To apex or not...

[neiltus]

Not new to the hobby, but have been away for 20 years.

Setting up a Reefer 350-48" mixed tank. I am on the fence re an Apex controller. I know a lot of people use them and love them...but am concerned about bringing more technology into this than I need. I already stare at a computer for work, and am really turned off when I have to 'babysit' technology.

I have seen threads where people have issues with a controller, not singling out apex, and the frustration, lack of support, etc, is a big turn-off.

Equipment so far:
Red Dragon 50w
2x Kessil 360w
2x Tunze 6095
BK skimmer

So, if I were to get an Apex to control the lights and heads, would it just be more of a PITA than controlling them through their native controllers (7096 and the kessil remote)?

Just thinking long and hard regarding a big purchase....

 

[davehead86]

If all your doing is getting one for lights and power heads it's a giant waste of money.

You need to start using it for heaters and ph and temp and orp and controllers and dosing before you should worry about an apex


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CarrieB]

I got one to monitor my heaters and to send me email when something goes wrong. I'm away at weekends a lot so that alone was worth it. I figure I'll get around to playing with more features eventually.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[1jwampler]

IMO Apex is the one investment you can make that limits babysitting the tank. Not sure I'd go new Apex their support is awful and I have read lots of issues. You can probably grab a great deal on Gold. Witch conductivity, pH, ORP and Temp you get a lot of information about your tank and can make more educated decisions about maintenance intervals based on facts rather than guesses, nothing is perfect but, it's nice to take a vacation and be able to know if you need an expert to assist whoever is taking care of your tank.

The above said it pains me to recommend Apex because they lack customer appreciation and satisfaction, but, they make a good controller.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[neiltus]

I got one to monitor my heaters and to send me email when something goes wrong. I'm away at weekends a lot so that alone was worth it. I figure I'll get around to playing with more features eventually.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So if a heater gets stuck on, it alerts you...smart...

...I am curious how you would receive an alert if the power is off to the tank and unit?

I like the idea of using dos to do some kalk while are are out of town

 

[neiltus]

Would a libra dover take the place of a DOS pump or other pump?

 

[gone fishin]

I do not have an Apex. If I got one I might like it. I use a ranco temp controller with my heaters, simple light timers for my dosing pumps, lights are programmable and powerheads have their own controller.

 

[CarrieB]

...I am curious how you would receive an alert if the power is off to the tank and unit?

If the power is off to the unit (or your internet connection) there's no way for it to let you know unless you have some sort of battery backup. It will tell you that power was off when it comes back up. If you put the Apex on a separate circuit than your other equipment, it will tell you if the tank gets too cold because of a ground fault trip.

In my case, a couple weeks after I set it up I went to England for two weeks. One week in, I started getting low temperature emails (and texts). I sent my daughter to look at the tank and change the heater. Unfortunately, what had happened was that the tank had cracked and drained completely. Lost my fish, but I was able to teach my son in law how to make saltwater over the phone and he rescued the live rock and the inverts. It was awful but not nearly as bad as coming home to an empty and rotting tank.

What I didn't do was set up a camera, which apex also supports. Will do that before the next vacation. Just put water in the new tank this weekend. Yay!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CarrieB]

It can also send you an email if you get a leak if you set up a water detector on the floor. Also on my list, for obvious reasons.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[homer1475]

I never thought I would use all the features in an apex either, until I bought one!

Now I have 3 EB'8, the breakout box, jeabo controller, vortech controller, VDM module, several float switches, etc, etc.

My apex controls nearly everything about my tank. I'm not sure how I ever ran a tank without one.

 

[hkgar]

If you get a Apex and want notifications if power is out you can register with www.reeftronics.net and if your Apex does not communicate for an hour reeftronics sends you an email. It does requiring port forwarding. I am not real bright around computers but got it done. Here is my tank as seen at https://www.reeftronics.net/ga/gary-k/apex-history

If you get an Apex, imho, the best first add on would be the ALD (Auto leak detect). If have it and it shuts down all water handling equipment (pumps, dosers skimmer, etc) and sends an email.

