Aqua controller

sean9_man · Jun 3, 2014

Hi guys,

I was wondering if someone could recommend me a few decent aquarium controllers as I'm away from home a few days a week and I worry about my tank so much when I'm gone. Luckily nothing has happened yet but I fear the day will come and I want to avoid it.

Now I hear the Apex is good. Is there anything else that is close to it? Any advice would be great.

Thanks in advance!

Jimbo662 · Jun 3, 2014

I've been using the apex for a couple of months now and love it. With your traveling the Fusion control interface would be perfect for you. You can monitor just about anything (depending on which version you buy and what options you add to it) and connect a webcam so you can see what's going on with it also. With Fusion you're also able to make any changes to the programming you want.

Alabamareef · Jun 3, 2014

Apex is a great controller. Not really user friendly for the programing but you can get lots of help and after a while it's not so bad. I would not be without one. FYI I would also have a good friend that could come fix anything when your apex sends you a text telling you something is wrong.

sean9_man · Jun 3, 2014

Yeah it just seems very complicated but I'm sure after a bit of time I'll get use to it. It doesn't seem to monitor magnesium, calcium or dkh though?

sean9_man · Jun 3, 2014

Sorry guys, one more question. When you say make changes to the program. What do u mean? Like with changing the timing of the lights etc? Thanks for the info. It's very helpful!

sean9_man · Jun 3, 2014

Is the digital aquatics one any good as well? It looks quite good too.

Jimbo662 · Jun 3, 2014

Fusion makes the programming a lot easier. I'd set mine up before fusion was released as open beta and had to learn all the programming. Now you just go into fusion, click the little gear icon for a component and make the change. Neptune has a community forum where you can find all the help you need just like R2R.

sean9_man · Jun 3, 2014

I'm in between the apex and digital aquatics now but it seems everyone is using apex so I guess that would be the safest and wisest choice to make...

nlipner · Jun 3, 2014

I have the apex and I'm a techie so it's really another part of the hobby that's fun. I have extensive programming and a ton of sensors so the tank is totally tricked out, not just to deal with the tank when the temp or ph become a problem (I.E shut down the heat generating things if the chiller fails, adjust the calc reactor if the ph gets weird, etc), but to do the little things like turn off the led's when I lift the lid so I'm not blinded, turn on the cabinet lights when I open the door, aerate the ato water periodically, notify me when the skimmer is full, etc. I even have a little $10 LED disco light on top that activates instead of the built in annoying alarm so my wife doesn't get get bothered by the noise but someone in the house has to notice it when I'm travelling, etc. I'm working now on an automatic Phyto feeder, am hooking up a $20 peristaltic pump to 2 different outlets to reverse the pump and backflush the lines after each feeding.

Railcar79 · Jun 3, 2014

I got apex, not a fan of it, but it is more reliable than the digital aquatics I wasted my money on last year.

tigerdragon · Jun 3, 2014

Controller

I have the apex and mine is setup atm to monitor 2 tanks with fusion made programming a snap

sean9_man · Jun 3, 2014

Railcar79 said:
I got apex, not a fan of it, but it is more reliable than the digital aquatics I wasted my money on last year.

What is so much better about the apex? I'm living in Hk so they don't have anywhere that sells them here except online.

sean9_man · Jun 3, 2014

nlipner said:
I have the apex and I'm a techie so it's really another part of the hobby that's fun. I have extensive programming and a ton of sensors so the tank is totally tricked out, not just to deal with the tank when the temp or ph become a problem (I.E shut down the heat generating things if the chiller fails, adjust the calc reactor if the ph gets weird, etc), but to do the little things like turn off the led's when I lift the lid so I'm not blinded, turn on the cabinet lights when I open the door, aerate the ato water periodically, notify me when the skimmer is full, etc. I even have a little $10 LED disco light on top that activates instead of the built in annoying alarm so my wife doesn't get get bothered by the noise but someone in the house has to notice it when I'm travelling, etc. I'm working now on an automatic Phyto feeder, am hooking up a $20 peristaltic pump to 2 different outlets to reverse the pump and backflush the lines after each feeding.

That sounds very cool but I don't think I'm smart enough to do all the cool tweaks like you!

gojk · Jun 3, 2014

I have the DA on 2 tanks right now and compared to the other controllers they are way behind the times. I would go with the Apex if I had to do it again.

Railcar79 · Jun 3, 2014

DA is barely workable online, their probes are terrible, I went through 5 temp probes in 5 months, their system is ok if you are there to monitor it, but I wouldn't trust it to run a goldfish bowl on its own.

Yose-Reef · Jun 3, 2014

Digital Aquatics RKE and RKL. Love them both!

Railcar79 · Jun 3, 2014

I will say this much, I had a problem with my RKL, missing the probes and cables. Took me almost 2 months to reach support, finally got a phone number. When I called it, turns out that they have 1 support technician for the entire company. The lady I reached was on her personal cellphone. After getting the missing parts, and calling once a month for bad probes that would not hold calibration (probe read 76.7 degrees and the tank was at 82.3, another time read 79.3 and it was at 73.2) I bought apex and dropped the RKL at a huge discounts t to the first person with cash in hand. sold the entire setup at a $130 loss, better than the couple thousand dollars worth of fish and corals lost due to bad probes. DA should be DOA.