GHL , Apex or Reef Factory ?

[Yanir34]

Hello reefer's all over the world !
The last piece of equipment in my new SPS tank is....computer of the tank !
I heard and saw a lot of different computers over the years , and always wanted the GHL profilux + KH director....and now with the new addition of ION director it seems to be the perfect product..
But I read few reviews about the difficulties of setting up and running the full GHL system...
And the other hand , reef factory products looks very simple to install and operate.....what is your recommendation ?
..

 

[blaxsun]

I've read mixed reviews with the GHL gear. I run a Neptune, love my Neptune and wholeheartedly endorse Neptune.

 

[HuduVudu]

@Yanir34

GHL has problems with wireless communication. They did not implement their algorythm correctly. Apex whelp you are stuck in their system good luck trying to escape.

Reef Factory is not US based. In fact there is no distribution here. HOWEVER, you can buy through EBay. I am currently buying their three head doser. It's currently in transit from Germany. It's a gamble.

I am cynical about my new purchase. I hope that it goes well. The reason I went through the effort to source Reef Factory is one and only one thing. I can put it on my network and then use an HTML port to control. Why is this so hard for the US manufacturers to understand. I am tired of the spy universe of Google and Apple. If you want those then an app is easy to build from the html. I don't want those. I don't want to have to use a phone to control. I can find ips and I can't understand why the absolute somersaults to do something so simple.

We will see if Reef Factor lives up to being able to port 80 in. Maybe I will even get lucky and the doser will work well too.

My 2 cents.

 

[Poochaku]

Hydros, but all are good, its personal preference

 

[Tankkeepers]

Everything iv read everywhere say ghl is good but not if you need to control it wirelessly

Right now I'm looking at apex and what iv found about them is you have to calibrate them every 2 months

Also if u don't want to test as often as that check this out

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Dp8v5vGn9ru4&ved=2ahUKEwis8r3y6pz3AhXUjokEHWwODuEQxa8BegQICxAE&usg=AOvVaw0RTBQtcDtXA1ZoYS9VtxBF

 

[TheGulag]

@Yanir34

Why is this so hard for the US manufacturers to understand. I am tired of the spy universe of Google and Apple. If you want those then an app is easy to build from the html. I don't want those. I don't want to have to use a phone to control. I can find ips and I can't understand why the absolute somersaults to do something so simple.

We will see if Reef Factor lives up to being able to port 80 in. Maybe I will even get lucky and the doser will work well too.

You are asking for and complaining about something that over 95% of the customer base has no concept of what you are saying or wanting to do. I would wager probably closer to 99%.

Not sure if you are aware but you can use any computer and go to a website and log into a GHL “system” no app needed.

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Back on track. I vote Apex. Best purchase for my tank I’ve made to date.

 

[Tankkeepers]

Back on track. I vote Apex. Best purchase for my tank I’ve made to date.

May I ask how well apex has worked and how long you have had it

I need a controller ghl is out wifi problems etc

Looking hard at apex as in about to buy one this week

So any input you can provide is good

I already know I'll need a second apex system as a spare just in case but this hoes for pretty much every single piece of equipment in my tank

Including tank itself lol I'm paranoid so iv got an entire system rdy to go just in case

I plan to get apex this week setup and testing without control for a few months and then add control

 

[Tankkeepers]

I'm looking at the El version as I don't need the variable plugs or the salinity or orp probs

 

[TheGulag]

Long term reef members are the only reason companies stay in business

Most people who get a reef tank don't last the year let alone long enoff to grow anything that would actually need a doser or controller to watch over

Im at 2 years with my new tank and its just now at the point of needing a doser and controller

so yes people like the poster above do matter more then the average person who will kill everything sell the tank and say its to hard or can't be done

Iv been in this for 12 years myself and iv seen alot just like you come and go

My comment was addressing customers, as in people who have an aquarium controller not new people in the hobby. Doesnt matter if you are new or been in the hobby for 145 years you of all people, who seem to read every post about aquarium controllers should recognize that a lot of users have issues doing basic things on every platform. So for someone to want a company to make a controller that does even less hand holding in setup/programming just doesn’t make sense. Being in the hobby for years doesn’t correlate to knowledge in programming or setting these controllers up.

