Apex saves the day (but have a question)

[MichaelReefer]

So I woke up this morning, getting ready for my normal 11-12 hour work day day... And notice a notification on my phone from my new Apex (got it last week, still waiting on my Trident)

I then went to my tank and couldn't figure out what was going on. No dead fish floating in the tank (obviously if it was .10 salt everything would be dead). I look in my return chamber and low and behold, my water level was barely above the return pump... For some reason my ATO wasn't triggering. Turns out the optic was dirty... My worry now though is it looks like my PH and temp is working correctly but my Salt reader is now showing 30.5 compared to 35. Is it normal that apex is "re calibrating" or something, or could it have been damaged from drying out over night?

 

[count krunk]

I'm not sure if it's damaged, I would think not, but good idea to move your probes out of the return section and to somewhere that doesn't have a chance of running dry

 

[MichaelReefer]

I'm not sure if it's damaged, I would think not, but good idea to move your probes out of the return section and to somewhere that doesn't have a chance of running dry

I'm mainly concerned that my salt is only showing 30.60 when I know its higher than that. Was showing 35 before bed.

Yeah, I think I am going to move them in the skimmer section. In this case though it actually is a good thing because I would of been gone for 12 hours and wouldn't of known the return section ran dry.

 

[piranhaman00]

Get a Tunze now

 

[MichaelReefer]

Get a Tunze now

Thats what I have. The optic got dirty and didnt trigger my ATO to kick on apparently and I didnt notice my top off container wasnt dropping.

 

[homer1475]

Apex salinity probes is flaky at best. I would not base anything off it's reading.

I actually threw mine away because it would never read properly.

 

[Jeffcb]

I'm mainly concerned that my salt is only showing 30.60 when I know its higher than that. Was showing 35 before bed.

Yeah, I think I am going to move them in the skimmer section. In this case though it actually is a good thing because I would of been gone for 12 hours and wouldn't of known the return section ran dry.

Careful with placement in the skimmer section. I had an issue with my salt probe slowly dropping salt reading from 35 to about 30. After discussing it with apex they explained the any air bubbles near the probe will make the salt reading drop. Any conductivity near the probe will also. I do have a ground probe so I don't think that was it. They suggested not having near the heater as well. It was near the UV water exit tube. I moved the probe to my refugium and haven't had a problem since.

 

[JCOLE]

What was the alert notification that you recieved from the Apex?

Also, I don't trust those eyes for that reason. I have been using 2 float switches(for redundancy) connected to an I/O port, that triggers a solenoid on my RODI reservoir for over two years without a hitch. Sometimes mechanical switches can be a good thing.

 

[jassermd]

Apex salinity probes is flaky at best. I would not base anything off it's reading.

I actually threw mine away because it would never read properly.

Careful with placement in the skimmer section. I had an issue with my salt probe slowly dropping salt reading from 35 to about 30. After discussing it with apex they explained the any air bubbles near the probe will make the salt reading drop. Any conductivity near the probe will also. I do have a ground probe so I don't think that was it. They suggested not having near the heater as well. It was near the UV water exit tube. I moved the probe to my refugium and haven't had a problem since.

Agree with both of the above comments. The salinity (conductivity) probe is not 100%... bubbles, debris can interfere with the reading.
Do yourself a favor and buy a second confirmation tool, such as the Hanna salinity checker. I've had readings on my Apex salinity probe as low as 30 and as high as 39 when the SG read 1.025 in each case.

Oh and you may want to recalibrate the Apex probe with their standard solution.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[MichaelReefer]

What was the alert notification that you recieved from the Apex?

Also, I don't trust those eyes for that reason. I have been using 2 float switches(for redundancy) connected to an I/O port, that triggers a solenoid on my RODI reservoir for over two years without a hitch. Sometimes mechanical switches can be a good thing.

Said that my PH, Salt and Temp was low.

Yeah, I am going to have to make it a religious act to wipe it off every few weeks I guess.

It looks like its slowing going up. Shows 30.9 now. Not sure if maybe it takes time? Or there is an air bubble? Will have to check tonight.

 

[jassermd]

I would recommend taking all 3 probes and rinsing them in RO and then in saltwater. I've called Neptune re: probes and this is what they recommended before taking any action.
It's likely that they ran dry and what you're seeing is normal.

 

[Jeffcb]

Agree with both of the above comments. The salinity (conductivity) probe is not 100%... bubbles, debris can interfere with the reading.
Do yourself a favor and buy a second confirmation tool, such as the Hanna salinity checker. I've had readings on my Apex salinity probe as low as 30 and as high as 39 when the SG read 1.025 in each case.

Oh and you may want to recalibrate the Apex probe with their standard solution.

Just my 2 cents...

I know it sounds funny but makes since. My tank is at 35. The Apex tech told me if salt is at 35 just calibrate it in the tank. And I agree that it is not a device you should measure with but it should tell you if the is some sort of fluctuation.