Apex install Nightmare

DiverGirl82 · Nov 30, 2015

Got my apex today and holy crap I feel like I need a masters in engineering to set this thing up. I finally just had to plug everything in and let it run for a while because my tank has been unplugged so long the temp was dropping. I'm so frustrated. My ph probe won't calibrate. I think my salinity probe is calibrated but even though I set it to salinity it's not showing the number in ppm and I don't know how to read the other number. I've got 2 eb8s and I'm sitting here trying to figure out which one is which on fusion. And according to their step by step guide online you're not supposed to plug anything in until you have each outlet programed. Well I can't do that till I figure out which eb8 is which. Oh yeah and with all the plugging and unplugging the control screen device keeps disconnecting from fusion. And as I'm typing this my sump light just turned off for no apparent reason. So frustrated

DiverGirl82 · Nov 30, 2015

And I never had any dinner so I'm getting seriously cranky. And as I was typing that the sump light came back on for no apparent reason.

Ghidellas · Nov 30, 2015

Don't try installing an Apex while hangry!! Ha I'll be getting mine in on Thursday so for right now I am of no help to you but I will definitely be following along and hopefully pick up a few tips for my install. Good luck!!

Naiad · Nov 30, 2015

All I can say is once everything is running it is great. I never got my pH probe calibrated correctly. I just watch for swings. Don't have a salinity probe yet so idk about that. Plan on this taking a few days at least to work all the bugs out. I had things come on and off randomly until I fine tuned all my fail safe parameters.

glweek · Nov 30, 2015

DiverGirl82 said:
And I never had any dinner so I'm getting seriously cranky.

Word of the day: Hangry.

DiverGirl82 · Nov 30, 2015

Can anyone explain the icons? You're supposed to choose an icon for each thing you plug into an outlet. I can't figure out which icon to choose for skimmer. Why is this necessary?

AllSignsPointToFish · Nov 30, 2015

Have you tried YouTube? I haven't looked misled, so it's just a suggestion.

Sabellafella · Nov 30, 2015

Haha if you want to pm me ill help you out, im acually in the middle of changing my settings, its a little complicated at first but youll get the hang of it

DiverGirl82 · Nov 30, 2015

I've watched YouTube videos and I'm reading Neptune's step by step start up guide. I'm also on their forum looking around. I think what's messing me up was trying to start with both eb8s connected. So I started from the beginning with just one. I skipped over all the calibrating for now. I got that eb8 programmed and all plugged in and everything seems to be running. Now I'll work on the second one.

DiverGirl82 · Dec 1, 2015

Ok got both eb8s up and running I have heat and light again thank you Lord. I haven't messed worth any of the fancy set ups yet I just wanted to get my equipment back on.

But here's my set up. I'm no handy girl but I did the best I could. I painted it white to match my stand. It's just propped up being the tank. As you can see I tried to make holes to run the wires through to make it look all neat and tidy but my little battery powered drill just couldn't cut it. Hehe

A friend says he had an electric one I can use tomorrow but after this mess I honestly don't think I want to mess with it for a while. I'm afraid if I unplug anything I won't get it going again. Eventually I'll probably do it though because I'm sick of the spaghetti mess of chords behind the tank. Thanks for the commiseration and help.

Sabellafella · Dec 1, 2015

Oh man thats funny mine is exactly like that ,i think i used the same exact board as you, i used velcro strips and ringed all the wires to atleast try and make it neat lmaoo ill post a pick in 10 mins

Sabellafella · Dec 1, 2015

I mean ura girl so it prob drives you crazy lolol but i tryed to atleast plan it out first on paper, only because i didnt like having everything unplugged, and the one issue i made was i only have 4 inches of space behind a 6 footer and apexfusion does these stupid firmware updates everytime a new module comes out and you litterally have to unplug everything and bring it to a router, you cant do it over wifi

DiverGirl82 · Dec 1, 2015

And after that I don't have a drop of booze in the house. And it's even my night off so I actually could have a drink.

DiverGirl82 · Dec 1, 2015

Sabellafella said:
I mean ura girl so it prob drives you crazy lolol but i tryed to atleast plan it out first on paper, only because i didnt like having everything unplugged, and the one issue i made was i only have 4 inches of space behind a 6 footer and apexfusion does these stupid firmware updates everytime a new module comes out and you litterally have to unplug everything and bring it to a router, you cant do it over wifi

I layed it all out on the board before I started but my drill not being strong enough put a damper in my plans. Unfortunately I didn't realize that I couldn't plug my equipment in until I programmed each outlet.. I figured I'd plug everything in then program it all. I should have read through all the steps before starting.

Sabellafella · Dec 1, 2015

Did you get a wifi adapter yet?

DiverGirl82 said:
I layed it all out on the board before I started but my drill not being strong enough put a damper in my plans. Unfortunately I didn't realize that I couldn't plug my equipment in until I programmed each outlet.. I figured I'd plug everything in then program it all. I should have read through all the steps before starting.

DiverGirl82 · Dec 1, 2015

Ghidellas said:
Don't try installing an Apex while hangry!! Ha I'll be getting mine in on Thursday so for right now I am of no help to you but I will definitely be following along and hopefully pick up a few tips for my install. Good luck!!

Some tips...
There's a card in the box with a link to a website to walk you through the setup. Read through it all first. I was reading the directions but I was reading them as I was doing it. So after I had already plugged everything in I got to the part where it says "do not plug your equipment in yet." Also if you're using more than 1 eb8 or eb4 install them one at a time. I hope you have less frustration than I did.

And I never did find out what the icons were for.

DiverGirl82 · Dec 1, 2015

Sabellafella said:
Did you get a wifi adapter yet?

It's close to my router so I just have it plugged in there

Newtybar · Dec 1, 2015

Mine looks the same as well haha. Same with Sabella, I used velcro strips to tidy tidy it up.

I only have an Apex Jr. and I found it complicated...

Sabellafella · Dec 1, 2015

DiverGirl82 · Dec 1, 2015

Naiad said:
All I can say is once everything is running it is great. I never got my pH probe calibrated correctly. I just watch for swings. Don't have a salinity probe yet so idk about that. Plan on this taking a few days at least to work all the bugs out. I had things come on and off randomly until I fine tuned all my fail safe parameters.

I know it's going to be a huge help to me once I get it all figured out but geez, they sure do make you work for it.