Automatic, regular, unattended alkalinity monitoring

[BuaidhNoBas]

Shut up and take my money.

....seriously, this is vey cool and I think is the "next step" for aquarium automation, very interested in seeing how this plays out.

 

[Triggreef]

How are u going to go about distributing this great piece of equipment to the reeding community ie business plan

Also very understood about the MACNA

Congrats again on this i honestly beleive u hit the jackpot on this u won the lottery and enjoy ur fun filled weekend and keep me posted on ur business plan

As i was reading this i just said outloud i just watched someone hit the lotto. Congrats, and just amazing.

 

[Neil Fox]

I don't think I would give out too many details without applying for a patent. At least one other guy I have heard of is trying to do this and his idea is a lot more expensive. He may have a design patent already. The pics I saw were highly pixelated.

 

[Triggreef]

Good luck at MACNA. Was thinking it would be sweet to see if I can connect this with my DYI controller but I will openly admit a price tag near the $500 is out of the question. Now around $100 I would be more open to see if I can add a connect with my system.

Please don't get me wrong you have a great product here and you def used your skills to get everything together so I can see you wanting the most of it as you can. I been looking for different types of sensors to look into adding to my dyi project (have a temp one right now) and was thinking of looking at a pH until I saw this thread so it got my ears up into something else. Congrats and hope all goes well for you man it looks great.

Depends what and how often you test alk i guess, and how long you plan to be in the hobby. I mean without too much thought i spend $100 a year not including my time testing alk. 5 years pays for itself.

theoretically this could also reduce need for other tests, using 2 part at equal doses.

 

[JimWelsh]

I don't think I would give out too many details without applying for a patent. At least one other guy I have heard of is trying to do this and his idea is a lot more expensive. He may have a design patent already. The pics I saw were highly pixelated.

An application has already been filed.

 

[Neil Fox]

Good luck with your plan. That could be a nice addition to the hobby. I know a lot of people who would buy one.

 

[jason2459]

This interests me very much. Much more then any other testing device in prototype right now.

 

[Sabellafella]

This interests me very much. Much more then any other testing device in protypes right now.

Me too. Looks like a very simple device also, not overly pushing it like the others

 

[Cory]

Super cool! Definitely will buy one when i can afford it (and it's available).

Monitoring alk makes me want to quit some days lol.

You shouldn't have any problems at macna getting interest.

I would change the look later on. I prefer long rather than tall. And get a cool name like autoalk or autobot. Or how about just call it DKH engraved into the plastic. Or something cooler. im sure you got a good name for it.

What are the chances of error or failure with this device?

 

[hinovak]

This would make my life so much easier. Please get this out for purchase soon!

 

[fab]

Will your monitor be available to us users out here in manual alk measurement land? and when? and from whom?

fab

 

[Tori]

You had me at hello...

You can count one more person standing in line drooling.

 

[JimWelsh]

What are the chances of error or failure with this device?

There is an occasional outlier, as can be seen in the diurnal swing graph. It uses a reagent, and if the reagent runs out, then that currently causes the output to show a false large sudden alk spike, but these issues can be handled with better anomaly detection algorithms in the software. Once broken in, which takes just a day or two, there is virtually no drift. Reagent aging might cause some drift, but I actually have a solution to greatly minimize that issue that I just haven't implemented yet. There is a calibration procedure that can be run any time. With calibration, the unit is basically as accurate as the calibration standards are.

 

[JimWelsh]

Will your monitor be available to us users out here in manual alk measurement land? and when? and from whom?

fab

Again, let's see how things look after MACNA.

 

[justingraham]

Again, let's see how things look after MACNA.

I think things are going to be looking like ur own island in Florida a Lamborghini and a 40,000 gallon reef in ur living room.

 

[njtiger aquariums]

Depends what and how often you test alk i guess, and how long you plan to be in the hobby. I mean without too much thought i spend $100 a year not including my time testing alk. 5 years pays for itself.

theoretically this could also reduce need for other tests, using 2 part at equal doses.

You are correct but also I am trying to build an auto system as cheap as I can. He def has a good product there and I can see it being wroth that price but personally (cause I am building my own DYI controller [check out the link in my signature]) I wouldn't spend that much money on something to interface with my controller.

 

[ihavecrabs]

This is really interesting. I assume the tube in the sump is how you are getting the test water into the unit. How do you account for or manage the water that is in the tube delaying current results (assuming that it isn't primed through and then a sample is taken).

With setting up manufacturing in lots and bulk purchasing, you should be able to drop your cost down significantly leaving you some margin in that $500.

FWIW, if you can get a retail price point of $400, with enough margin in that of course, it would be a price point I would see value in making a purchase for a solution like this.

It would be good to know what the running costs were also.

Good luck!

 

[Breadman03]

There's a pump and stuff.

You should be able to get the equipment costs down a bit with some bulk purchasing and I expect that the manufacturing process will become more efficient with experience. I believe that a $500 module will limit your potential market. If you can find a way to get that down to $350-400 and still be reliable, I think you would see quite a bit more sales volume.

You should consider direct talks with Neptune and become Apex Ready. If there was a handy Fusion GUI, I believe it would help to open up your market.

 

[Pola0502ds]

In my opinion this device is priceless. Alk is by far the most important parameter to maintain and if we can have a way to monitor it and use that to automate dosing, wow!!! This is a big game changer and will make for more fantastic reefs. Stability is everything and this device would help do that! The price is what is it, overtime it will come down.

 

[revhtree]

Thrilled that one of our members has come up with this amazing device! Game changer!