- Location
- Greenpoint Brooklyn, NY
So, I've had my Seneye up and running about 2-3 weeks. Aside from the pro's of the system like the slide replacement for no calibration, web interface, and the PAR meter i've been finding a few cons that are starting to irk me. Mainly the way the system is designed as it links between the unit and the web interface. Its making me look at other reef monitors to take care of temp and PH + possible future upgrades.
The main problem with the unit that I see is that its overly complex in getting realtime monitoring of your tank off a system that is sold as a simple aquarium monitor.
Basically the system uses a program on your PC to grab data off of the seneye unit which sends that information online to their website where you can monitor your tank, set up alerts, ect. This avoids semi advanced router setups, IP's, DNS, ect. The problem with this vs what other controllers do is that you need your computer constantly on if you want alerts to be available where other controllers require power to your router and an active internet connection. I dunno about you but I don't want my computer on all day and night, this gets powered down while my internet doesn't.
The other problem with the Seneye to PC connection is that it requires a USB cord. USB cords get extremely expensive past 15 feet compared to ethernet cables, and over 15 feet USB requires an extra power source to send the signal those lengths. The wireless USB hub that Seneye mentions is non existant pretty much, and whatever is still available online is only compatible with vista/XP. Windows 7 doesn't support the hubs at all.
There is an option to just use the power adapter to power the device without internet monitoring and plug it into your computer just to unload data from the day. So you can just use the indicator lights to check if temp/ph and ammonia but you will never exactly know if its about to overheat or your about to freeze your coral. And when you upload you can check to see what your tank was doing all day.
Posting this to let people know what to expect when thinking about controllers. Other than the way the unit connects to the PC, and some small connection delay problems when starting up the computer/seneye the unit itself is great and does a good job. The web interface needs a little work but once you have it set up it works.
The main problem with the unit that I see is that its overly complex in getting realtime monitoring of your tank off a system that is sold as a simple aquarium monitor.
Basically the system uses a program on your PC to grab data off of the seneye unit which sends that information online to their website where you can monitor your tank, set up alerts, ect. This avoids semi advanced router setups, IP's, DNS, ect. The problem with this vs what other controllers do is that you need your computer constantly on if you want alerts to be available where other controllers require power to your router and an active internet connection. I dunno about you but I don't want my computer on all day and night, this gets powered down while my internet doesn't.
The other problem with the Seneye to PC connection is that it requires a USB cord. USB cords get extremely expensive past 15 feet compared to ethernet cables, and over 15 feet USB requires an extra power source to send the signal those lengths. The wireless USB hub that Seneye mentions is non existant pretty much, and whatever is still available online is only compatible with vista/XP. Windows 7 doesn't support the hubs at all.
There is an option to just use the power adapter to power the device without internet monitoring and plug it into your computer just to unload data from the day. So you can just use the indicator lights to check if temp/ph and ammonia but you will never exactly know if its about to overheat or your about to freeze your coral. And when you upload you can check to see what your tank was doing all day.
Posting this to let people know what to expect when thinking about controllers. Other than the way the unit connects to the PC, and some small connection delay problems when starting up the computer/seneye the unit itself is great and does a good job. The web interface needs a little work but once you have it set up it works.
