Chances are, you’ve never heard of seneye … but soon, they will likely become a household name amongst aquarists.  seneye is a new company founded by a small group of dedicated fish keepers who saw a need for a product that can constantly monitor and relay critical aquarium parameters in a simple, effective, and affordable manner.  So they set out building this product without any investment from big businesses or venture capitalists.  And this is the fruits of their ambition and labor:

seneye will be introducing three versions of their new advanced monitoring sensor: the seneye Home, seneye Pond and seneye Reef. A small, rectangular, all-in-one sensor is mounted underwater (via a suction cup) to provide constant monitoring.  Of particular interest to Advanced Aquarist is the seneye Reef.  The seneye Reef includes a PAR, LUX and Kelvin meter along with free ammonia monitoring, pH monitoring, water level monitoring, general light monitoring, and temperature monitoring.  phew!

The seneye Reef features:

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• Automatically monitors multiple key parameters
• Constantly watching your aquarium with 5600 readings per month
• Grow healthier coral with the assistance of the integrated LUX, Kelvin and PAR light meter.
• Early warning, intelligent software predicts future water conditions
• Convenient alerts sent to e-mail and mobile phone
• Access results worldwide. Your data is stored online
• Track your results with automatic graphing
• Connect to a PC or optional USB power adapter

In total, the seneye Reef monitors:

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• free ammonia (NH3)*
• pH*
• light monitoring
• temperature
• water level
• LUX (lx)
• photosynthetic active radiation (PAR)
• kelvin (K)

* requires consumable slide which lasts for 1 month and makes nearly 3000 readings each month.

Connect your seneye Reef to an internet enabled PC and receive feedback about your aquarium.  Your seneye monitoring data is recorded online on seneye’s server, accessible anywhere in the world at any time.  Access to their server is free of charge.  In fact, seneye plans on allowing non-seneye aquarists access to their server where they can manually log data.

A seneye mobile app integrates with seneye’s server and offers a clear overview of your aquarium’s status.  A ‘green’ dot identifies safe parameters, while a ‘red’ dot quickly tells aquarists a parameter is out of range (the acceptable range is fully customizable). Click on any parameters to get more information and advice.

What are some benefits of all this monitoring?

Constant, accessible monitoring of ammonia, pH, temperature, and water levels can help your tank advert catastrophe (this is speaking from multiple personal experiences, as I’m sure any seasoned aquarist can also attest to).  Good light is the key to keeping corals healthy, but do you know where to place your corals or where to mount your lights for optimal distribution? seneye Reef is designed to help answer these questions.  Aquarium lights lose intensity over time.  Measuring photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) will let you know when they need replacing.  The seneye Reef is also ideal for anyone with a planted aquarium; The PAR, LUX and Kelvin light meter is great for ensuring that the plants get the proper amount of light.

seneye+

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seneye will also offer an optional monthly subscription to a service they call seneye+ ($8 USD, 7 Euro, or £6).  seneye+ benefits include:

• replacement slides (used for NH3 and pH monitoring), delivered to your door each month.**
• email and SMS alerts.  seneye also employs predicative software which can alert subscribers about impending dangerous conditions before they occur.
• automatic online graphing
• personalized advice based on analysis of your data
• access to seneye’s knowledge base

** You may wonder why seneye’s pH monitor requires replacement slides while other pH monitors do not.  The benefit of slides is their simplicity.  seneye made the conscious design choice to eliminate the need for calibration – a time-consuming upkeep that is required (but often neglected) by users of electronic pH probes.  One of the main design goals of the seneye device is to simplify monitoring/testing for all aquarists (new or experienced), but without jeopardizing accuracy due to user error or neglect.  seneye deemed replacement slides as the best (and safest) way to achieve this.

I’m tempted to buy the seneye Reef just for the packaging alone

Pricing and Availability

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The retail price for the seneye Reef is not yet finalized but will be approximately $190 in the US, 130 in EU, and £99 in the UK.

With a feature set as rich as this, the seneye Reef represents an extremely good value.  PAR meters (e.g. Apogee Instruments) usually cost more than this. I’m really quite surprised and impressed by the target price, and if this device works as advertised, this may very well become the hottest new product of the year.  While this is a monitor-only device (not a controller), all the functions seneye Reef is capable of makes it a very worthwhile addition to your aquarium, even if you already own a controller.

The seneye devices will be available at the end of July, but people can register for the beta program now by going to www.seneye.com.

Please visit seneye’s website and check back regularly with Advanced Aquarist for the latest information on the seneye Reef.