Apex conversion to GHL

[Hydrored]

so tore apart the doser last night cleaned it all up. still having issues. Went ahead and bought the Alkatronic last night. Such a shame. this was 3 days. nothing being dosed.

I’m still watching the thread but that is the exact reason I went with the alkatronic also and will be here today. I’m all about getting rid of Neptune products for GHL but I can’t get on board with it testing and managing my alk when I travel 3 weeks a month

 

[Hydrored]

How does auto top off work with GHL, meaning does it work fine for 50+ feet like PMUP does? Same with automatic water changes?

Thanks,

 

[LostSoul]

I’m still watching the thread but that is the exact reason I went with the alkatronic also and will be here today. I’m all about getting rid of Neptune products for GHL but I can’t get on board with it testing and managing my alk when I travel 3 weeks a month

Don't get me wrong GHL is appealing. I personally like the looks. However I have been comparing the prices for the modules, accessories and availability. Apex might win out in the end. I really wanted the GHL to work. I have spent a good bit of money with GHL. However no i would NEVER EVER just trust this one to manage the alk for me.

 

[ChiCity]

gonna be hitting this thread up whenever i set up my profilux…
like you, i myself found neptune to be chintzy as well.
for the price, it shouldn’t look and feel like a toy!

ghl, for me at least, is providing a more thorough product for the price.
it does suck that there isn’t much data out there like the apex guys have…
but threads like these
will change all of that over time.

 

[vangvace]

How does auto top off work with GHL, meaning does it work fine for 50+ feet like PMUP does? Same with automatic water changes?

Thanks,

For Auto-top off, you have a few options. Easiest would be 2-3 sensors for low, high, failsafe high that is tied to an outlet to turn the ATO pump on/off. The doser 2.1 might be feasible but I would reach out to GHL for if the 50' run on that particular unit is doable. Downside would be running the PAB (ethernet) cable and having a powerbar to the mixing station.

Ideally, a pair of Maxi dosers at the mixing station would be the best case. No extra powerbar needed. 1 Maxi for ATO and the other for Auto water changes. Sadly, the V1 Maxi is discontinued and the V2 is not available yet. Designed and images shown, but not released.

so tore apart the doser last night cleaned it all up. still having issues. Went ahead and bought the Alkatronic last night. Such a shame. this was 3 days. nothing being dosed.

Lost. I might have missed it, but could you tell us more about the setup. Frequency of testing, water sample volume, how you measured the water sample volume, is the prefilter on the sample line, etc?

 

[Hydrored]

For Auto-top off, you have a few options. Easiest would be 2-3 sensors for low, high, failsafe high that is tied to an outlet to turn the ATO pump on/off. The doser 2.1 might be feasible but I would reach out to GHL for if the 50' run on that particular unit is doable. Downside would be running the PAB (ethernet) cable and having a powerbar to the mixing station.

Ideally, a pair of Maxi dosers at the mixing station would be the best case. No extra powerbar needed. 1 Maxi for ATO and the other for Auto water changes. Sadly, the V1 Maxi is discontinued and the V2 is not available yet. Designed and images shown, but not released.


Lost. I might have missed it, but could you tell us more about the setup. Frequency of testing, water sample volume, how you measured the water sample volume, is the prefilter on the sample line, etc?

I have 2 ethernet cables ran from the tank to my mixing station in the garage already. 1 is due to having an apex power bar, DOS for AWC, and FMM in the garage, the other is just a spare.

 

[LostSoul]

For Auto-top off, you have a few options. Easiest would be 2-3 sensors for low, high, failsafe high that is tied to an outlet to turn the ATO pump on/off. The doser 2.1 might be feasible but I would reach out to GHL for if the 50' run on that particular unit is doable. Downside would be running the PAB (ethernet) cable and having a powerbar to the mixing station.

Ideally, a pair of Maxi dosers at the mixing station would be the best case. No extra powerbar needed. 1 Maxi for ATO and the other for Auto water changes. Sadly, the V1 Maxi is discontinued and the V2 is not available yet. Designed and images shown, but not released.


Lost. I might have missed it, but could you tell us more about the setup. Frequency of testing, water sample volume, how you measured the water sample volume, is the prefilter on the sample line, etc?

Wow where do i begin.

1. physically measured the lines
2. then checked with use of a graduated cylinder
3. when graduated cylinder read 8.5 on the water line. i physically filled the lines to 8 ml and cut off the remaining tube. this was because there was no decimal in the setup it was only whole numbers.
4. then unhooked from the khd and ran the test to measure and make sure the same amount of testing water was what was going into the khd
5. not to mention several recalibrations of the actual dosing pumps

i am not using a "prefilter" i have had it in the cleanest part of my system. i have a remote deep sand bed and the water is filtered twice before ever getting to it. I can test 4 times a day up to 8 or more. i have tried 60 to 100. I have tried the khd reagent and i have tried straight up hydrochloric acid .1n. They tell you if you run 3 tests in a row and they are the same or within tolerance than it is working. well i do that and they do run back to back ok. However i get these off the wall readings. NOTHING is being dosed to my tank. i have been rebuilding it so there is nothing being dosed. I am trying to reign in the equipment. Im also on my second PH probe (the one specifically for the KHD). It was also sent in for "checking" and they found nothing wrong with it.

