Aquarium controllers typically change the operation of specified aquarium equipment based on things like the time of day or a host of water parameters (pH, conductivity, or temperature for example). Such is the case for the Italy-based Aquatronica controllers as well, but they are adding one more input to their system for even more control options. Their new digital Light Sensor allows the Aquatronica controller to manipulate water pumps, filters, alarms, or any other piece of equipment attached to the system based on whether the lights are on or off. While many of these functions can be driven by time based controls, having the controller physically detect if the lights are off or on makes a huge difference, especially if you want to have certain safeguards in place to protect your valuable aquarium livestock.
Aquarium controllers using time based controls usually work very well. But the drawback to using just this parameter to control various equipment is that the controller doesn’t actually know if the lights turn on or off. Sure, the controller can tell the lights to turn on at 10 am, but what if a bulb just never turns on? The light may have gone bad, or maybe it broke. That’s where a ight sensor comes in handy.
If the lights are programmed to turn on, but don’t actually do so, you can receive an alarm letting you know of such a situation or you could preimptively program other equipment to respond to a lights out scenario. Or, say you have made some adjustments to the timers and made a mistake. Well, if the lights come on too soon, the Light Sensor would be able to detect that and adjust other pieces of equipment to appropriately respond to that situation. It’s just another form of control for the control freak aquarist in all of us, and it adds another layer of security to help protect our delicate aquarium systems.
The Aquatronica Light Sensor (ACQ325) is compatible with the Tunze (ACQ460) and Koralia (ACQ455) modules for controlling their respective pumps.
