Automated Self-Maintaning fresh water aquarium

[JSchmidt]

A few weeks ago I had a behind-the-scenes tour of Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Even they do much of this by hand, especially collecting and testing of water samples. They have large-scale central circulation systems for water, but much of their maintenance and monitoring is done by people.

Jim

 

[Yo_Loach]

Ok I get it, but He a university student are the proffesors gonna drive out to the house they installed the plumbing and look at it, and students have fixed budget how much is he going to spend on this?

Im sorry if anyone thought I was discouraging him, but this is not the image i was trying to tell him.

I agree with carpguy 110% And hey, if he does this hell be a millionaire or, just have a lot of money.

Having this in Mueseums and Aquariums(those big places, whatever their called) and like florida's disneyland and stuff would be practical, since they have the size, space, money and stuff to do it, but for like a home appliance, it wouldnt do the job.

and over time im sure it would have to be replaced or fixed, like a car, routine oil changes and things, and cars generally last 8 years. If the repairs cost more than the appliance itself it seems unpractical.

if its made I would support it, and give credit to the guy, I just dont want him to be pissed off if it doesnt work out the way he likes it, 'cause thats happened to me a lot.

 

[Dr_Woo]

Haha, this is making me laugh.....I don't really see the problem here. Just because you may not be able to afford it, doesn't mean that everyone else won't. I mean shoot, look at all the people with immense salt water aquariums that must have cost them an arm and a leg. Most people pay hundreds of dollars just for good bulbs to keep their corals alive. Don't you guys think the price will eventually shrink? I mean technology is always advancing and i'm sure this is not as complicated as creating nanobots. Just look at all the LFS owners out there, you guys think they wouldn't spend a grand or two to have their tanks monitored?

 

[Jason01]

I think that a system like this, would cost in the thousands. Which would mean that the thing will control things like PH, KH, GH, Water changes.... the list goes on and on.

Here is my input. Which, is based on truth. If you spent $2K on a maintance system for your fish, you probably have at least that amount in fish alone. What are you gonna do when say, 2 years down the road, your PH monitor goes off the deep end, and you end up with an acid bath of a fish tank? A water level sensor fails, while your on vacation, or at work, and is now pumping water right out of the tank? I know that you can have fail-safes, but even they fail. I know that sensors and such fail, because I deal with them at work, in a factory, where they are used excessivly, and fail even more so. I run a $500K robot welder, and guess what? It began welding in the wrong spots, for no apparent reason. It is 5 years old, but how many of us are using heaters, filters, and tanks that are over twice that age?

Sorry for the ranting. My basic thing is, sure build it. When you have it working that your "machine" hasn't killed any fish, flooded your floors, messed up water changes, screwed up water parms., forgot to add dechlonrinator, or any other detrimental thing to the tank, for like 10 years, let me know. I might look at it then. Sure, I can do all those things myself, but they are my fish, and I take care of them. I don't have a robot follow my dog around scooping his poop up, do I?

 

[Dr_Woo]

I don't have a robot follow my dog around scooping his poop up, do I?

That's GENIUS, a new project for me just started, lol......Again we are talking about helping not fully automated. You could still check the gadget and make sure it is working properly 2 or 3 times a week, i mean it wouldn't hurt. Plus, do you really think something as simple as a water sensor would fail? And even if it did, you could create something manual inside the "structure" like an area just below the aquarium's top, where if water enters, the water change system is shut off....Things would get pricey with things like this, but again, I am sure there are people more than willing to pay such prices.

 

[Jason01]

Plus, do you really think something as simple as a water sensor would fail?

You haven't seen the things that I have seen fail then. Think of it this way....
If something can go wrong, it will.......trust me. It will go wrong at the most inconvient time also.

The way that aquabot made it sound, that he wanted it to control pretty much everything.....Not a good idea in my book. Who are you gonna blame when something fails and kills a tank of fish that is worth thousands of dollers? The less things that can fail to me, the better off I am. I check the temp of my tanks twice a day with an infrared thermometer(sp), since 1 heater failed, and the only reason I didn't bake my fish was that I checked it while playing with the temp. gun. If the system was automated, and does everything for you, are you gonna be as likely to do something as simple as check the temp. when you feed your fishes?

I am not trying to discourage him. I don't trust technology, as I make my living fixing it........

 

[125gJoe]

You haven't seen the things that I have seen fail then. Think of it this way....
If something can go wrong, it will........... I don't trust technology........

I try to have a positive outlook on technology and all the good that can come from it..

Unless someone comes up with this -------