Neptune Apex. Worth it and your thoughts?

[mikeatjac]

I travel a lot so for me it is a life saver. Tried the tank sitter and it ended up being a disaster.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I travel a lot so for me it is a life saver. Tried the tank sitter and it ended up being a disaster.

We travel a lot as well. And the cat sitter has taken on the aquarium work as well. If they have half a brain, a smartphone and you leave them with foolproof instructions, it works fine. But being able to monitor the tank while away is a nice feature, but still not worth $500+ to me.

 

[ReefCowboy]

Apex is awesome. I never thought controllers were wirth the money until i got a Jr as a gift and quickly sold it for a full unit.
Get it

 

[hkgar]

Monitors PH, Salinity, Temp and ORP.
Controls temp
Controls PH (alk) of Calcium Reactor
Controls Carbon (vinegar/vodka) dosing over a 24 hour period
Controls and shuts down my RO System when storage is full
Controls return pump for shut down at feeding time of automatic feeders and 1 manual feeding.
Shuts down skimmer whenever return pump is is off.
Manages and controls the auto water change system
Monitors for leaks with 3 strategically placed dampness detectors.
Shuts down ALL systems that move liquid (Ca Reactor, return pump, skimmer ATO, AWC, carbon dosing) and sends me an email.
Controls the lighting on off of my ATS
Controls the lighting on off of my frag tank
Sends me an email when anything is outside parameters or just goes wrong
Sounds an alarm when anything is outside parameters or just goes wrong, although you need to be in the same room to hear the alarm. It would not wake you up.

I think that's it.

 

[kalare]

We travel a lot as well. And the cat sitter has taken on the aquarium work as well. If they have half a brain, a smartphone and you leave them with foolproof instructions, it works fine. But being able to monitor the tank while away is a nice feature, but still not worth $500+ to me.

We get it, you don't like it or feel it's not worth it. No reason to come in here and negate everyone else's reason for liking it.

I'm a cheap cheap man, never wanted to pay for anything and have DIY'd everything from skimmers, to tanks, to lights (from halide/vho years ago to led recently). I finally broke down this last year and purchased a new Apex. I had a hard time giving my credit card over...and then it sat in my closet for two months cause I was too lazy to set it up.

Once I set it up, I can't imagine running a tank without it. Makes everything so much easier. Two pH probes run tank pH and calcium reactor pH, temp monitoring, chiller if you need it, flow, leak detection, possibilities are endless. Necessary? Not at all, and I survived over 20 years with no controllers at all, but definitely all tanks moving forward, for me, will have one (or a similar controller).

 

[hkgar]

Oh yeah, it also allows me to record all my testing results to track and see trends or developing problems.

 

[greg683x]

A quick point about the single point of failure. Most folks are already operating on a single point of failure.....a circuit breaker. They go bad too, just like a relay or a board on a controller. The smart thing to do if you have a large reef is to have two circuits and split the equipment up, but I guarantee you 80% of hobbyists are just using one circuit, and on top of that it's probably not even a dedicated one. its kind of hard not to have a single point of failure doing what we do unless you have your tank hooked up to a power source with a battery operated ups.

Now all that being said I don't know the failure rate of apex controllers they could be very high, in which case it's not worth the money. Someone said there's horror stories but I promise you there's horror stories of a bad circuit breaker or bad gfi that tripped while they're away from home

I don't work for apex, and I actually prefer the old fashion way at least until they eliminate test kits, but single point of failure isn't something to be nervous about unless there's a big track record of it, bc most likely you're already operating on a single point of failure

 

[Ajae]

I love mine and wouldn't ever think about running one without one again. ON the other hand by this point you should be able to find a used one on CL or maybe even a jr. The "new" apex may be a little to expensive for a 45gallon. On the other hand a lot of equipment comes with some from of automation now so you may be able to do a lot of it with stand alone stuff. for exsample a lot of ATOs don't require the use of a aqua controller. Avast Marine makes a great ATO that doesn't have moving parts and comes with it's own plug for the pump.

 

[JohnnyHildo]

We travel a lot as well. And the cat sitter has taken on the aquarium work as well. If they have half a brain, a smartphone and you leave them with foolproof instructions, it works fine. But being able to monitor the tank while away is a nice feature, but still not worth $500+ to me.

well great for you that you don't have to spend the $500 because you already have one. before you pass judgement on it you should give it a shot... i guarantee that you don't take it down if an honest attempt is given.

 

[deleau]

Hey guys, so I've been debating on pulling the trigger on a new Neptune Apex with EB8 controller for a few weeks for my 45 cube. A close friend of mine has one on his 120 I helped program and set up so I know a bit about them and how awesome they are. However, I was just wondering if you think they are really worth the $$$$ and would you consider it a tool that has made your tank evolve further then it would have without it?