If you haven't had a flood yet, that just means you are that many days closer to your first.

 

[neiltus]

Gary...appreciate you posting that. That looks like an excellent interface to monitor.

I appreciate the responses. I will probably pull the trigger on the 'classic' version tonight. The single largest utility for me would be the ability to have conditional statements related to dosing Kalk or 2-part. I am personally not keen in the dose through ATP method or just letting something drip unattended overnight.

There older power strip has two relay plugs, do the other plugs allow power monitoring?

Anyone know if the ability to control Kessil 360 and Tunze 6095 is the same as their native controllers or do you loose some functions/abilities via the limits of the programming interface?

 

[homer1475]

The old apex, or classic does not monitor power consumption per outlet, It only measure the total consumption for all the outlets, or per EB8.

 

[hkgar]

Gary...appreciate you posting that. That looks like an excellent interface to monitor.

I appreciate the responses. I will probably pull the trigger on the 'classic' version tonight. The single largest utility for me would be the ability to have conditional statements related to dosing Kalk or 2-part. I am personally not keen in the dose through ATP method or just letting something drip unattended overnight.

There older power strip has two relay plugs, do the other plugs allow power monitoring?

Anyone know if the ability to control Kessil 360 and Tunze 6095 is the same as their native controllers or do you loose some functions/abilities via the limits of the programming interface?

Apex does give you all the graphs that you see on Reeftronics.

 

[1jwampler]

So if a heater gets stuck on, it alerts you...smart...

...I am curious how you would receive an alert if the power is off to the tank and unit?

I like the idea of using dos to do some kalk while are are out of town

Low cost / free way to know about a power failure or internet connection failure is sign up for a reeftronics.net account (low because everyone who uses it should donate something to Russ).

There is a power adapter/ups option to both tell you about the power failure and you can use apex to turn off all but critical items and or slow down pumps to make your ups last longer. You can buy a ups that could run apex an a powerhead for at least 24 hours for about $100.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BigEZ77]

I only use a junior as a heater controller and to shut off everything I need to when feeding with just one button.

 

[ReefCowboy]

Sooner or later you will end up getting a comtroller. I have gotten the Apex Jr, to sell it 2 months later and buy a full apex. Controllers are piece of mind, it allows you to enjoy more the tank

 

[ScubaNemo]

Not new to the hobby, but have been away for 20 years.

Setting up a Reefer 350-48" mixed tank. I am on the fence re an Apex controller. I know a lot of people use them and love them...but am concerned about bringing more technology into this than I need. I already stare at a computer for work, and am really turned off when I have to 'babysit' technology.

I have seen threads where people have issues with a controller, not singling out apex, and the frustration, lack of support, etc, is a big turn-off.

Equipment so far:
Red Dragon 50w
2x Kessil 360w
2x Tunze 6095
BK skimmer

So, if I were to get an Apex to control the lights and heads, would it just be more of a PITA than controlling them through their native controllers (7096 and the kessil remote)?

Just thinking long and hard regarding a big purchase....

I have the reefer 350 too and can't imagine my tank without it. Peace of mind not to mention that a couple of days after installing the Neptune detector I was in the office and got a warning leak text message from apex that there is a leak, came home and found that one if my reactor hoses was loose and it saved my tank and my apartment from flooding! I was able to turn off the return pump and keep the WAVs power heads on to avoid feeding the leak. That's so worth it for me. Especially when I'm not home and can tell if everything is working correctly or not or control things.

 

[LefkoNJ]

Probes and power control are the best thing about the controllers. Being able to set things like if pH is above 8.3 then turn off ALK dosing pump. Stuff like that and the sync of lights and pumps is fantastic. I am a really believer in the controller.

 

[malx]

Got an Apex gold, never going back. Possibilities are endless.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk