Tony's Review

From Ghl

GHL Profilux Plus II review by Tony Rogers (Reef bloke)

Prior to the purcahse of my Profilux aquarium computer, I did a web search to find out if there were any user reviews or opinions out there. I found myself searching through pages and pages of forum threads from foriegn shores. With this in mind I decided to submit my own for the U.K market as the computer is becoming popular here in the U.K but there is still a lack of information.

Description:

I purchased the starter pack and this consisted of :

• ProfiLux Plus II base unit
• 4 way plug bar
• pH electrode
• Temperature Sensor

I immediately arranged for the plugbar to be upgraded to the 6 way digital plugbar as in my case I needed to actuate 5 pieces of equipment. I also opted for the tunze stream control cables.

The product was very well packaged, included a comprehensive manual and a high quality pH probe. The main unit measures 50mm high,197mm deep and 240mm wide. While I personally had no problem mounting the computer beside the aquarium, a seperate blue LCD display (profiview) unit is available for discrete installations. It feels a little light and plasticky if i were being critical, but looks the part. The unit has four very grippy rubber feet to prevent it from slipping around and includes a screwless case to provide easy installation of additional controller cards.

The digital plug bar is a sizable piece of kit at around 700 mm in length, it seems to be constructed of alluminium and looks and feels like a quality item. It includes different coloured led lights to indicate that communication between the profi and plugbar is active, power to the plugbar is on and a led for each socket that lights up when that individual socket is actuated. The mounting points for the plugbar are at either end on lugs so mounting is relatively simple.

My pack i opted for included included an extra pH controller card so I could control my calcium reactor.

Installation:

Once unpacked I had to install my extra pH card, the case is screwless so all I had to do was unclip the plastic clasps (blue jobbies) on the main unit, carefully part the case and slot in the new card. Next job was to install the profi software on my laptop, which can be downloaded for free here: http://www.ghl-profilux.co.uk/acatalog/Downloads.html. Before I hooked the profi up to the laptop I had to install the Stream controller cables. I also plugged the digital plug bar into the mains and the communication cable into the Profi and installed my two pH probes and temp probe via their connectors. At this point I calibrated the pH probes via the Profi unit directly, this was suprisingly simple and consisted of following the directions given by the profi and plopping the probe into the appropriate pH buffer when asked.

Now the unit was ready to be set up via the Profilux PC software, the software is compatible with Windows XP and Vista. The software is very configurable and took some getting used to but once I got my head around it the system was set up in no time. The Profilux is now conltrolling my cooling fans, heater, Illumination, Calcium reactor (including peri feed pump), my kalk reactor feed and my Tunze stream pumps. The firmware of the unit can also be upgraded to include the latest settings and options, new firmware can also be found at the link listed above.

Summary:

This is my first aquarium computer as the thought of giving the control of my aquarium over to a box of tricks has always given me nightmares. Luckily my fears were ill founded in this case as my aquarium has never been more stable. The profilux also has a fail safe where the plugbars can be pre programmed to default to a custom state if the main unit goes down. I can also check my tanks pH and Temp plotted out on a chart, this way I can keep an eye on tank trends over a 24 hour period, all at a glance. I will also soon be purchasing the Led lighting system after checking it out on a fellow reefers aquarium. This allows dawn (red), dusk (red/blue) as well as stormy lightning effects. The unit also sets reminders for me so the tank now gets its water changes on time and not when I eventually remember to do them.

So to sum up I think the Profilux is a very decent bit of kit and its future seems very bright indeed as GHL are keen to expand on available add-ons and develop the unit even futher still. The support from Reefdreams (U.K Distributor) has also been superb, a highly recommended product!