the only thing i can figure as i said was it had to do with the PH probe. This device measured based off the ph probe. so either its a dosing pump issue (heads, air in the lines, ect), a ph probe issue which i have recalibrated and rechecked by leaving it in the ph solutions. Those are the only 2 things i can think of short of the program itself. My ph probe on the khd appears to "stop" at 4.36. i am not watching every time it is measured to see what happens. Grasping straws.

as far as my system i have waterbox 220, 150 Rubbermaid tub with live rock, - 50 gallon Rubbermaid remote deep sand bed, 90 gallon refugium, have about 400 total water volume, skimmer

ph runs 8.5 to 8.7
temp 80
nitrates 20
phosphates .02
ammonia 0

bank account - BROKE

 

[Ditto]

Where does ato dump? Have you verified that ATO is not also going on at the same time your taking a reading?

Did you use the supply tubing in the KH kit between the doser and the KH Director and the Doser and the KH solution? Silcone tubing can cause issues.

 

[LostSoul]

Where does ato dump? Have you verified that ATO is not also going on at the same time your taking a reading?

Did you use the supply tubing in the KH kit between the doser and the KH Director and the Doser and the KH solution? Silcone tubing can cause issues.

Ato goes off when it wants you don't controll that. And the ato is way downstream from the intake. Yes same tubbing that they sent with the unit. My unit is set for 8 times a day the ato might go off once every day and a half. But that is not going to cause 1 or .5 dkh up and down spikes in 2 or 3 tests in 400 gallons of water

 

[Ditto]

Your dosing how many times a day and how many ml?

 

[LostSoul]

Your dosing how many times a day and how many ml?

not dosing at all. just trying to get the khd from spiking. and giving off the wall readings. technically it should be flat(ish) or a decline.

 

[Ditto]

Do not want to take over Billldg thread but have a few more questions and will PM you

 

[rtparty]

Hope Bill saw the BRS live yesterday. He got a little shout out. Like I said last page, we'll be seeing BRS videos soon enough on all of this

 

[LostSoul]

So it appears my GHL is measuring more in the .3 +/- vs .2. None the less it appears that the last time my unit went in for repair. They forgot to remount the pinch valve. I would say it came out when i took off the top however i have had the issue for a while. so that cant be it. So if your running into issues make sure your pinch valve check is included in your "what the heck" check moment.

 

[Ditto]

So it appears my GHL is measuring more in the .3 +/- vs .2. None the less it appears that the last time my unit went in for repair. They forgot to remount the pinch valve. I would say it came out when i took off the top however i have had the issue for a while. so that cant be it. So if your running into issues make sure your pinch valve check is included in your "what the heck" check moment.

Could have jarred loose also in shipping, glad it working for you!!

 

[scolson]

One disturbing thing I noticed yesterday when I was working my GHL. When the controller looses power, all the outlets on the power bar shut off after a 15 seconds or so.

I've never used an Apex but when I researched it I saw that they had a concept of "fail" position for the outlet and I was surprised GHL didn't do this.

It turns out that it does but fail state is configured on the power bar configuration by setting the initial state of each outlet. System -> Assign and configure connected PAB-devices.

 

[Billldg]

One disturbing thing I noticed yesterday when I was working my GHL. When the controller looses power, all the outlets on the power bar shut off after a 15 seconds or so.

I've never used an Apex but when I researched it I saw that they had a concept of "fail" position for the outlet and I was surprised GHL didn't do this.

It turns out that it does but fail state is configured on the power bar configuration by setting the initial state of each outlet. System -> Assign and configure connected PAB-devices.

They do have a fail position, either normally open or closed position.

This is where we have to make GHL better. It is a matter of programming. We need to show GHL and tell GHL what is right and wrong so they can become better. Being better quality wise is different than being better programmable wise. All GHL users need to tell GHL what they feel is right and wrong with the programming. Doing this, just remember that Rome was not built in a day, it takes time to change programming as one change can effect something else in the programming. The one thing I quickly learned is that GHL wants to know one thing...HOW CAN THEY BECOME BETTER!!!

 

[LostSoul]

Could have jarred loose also in shipping, glad it working for you!!

Ditto it's back to having issues.

Could have jarred loose also in shipping, glad it working for you!

ditto,
can you run a test for me on your hkd here is what i am curious about..
1. what is your DKH / ph
2. when you run your test how high does your probe go right before the reagent starts?
3. how low does it go when the reagent is done.

i watched mine it usualy is about 4.2 but this morning it was down below 3.5 so i am going to replace adn try the older probe.

 

[Billldg]

I just ordered, what will be the first of many, flow sensors to plumb into my UV sterilizer. I do feel this is where GHL will stand out, when build quality and engineering comes into play. I have noticed that my Apex flow sensors are sensitive, to say the least, to cleaning the tank. They use a propeller that is prone to clogging up, getting dirty, and such. I notice that when I clean the tank the flow drops on my 3 Apex flow meters. I don't feel that the flow meters need to be cleaned every few months. When I install the GHL flow meter I will let you know and start the comparison.

 

[Bleigh]

HeyI I switched to GHL too. Though I do still have my APEX running until I get the ion director.