on the list is beyond the scope of this Chart and may void your warranty if something goes wrong.
4) Make sure you have the Fire Department outside when you plug in that 120 Amp / 14,000+ Watts of load. I think you need to reread what you saw on the Neptune website
5) Yes it's very flexible and for some people including me that is very appealing, for other people, they might say that the chart does not reflect the difficulty of learning how to program the controller properly, versus other models that are much simpler to use and most times give the same results.
6) Pseudo SMS can be done wih most controllers that have an ethernet hookup and can send emails, I do not list a controller as SMS capable unless it has a true SMS module. The reason is that a real SMS module has the major benefit of not being tied to an ISP to deliver the message, this offers a layer of redundancy and an almost instantaneous delivery of the message, with SMS via email you sometimes see delays in message delivery that in a few cases I have seen can be 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the load and speed of your Cell phone companies internet servers. IMO its not nearly as reliable as true SMS.
With regards to controlling the Tank Via SMS are you saying that the controller receives Emails\text messages and decodes them? That would seem unlikely to me as emails have a lot of header information that could potentialy send your controller into a nose dive. Please clarify
Yes, it is covered in the expansion section but my understanding is that you are listing capabilities of the main unit. The Aquacontroller is capable of handling 8,16,8 probes and to connect those probes, you need PX1000s. Just like the Aquatronica is capable of handling 2,6,6 but you need the power bars to connect the probes. Therefore you should list the ACIII as 8,16,8 if the Aquatronica is 2,6,6. - Does that make sense to you?
Same for the AC, you enter the longitude, latitude and it does the rest. It is covered in the section "Seasonal Temperature Variation" p31 and "Seasonal Lighting Variation" p38 of the ACIIIpro manual (http://neptunesys.com/AquaController3Pro.3_2_web.pdf).
Same goes for X10 then. If the vendor does not sell the X10 transmitter, it cannot be listed as a feature. Right? There's no modification required do connect a water detector to a Neptune breakout box.
You can use 8 socket expansion boxes on a DC8. Each socket expansion is rated at 15A max with negligible power draw on the DC8. Each power bar can allow you to control up to 120A.
No need to call the Fire Department if you do this right
. All you need is the appropriate electrical service (say a 200-amp residential service) from your power company and dedicated lines to the socket expansions.Not that most Reef setups would require such power consumption, but if we are talking about capabilities, then this information needs to be included.
A feature of a given controller should not be omitted because you think that most users will find it difficult to use. I think it is important to mention the unique programming capabilities of the Neptune Systems controllers.
To clarify, I meant that the controller can be accessed through its web interface using a mobile phone.
RobbyG
Active member
I already had this conversation via email with Curt at Neptune so why are you asking the exact same questions again two days later?
I think I answered all the questions in the emails and have given good reasons 6 or 7 times already, if Neptune wishes they can write their own chart and put in whatever numbers they want and leave it at that.
I get the point, you would like to destroy the credibility of the comparison chart if it's not the way you want it, so please go ahead and post what a biased chart you think it is, possibly you can find a few other users to pitch in and help prove your point.
I think I have already changed as many things as you wanted and at this point you will not be satisfied unless every number shows the AC3 Pro as number one in every category.
I think I answered all the questions in the emails and have given good reasons 6 or 7 times already, if Neptune wishes they can write their own chart and put in whatever numbers they want and leave it at that.
I get the point, you would like to destroy the credibility of the comparison chart if it's not the way you want it, so please go ahead and post what a biased chart you think it is, possibly you can find a few other users to pitch in and help prove your point.
I think I have already changed as many things as you wanted and at this point you will not be satisfied unless every number shows the AC3 Pro as number one in every category.