Also with all the features and control it has what are the most used aspects of it you use the most frequently? Is it something you use and/or depend on daily? Would you buy another if you had the option?

PS.. I know people, myself included, who fork out the money for things HATE admitting they bought something they easily could have gone without or wasted money. Please try and be as unbiased as possible if your one of those people.

Thanks and merry Christmas

On the big tank out front, I have an Apex and it is used/depended on daily. The main "daily" uses are knowing that there are multiple safeguards in place should something go wrong (temperature/heater control, leak detectors, pH probe in Ca reactors, etc.).

One aspect that I don't think anyone has mentioned is the ability to log test measurements (and even do calculations based on the brand of test kit used...enter in the Hanna Alk reading and it auto converts to dKH).

Almost everything that it does can (and sometimes is) done elsewhere, but I think the benefit is being able to aggregate all that into one system.

Is it worth it?

On the big tank (which has tens of thousands of dollars of investment in equipment/livestock), the cost of an Apex is almost a rounding error at this point.

On my 40b mantis tank, no. I cannot see myself buying a controller for that tank.

Would I buy another?

At this point, I don't see a need in upgrading what I have to the new version, but when I set up my next tank (planning a 200+ gallon FOWLR), I will most certainly get one.

 

[Potatohead]

I don't have one, but I do consider jumping in from time to time. IMO I do have things pretty well automated from a perspective of not having one.

Lights - Used to use the AI app, have since went to A Sunpower and I don't see any advantage to a controller here, they're either one or off.

Powerheads - Wireless Vortechs with Reeflink will do anything I need and very simply controlled from my phone if needed.

Return pump/skimmer - Just switch off at powerbar. Used a Reef Octopus delay timer for the skimmer so it doesn't turn on for five minutes after switching powerbar back on.

ATO - I use the Hydor system which is pretty failsafe and has built in alarms

Heaters - I use an Inkbird controller which again has several failsafes

Doser - GHL,again everything I need is online or on the app.


The other thing I would like is ph and salinity monitoring, but no big deal. I also don't know if I am overseas which is at least once a year, if I want to be notified something is wrong. It could very easily wreck my whole vacation, lol. The one thing that will probably get me to buy a controller though is alk monitoring, once that is set up and reliable, that is an amazing tool, I imagine we will see it maybe before the end of the year.

 

[hkgar]

Powerheads - Wireless Vortechs with Reeflink will do anything I need and very simply controlled from my phone if needed.

Return pump/skimmer - Just switch off at powerbar. Used a Reef Octopus delay timer for the skimmer so it doesn't turn on for five minutes after switching powerbar back on.

For feeding time ( 4 times per day) Apex shuts off the return pump, the skimmer and changes the flow rate from the Vortechs to 30% and also changes from Reef crest to lagoon. Then the auto feeders drop the food and I can just sit and watch. At lights out Apex will slowly change the flow rate of the vortechs. I can have it drop from 80% to 40% over a couple of hours and then slowly bring it back up in the morning. Much greater flexibilty over the Vortechs.

I no longer have AI (went back to mh/t5) but the Apex controlled my Hydra's.

 

[Punchanello]

I know I'm resurrecting an oldish thread here but it's a question I'm asking myself.

The things that bother me, as someone new to reef aquariums, are:

1. A limited number of products are compatible and some of those are only compatible after you buy an expensive (especially in AU$) add on module. Surely in this day and age an operating system can handle some plug and play flexibility without adding hardware? It seems a little cynical.

2. Related to number 1, and not really the Apex's fault, but I don't like a piece of control hardware dictating the products I want to use. Same reason I prefer Android to Mac.

3. It tests for some things out of the box, some you have to pay extra for and very few of either are what I'd be looking at if logging in halfway across the world to check on the welfare of my tank.

4. When you consider what your average smart phone, lap top or tablet can do at a cost of $1000, the cost of an Apex seems really, really high. To be fair on this point though, all aquarium controllers I've looked at to date seem overpriced.

This is all from a newbie's perspective though, and because I love gadgets, I'd dearly like to be convinced to part with the cash.

 

[Punchanello]

.....all that said, if the DoS units weren't AU$700 ($500 US wtvf!) each and could actually dose Mag, Cal and Alk at the same time without the need to buy a second $700 unit, I'd be in. Like a flash. Take my damn money.

 

[hkgar]

Give yourself time and you will begin to understand. To be considered - most of those who are using pumps to dose to not dose Mag with a pump because the uptake of Mag by corals is quite low and needs no more than a weekly or bi-weekly dose.