Neptune Apex 2016 Reviews??

[Psionicdragon]

Any reviews so far?

I am looking to get one, but after reading the issues people are having on their forum..I am a bit hesitant.

 

[mikeatjac]

They had some units with a bad chip in them. They have corrected that problem and everyone seems happy now. After playing around with several different controllers I have picked the new Apex. It can do just about anything and Fusion makes it easy to program.

 

[Psionicdragon]

They had some units with a bad chip in them. They have corrected that problem and everyone seems happy now. After playing around with several different controllers I have picked the new Apex. It can do just about anything and Fusion makes it easy to program.

So a step up from the older APEX then right? Did they replace all stock or does some reseller have the old stocks?

 

[ReefCowboy]

Neptune has made an announcement stating if you buy it from an online source you will get a bug free unit, since the previous ones were swapped and had the problematic part replaced.

If you buy it from a store, you could run the risk of buying an older unit still from the first batch.

You are safe to buy it although I would make sure you get it from an online source such as Saltwateraquarium.com or BRS.

I had one of the very first units to be shipped and it failed along with a replacement brain unit.
I returned it and am ordering it again.

When I had my unit and it was running problems free I was pleased as the EB832 and overall system is really nice.

 

[mikeatjac]

So a step up from the older APEX then right? Did they replace all stock or does some reseller have the old stocks?

I just ordered mine yesterday from an online store and asked to make sure it was a checked unit. However I have played with one and yes it is a big step up from the classic model. I wanted to monitor the draw on each outlet, no problem. Setting up DOS was a breeze, you have a great cloud system and a lot of options to pick from. Fusion has really come of it's own.

 

[CHSUB]

hopefully one can give an opinion in this thread, unlike the cerebra thread, without being called a "hater", told to "STOP" by the "man", or threatened with legal action up to and including jail time?

i returned my new apex because it wouldn't work right, so my first impressions are "juke"; however, i plan on getting one again soon.

 

[Chet31]

My quick feedback on the new Apex 2016 controller -
- I have had it up and running for the past few weeks. No issues so far.
- Setup was a lot easier unlike the previous generation (at least for me - maybe since I had done it before?)
- Love the powerbar's ability to report power usage for each socket
- Hate the fact they removed the display unit. You have the option to pick up one for $100. Silver lining - you can get a amazon fire for $49 and setup a much better display
- Like that the new probes are longer lasting...

 

[mikeatjac]

My quick feedback on the new Apex 2016 controller -
- I have had it up and running for the past few weeks. No issues so far.
- Setup was a lot easier unlike the previous generation (at least for me - maybe since I had done it before?)
- Love the powerbar's ability to report power usage for each socket
- Hate the fact they removed the display unit. You have the option to pick up one for $100. Silver lining - you can get a amazon fire for $49 and setup a much better display
- Like that the new probes are longer lasting...

I got a iPad mini I am going to use. Easier to navigate then the old Apex display.

 

[LXXero]

I've been avoiding saying anything, because I don't have it yet and I'd been going back and forth over whether to get an apex or the cerebra, but I do have a new apex on pre-order and I was just notified today it's expected to arrive tuesday. From what I've heard, all the new orders going out should be latest and greatest and all fixes applied, so I'm expecting it all to just work. Fingers crossed.

I don't miss the fact they don't include that controller. I literally spent like an hour trying to figure out what the hell that display was trying to tell me on the old apex, it was about the least intuitive interface ever. I think a tablet would be a much better solution, and I have an old ipad and an android tablet both in this same room with me as the tank, so I'm pretty good I think...

I'm adding a "door bell button" to my apex as well, may just use it as a "Feed" mode type thing, or just as a pump on/off button. Gonna use one of the ports on my new custom breakout box that this guy is making now that supports optical float switches: https://www.facebook.com/FunFishyStuff/

I also got 4 optical float switches in hand. I guess apex was planning to release something like this eventually, but i am impatient, and this gives me 4 optical float switches for pretty damn cheap, that can be doubled up with regular float switches in parallel, so you can have 4 optical+4 reed, i'm totally stoked to try that out. I'm planning to do a DIY auto-topoff eventually, but initially, i'm going to tune it to act as an emergency shutoff for my pumps and heaters.

I'm still considering that PMUP thing they just released to be my pump for this, depending on how much it costs. If it's more than $50-80, i'm probably going to just buy a high-end peristaltic pump instead...

 

[Kyl]

PMUP MAP is $40 USD

 

[LXXero]

PMUP MAP is $40 USD

oh that's not too bad. i wonder how soon it'll really be available. i'll have to keep an eye out.

I maybe spent $100 for this optical float sensor setup so far. I'm curious what the "official" apex version will cost, and whether it'll have that many sensors.

I still need to figure out a container for the ATO water.

 

[ca1ore]

I have played with one and yes it is a big step up from the classic model. I wanted to monitor the draw on each outlet, no problem.

In what ways is it a 'step up'? Monitoring power draw by outlet seems like one of those things useful in concept ... but not in practice. I've been noodling upgrading, but can't really seem to find any really good reasons to do so yet.

 

[jason2459]

If they came out with a pmup with same gph as the mj1200 and a return like the vectra L1 I would jump on them and a 1 link for sure.

 

[jason2459]

In what ways is it a 'step up'? Monitoring power draw by outlet seems like one of those things useful in concept ... but not in practice. I've been noodling upgrading, but can't really seem to find any really good reasons to do so yet.

Same here for my 180. I have no use for a 1 link, yet. Which is another built in advantage of the new eb.

 

[mikeatjac]

In what ways is it a 'step up'? Monitoring power draw by outlet seems like one of those things useful in concept ... but not in practice. I've been noodling upgrading, but can't really seem to find any really good reasons to do so yet.

Recently had a return pump go bad, intermittent, I think I could have been proactive and caught it sooner if I saw the power draw changing.

 

[LXXero]

i'm actually super stoked about the power monitoring. In fact, I went through a heck of a lot of hassle just to have that feature. I know for a fact heater and pump failure detection would benefit greatly from this. Truth be told, I actually bought the original apex about 2 weeks before they announced the new one, I was pretty ****ed. I ended up selling it on ebay. I held off buying the new one cause I was also really tempted by the cerebra after all that frustration, but I still went with the apex in the end because I felt it's more what i'm looking for right now (cerebra cloud isn't really ready yet...etc...)

I'm not sure whether I'll need 1link or not, but even if I don't buy apex's own crap, I can still use the 24V for other stuff, and I may do just that. I was thinking of buying one of these

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CGSHR2S/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AFHAE9RJVUMB

then you could drive 12v stuff off the 24v port. I could imagine that making it immensely more useful. I was thinking of maybe driving a peristaltic pump off the 12v...as opposed to the PMUP, but if the PMUP really comes in at $40 then i might go for that, I was looking at like $100 peristaltic pumps...plus the cost of the converter, you could just buy a 12v power supply for nearly the same price...it's a crapshoot. it'd save an outlet, AND it's switchable, so for those reasons alone it could still potentially be useful. You could drive almost any DC device off of it with the right voltage converter....I think up to 35w?

I'm also a holdout for their return pump, really curious how that works out. I just don't see the 1link stuff providing enough power for a return pump, maybe for the wav's but for a proper return pump i could see it just being inadequate. I do wonder if that's why there's so much delay on this COR pump or whatever they're calling their return pump...i'd still like to see what their official ATO solution looks like too, even though i'm building my own...

 

[jason2459]

Great point on the individual outlet monitoring and that would be nice.

What I don't like about the dc power supply in there is the heat it could generate. Looks like it includes a small fan which I know will burn out and I really would rather not want to worry about it. For my application with the tank this would go on having several external power supplies or wall warts don't bother me.

I do like how the outlets are oriented away from each other now on the new eb836.

 

[LXXero]

i've replaced enough of those dinky little fans to know that they will usually squeal pretty bad before they die, so I'm sure I'd have plenty of time to replace it. I'm not really too concerned about it though.

I'm gonna try to actually make use of that 24v though, so i don't think it'll go to waste. I'm curious if the fan is temperature controlled. I may explore that.

 

[jason2459]

i've replaced enough of those dinky little fans to know that they will usually squeal pretty bad before they die, so I'm sure I'd have plenty of time to replace it. I'm not really too concerned about it though.

I'm gonna try to actually make use of that 24v though, so i don't think it'll go to waste. I'm curious if the fan is temperature controlled. I may explore that.

It would be nice if it's not on all the time especially if the DC power supply in there isn't used.

I've heard enough of those dinky little fans to know when they are going out and lazy enough to let them die. :smokin:

 

[LXXero]

http://www.superfeederstore.com/asf-1-aquarium-feeder-basic/

yet another thing i could drive from 24v. Interesting....An alternative to the apex feeder maybe? Just learned about this in another thread, but seems like it'd be yet another thing you could drive from 24v.