Could I get a little aquarium Controller knowledge?
- Thread starter reeferreefing27
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Flippers4pups
Fins up since 1993
Bump. There's more users with Apex than the GHL, so let's see what others say.
Muttley000
Valuable Member
Kind of Ford vs. Chevy in my opinion. I'm an apex user and like it. In my opinion until you list what you want it to do ranked in order of importance you will just get opinions on who likes what, and grab the popcorn for that lol! What are the 5 most important things you hope to have it do?
Randy Holmes-Farley
Reef Chemist
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R2R Research
My Tank Thread
I’ve never used any of the hobby brand controllers so cannot usefully comment except to say I don’t recommend measuring salinity 24/7 with them. Too many reported problems .
NS Mike D
In the arena.
and what are the things you consider everything? Not only functionality, also specific brand of gear as some products are designed to be used with certain controllers while others are simply controlled with power on and off.
U
User1
Guest
You may get better traction if this was moved to the controller sub forum. Having said that I own a Neptune and a Reef Angel currently. I know the RA isn't on your list but it is another option with regards to a open source product. I've looked at, and examined, a GHL so figured I can somewhat talk about them a little (tiny
). Let me see if I can help.Apex - I've owned one going back to their original controller with X10 relays. Good customer support. Products work. Reliable - at least I've had good success with them even when my young German Shepherd picked up the head unit on the one I owned in 2001 thinking it was a chew toy. Still worked. Chatting with one of the support reps he giggled and said one of his dogs did something similar. Lots of add on products like dosing pumps, ATO's, and other add on components / modules. You can point and click to add and configure or go advanced mode and write code. The single presentation layer pretty much has all you want from PC, Mac, Mobile, or Tablet. My only complaint to be honest with Apex is that their Apex line of products seem toyish. More on this in a minute.
Reef Angel- I've owned one for about 7 years now and it was my primary controller until my recent upgrade. Open source. Somewhat cheaper initially compared to other products and based on Arduino. Similar I guess to a lot of the Pi boards you see. Anyway RA has some really outstanding custom libraries which is why I still use it for half of my lighting today. Things like tides, geo location, weather, storms, etc - I've not seen how to do with the Apex I own yet. I've had it monitor about the same has the Apex with temps, ph, lights, and power heads. It worked and never had a problem once I understood how Arduino worked. Apex is mostly controlling my tank but the RA with its custom libs is tough to beat. I've not seen any of the off the shelf products come close.
GHL. I've not owned one but I went to a LFS who had one running. They are pretty and well built. Remember my toy comment above with the Apex? You won't get that here. The two controllers for similar price points and coverage one is built like a F-15o and the other is built like a Kia. I'm not bagging on the Kia so maybe I should say those old Yugo's or even a Ford Pinto
My point is the GHL team did an amazing package job and it is modern. That is about all I can say about it since I can't comment on its programming or presentation layer. As a controller it would have meet my needs. The only reason why I didn't go with it is because I never owned GHL products before so went with what I knew. That and at the time there was a sale. Point in this, and maybe the TL;DR version is...make a pro and con list. I think in general either will meet your needs. If we can remove our own personal biasness the price and feature set should be what draws you in. And the two you picked are the main players in our market today. They are not going anywhere.
