What advantages would I get from an Apex?

[Ron Reefman]

I've been in the hobby for over 10 years and my current tanks have been running for 3 to 5 years. There is a 400g system with a 180g sps/lps reef, a 75g hex tank with Gorgonians and a 180g sump/refugium/DSB. The other system is 200g with a 65g shallow reef, a 20g frag tank and a 120g sump/refugium. I keep thinking about getting an Apex but I don't see a lot of up side to buying one.

My leds have built-in controllers, so do my DC return pumps, wave maker pumps and dosing pumps. My chillers and heaters have thermostats that maintain water temps between 77 and 80 degrees. The main system has 2 dedicated power lines with separate breakers and at the tank there are 8 electronic on/off timers and 8 more on/off switches. My pH is stable enough I never test for it, or ammonia, nitrate or phosphate for that matter. I have big sumps and big refugiums on both systems. I test for Ca & alk every 2 or 4 weeks and Mg every couple of months and they are pretty stable as well. I don't have an auto top off system as that would require new plumbing, multiple RO/di units or huge water containers (I add about 2 gallons per day to each system).

I'm retired so I'm home a lot because my wife still works (a few more years) and our vacations tend to be 3-5 day long weekends. Our cat sitter comes twice a day while we are gone and she feeds the tank and does the water top off.

So what advantages does an Apex give me? Any feedback will be appreciated. And a list of the 1, 2 or 3 top things your Apex does for you would be great way to help me understand.

 

[slief]

After over 5 years of using an Apex and more than 15 years of using my first Generation Neptune Aqua Controller Gen 1 before the Apex, I can tell you that I would NEVER run a large system without a great controller like the Apex. I couldn't fathom maintaining and monitoring my tank without it. Stuff happens and my Apex has always been there whether it was a reactor leak that occurred while I was in Europe and saved me from a disaster or an issue with a dosing pump that I was using for my ATO and the Apex notified me of a high sump level. Power outage notifications etc. No way I'd run a big tank with the kind of money I have invested in it without the controller. The controller cost is peanuts compared to what we invest in our tanks between equipment and live stock but the peace of mind that the Apex brings is priceless.

The failsafe capabilities of the Apex alone make it worth it's weight in gold. Especially with the kind of money we have invested in our tanks and even more so if you travel. I use my Apex for ATO control and salinity monitoring is part of my many failsafes. Sump level monitoring beyond ATO is valuable as well. Sump Too High and Sump Too Low are important things to monitor. Especially if you use an ATO or AWC. Too High shuts the skimmer, AWC, and ATO off and sends a notification. Too Low shuts the AWC and Ca Rx feed pump, Co2 and Rx recirc pump off and sends a notification. I also use water on the floor monitoring and monitor multiple areas around the tank including the sump area, adjacent closet where some of my plumbing is and also my shed outside where my RODI and Mixing tanks as well as my Ca Rx are.

One other thing I forgot to mention regarding fail safes is your heaters and even chiller. While those do have their own controller, it's not if but when they fail. Most particularly the heaters. They all fail eventually and having them connected to the Apex can prove to be invaluable. Heaters fail for a variety of reasons but it's generally their thermostat that fails when that happens, they continue to heat the water. The Apex can prevent that scenario and not only shut the heater or chiller off but notify you of the issue. I always recommend having heaters on a secondary controller like an Apex or Ranco for this very reason. I've seen dozens of tanks destroyed as the result of a heater failure and the secondary controller could have prevented all those losses.

Some of the critical things I monitor as part of my failsafe programming:
Salinity (can warn of an ATO or AWC issue)
Sump levels (too high, too low)
ORP (can warn of a potential crash)
pH
Water on the floor/leak detection (4 locations)
Temp
Skimmer overflow via float in skimmer cup

I control my Kessils, my Tunzes, my RD3 230 closed loop pump and all of them are in sycn with each other in terms of flow patterns. The Tunze's are used for surge flow and a number of other flow profiles including a flush cycle that kicks up detritus. When flush cycle kicks in, My RD3 230 kicks up to a high power to help kick up anything that may have settled and send it into my overflow. At night my Tunze's and closed loop all slow down and give the fish some relative calm while saving power. The Apex for pump control, offers so much more control that it makes controllers like the jebao or even the Tunze controller look like a joke. It's really nice to mix things up during the day and calm things down at night. The control over the flow has not only improved the health of my system but it also saves me on power.

If temps get out of line, I get a notification. I also have fans on my light rack that kick on and blow across the water should the temps get too high. My UV filter is shut off should temps get too high. I push a button at my Mixing station and my mixing pump turns on for an hour. My skimmer neck cleaner turns on automatically for 15 seconds once a day. If my return pump is off, my skimmer is turned off and doesn't turn back on until the sump level returns to normal so as to prevent the skimmer from overflowing.

Then there is feed cycles. Some people like to shut pumps off during feeding. Push a button and the pumps of your choice shut off or slow down. I have the Neptune Auto Feeder that I use for supplemental feeding and it's great. I can feed as much and as often as I want automatically or from anywhere in the world with the push of a button my smart phone, iPad or laptop. I also use a Neptune Dos for a thawed frozen food feeder for additional supplemental feeding. That happens once a day but again, I can feed from the push of a button from anywhere.

I throw all this out there as it might give you some additional thoughts as to how you could use an Apex beyond what you are already controlling from multiple interfaces. You could eventually consolidate those to the Apex or just use the Apex as the failsafe for those other devices. Either way, there is obviously a lot more that the Apex brings to the table beyond what you are already controlling separately.

I was a presenter at the MACNA 2015 Neptune Apex User Group meeting. My presentation centered in large part around the implementation and use of fail safes with the Apex. Below is a link to my presentation that includes my notes for each slide. This may be of use to you in terms of making a decision as well as taking full advantage of your Apex should you decide to move forward with one.

Hopefully this link works.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wloqaelxte7auf3/Neptune Presentation.pdf?dl=0