Holy crap These controllers are confusing.

[biglurr54]

Im looking at building a controller for my tank. Its a 92 corner tank that I am build for my son. (That's what I told the wife to get permission) Im looking at getting my first controller to make this tank mostly automated. Where can I go to read up on which controller to buy? I will have a ton of questions for you guys as I build this thing im sure.

Here's what I'm looking to control with some questions

1. LED DT lights, Simple on off every day. Might not even connect to Controller and use regular timer.

2. Skimmer, Does it make sense to control this. I was thinking running it 12 hours a day and have a fail safe if the sump runs low to turn off the pump to save it.

3. Return pump, Should this be controlled. It will run all the time. Only control would be fail safe if sump was out of water or DT over filled to prevent flooding.

4. Auto Top off. Simple two switches for back up

5. Fresh Water Control, This would be a valve on the RODI, Float switches to keep the FW tank full but not make the RODI cycle, and a light for low FW.

6. Auto Change system, Two pumps that will turn on once a week. one pump out then off, other pump on until float switch in sump turns it off.

7. Heater, With LEDs on tank does it make sense to control this or should i let the thermostat in the heater do the work.

8. I would like to do some wave making in the tank possibly. Most likely control two conventional pumps. Maybe upgrade to a jebao or vortech at some point.

9. Algae scrubber, Im going to have two small algae scrubbers compared to one large. They will run opposite schedules. I would need control of the lights for the scrubbers.

10. New Salt Water reservoir, This will fill with fresh RO water after the water change which will be a pump controlled by two float switches.



Thats all I really have for expectations right now. Im sure i will want more expand ability later as the tank develops. Im looking for the cheapest route. It doesnt have to be pretty as it will all be housed in my fish basement. It looks like 14 outlets, 2 12volt valves, and 7 float switches. I can do some coding once i get the hang of it. I took a class in high school about coding and it came naturally to me.

So now what controller fits the bill for this build? RKL, RKE, RA, RAP, Apex, Custom Adurino? Not sure that to do.

 

[jdezek]

I would stay away from RK there customer service is nonexistent. I had one and ran into issues and couldn't get ahold of anyone. Now I have the RA and I love this thing because it's all open source coding. So your options and ideas are endless. I hear apex is good to but never owned one so I couldn't say. They both have wireless access from the phone to be able to control everything. So I would say apex or RA

 

[kbriers]

I had a RA controller a while back and had numerous problems with the controller re-setting, changing times etc. I actually had to send back the circuit board back and get a replacement to try and correct the problem. It worked for a little while but still had problems. I work in the oilfield so between the problems I had and they didn't have internet access at the time, I decided to send it back and go with the Apex.

Even though I had problems with my RA, I will say the customer service and the forums page on their website are amazing. I never once had a problem getting help with questions about coding, problems, returns etc. Having an open source controller limits your possibilities to your imagination alone

When I was having problems, it seemed like there were very few people that were not completely satisfied with the controller, and I was an "oddball" in the group. The only problem with the controller is that it can do so much, sometimes it can get pretty confusing/technical as far as writing codes but, that is where the customer service/forum help comes into play.

The Apex is what I currently run now and knock on wood, I've yet to have problems with it. The only time I've had to call customer service about it was when I had trouble with remote access. They too helped me out very fast so I would also give customer service a thumbs up. The forum on their website and also on RC help a lot too. The Apex can also get technical/confusing when you start getting into advanced programming though.

I would not hesitate to get another RA controller (with the bigger memory) or an Apex again. Hope that helps.

 

[Midnightt]

Im looking at building a controller for my tank. Its a 92 corner tank that I am build for my son. (That's what I told the wife to get permission) Im looking at getting my first controller to make this tank mostly automated. Where can I go to read up on which controller to buy? I will have a ton of questions for you guys as I build this thing im sure.

Here's what I'm looking to control with some questions

1. LED DT lights, Simple on off every day. Might not even connect to Controller and use regular timer.
Really it depends on the LED lights. Simple on offs are cool and easy but, think failsafes.

2. Skimmer, Does it make sense to control this. I was thinking running it 12 hours a day and have a fail safe if the sump runs low to turn off the pump to save it.
Failsafes, feedschedules both come to mind

3. Return pump, Should this be controlled. It will run all the time. Only control would be fail safe if sump was out of water or DT over filled to prevent flooding.
From the sound of it some of the DC pumps should be controllable through the APEX in the near future. That could be awesome or just another really nice feature.

4. Auto Top off. Simple two switches for back up
You can use that for a lot of other things than backup. Failsafes, alarms, etc.

5. Fresh Water Control, This would be a valve on the RODI, Float switches to keep the FW tank full but not make the RODI cycle, and a light for low FW.

6. Auto Change system, Two pumps that will turn on once a week. one pump out then off, other pump on until float switch in sump turns it off.

7. Heater, With LEDs on tank does it make sense to control this or should i let the thermostat in the heater do the work.
I have mine set to turn on and off at a certain temp. I could program a couple of other things on it if I needed to but, I don't This is a huge fail safe. Think about what could happen if heaters temp control fails.

8. I would like to do some wave making in the tank possibly. Most likely control two conventional pumps. Maybe upgrade to a jebao or vortech at some point.
I love the Vorech programming on the APEX. With the way these work they aren't even plugged into the energy bar. Allowing me to still control them through the WXM.

9. Algae scrubber, Im going to have two small algae scrubbers compared to one large. They will run opposite schedules. I would need control of the lights for the scrubbers.
Easily controllable with the Apex. Will probably need 2 empty outlets for the energy bar.


10. New Salt Water reservoir, This will fill with fresh RO water after the water change which will be a pump controlled by two float switches.
Can be made very easy on the APEX

I use the APEX for my controller. I have to say so far I'm impressed. I really can't wait to see what happens with the Fusion software. Should make things much easier for us non-programmers. The customer service has been awesome too.

Now when I look at upgrading I like to look and first see what I can make work with my Apex and its capabilities. It is nice to be able to control the system easily without having to remember which wire or timer does what.

 

[NTP66]

On top of the fact that the Apex line is outstanding, there are a ton of helpful people on this forum (RussM, for starters) who regularly respond to questions in the Apex forum.

 

[biglurr54]

Could i get away with an Apex Jr?

 

[Midnightt]

You could. But, you have to ask yourself what your going to do with it. If your gonna control pumps, lights, or something else through the Variable speed port your probably better of going with the regular Apex. It would prevent you from having to buy a module or two.

 

[NTP66]

Could i get away with an Apex Jr?

Probably not on the Jr., no. Some of the stuff you want to do would require a breakout box, which you'd need modules for. If you went straight to the normal Apex, you get more bang for your buck in this case.

I personally use my Apex Jr. for the following:

• LED lights (simple on/off timer)
• Powerheads (2, on/off)
• Heaters (tank and sump)

I have my return pump, skimmer, and ATO on a separate dedicated circuit and not controlled by the Apex (don't really need it to). I run an Avast Marine ATO with an Aqualifter, so I let the Avast handle turning the pump on/off. Works perfectly for my application.

 

[kbriers]

you could. But, you have to ask yourself what your going to do with it. If your gonna control pumps, lights, or something else through the variable speed port your probably better of going with the regular apex. It would prevent you from having to buy a module or two.

+1

 

[ravi197699]

I have Neptune Apex and every time if i need their support i was able to call them and in some cases they take over my computer and fix the issue. They always provide best customer support and warranty is outstanding.

 

[Midnightt]

i have neptune apex and every time if i need their support i was able to call them and in some cases they take over my computer and fix the issue. They always provide best customer support and warranty is outstanding.

+1