Also not sure why you think I’m new to this hobby or going to be leaving it very soon.

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Long term reef members are the only reason companies stay in business

Most people who get a reef tank don't last the year let alone long enoff to grow anything that would actually need a doser or controller to watch over

Im at 2 years with my new tank and its just now at the point of needing a doser and controller

so yes people like the poster above do matter more then the average person who will kill everything sell the tank and say its to hard or can't be done

Iv been in this for 12 years myself and iv seen alot just like you come and go

I’ve had Apex for about 14 years +-. I started with aqua controller it was very simple, still used DC8s which I currently have in the box, then I moved to classic apex, which I used until about 2016, and afterwards I purchased the newer version. Now I have two tanks running on the same apex. I try to keep things simple but I still use my apex to control my calcium reactor and DOS, ATO, T5 on off function, rest of the functions are mainly for monitoring and safety shutoffs, plus QOL improvements. I monitor ca, alk, mg, ph, temp, making sure skimmer not overflowing, heater not stuck on, Chiller working, and the pumps are connected, etc. Auto feeder is nice and I use a fan to cool my canopy when the lights are on. It doesn’t look like apex does much when things aren’t going wrong, but there were many times apex saved my tank on various occasions.

 

[Tankkeepers]

I’ve had Apex for about 14 years +-. I started with aqua controller it was very simple, still used DC8s which I currently have in the box, then I moved to classic apex, which I used until about 2016, and afterwards I purchased the newer version. Now I have two tanks running on the same apex. I try to keep things simple but I still use my apex to control my calcium reactor and DOS, ATO, T5 on off function, rest of the functions are mainly for monitoring and safety shutoffs, plus QOL improvements. I monitor ca, alk, mg, ph, temp, making sure skimmer not overflowing, heater not stuck on, Chiller working, and the pumps are connected, etc. Auto feeder is nice and I use a fan to cool my canopy when the lights are on. It doesn’t look like apex does much when things aren’t going wrong, but there were many times apex saved my tank on various occasions.

Thank you for the info

the more I read the more I like apex honestly

I did not even know about the skimmer I assume you have a level sensor managing alerts for that

They can do so much I'm not even aware of

I know I want the moon light module tho hehe

 

[Tankkeepers]

My comment was addressing customers, as in people who have an aquarium controller not new people in the hobby. Doesnt matter if you are new or been in the hobby for 145 years you of all people, who seem to read every post about aquarium controllers should recognize that a lot of users have issues doing basic things on every platform. So for someone to want a company to make a controller that does even less hand holding in setup/programming just doesn’t make sense. Being in the hobby for years doesn’t correlate to knowledge in programming or setting these controllers up.

Also not sure why you think I’m new to this hobby or going to be leaving it very soon.

You are correct years in reefing does not add skills you don't already have

And why exactly can't they come up with a solution that is less reliant on a smart device to use

I understand both side

I see where your commkng from

But at the same time you have to see where others are commkng from also

What you want and need is not what others want and need

You saying that someone leaving the Hobbie no one would care or notice is incorrect

As to the rest of what was said I have nothing to add or say not my business

I wish you well and hope all goes as you want

And I assumed your new since I see no build thread that was my bad

Good luck and best wishes

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Thank you for the info

the more I read the more I like apex honestly

I did not even know about the skimmer I assume you have a level sensor managing alerts for that

They can do so much I'm not even aware of

I know I want the moon light module tho hehe

Yeah I use that. There are people that make custom breakout boxes where you click a button to trigger a feed cycle or do whatever you want. If you get apex I advise you to get one of those instead of their regular breakout box. also, lsm is cool, people that spawn corals use apex to do it based on the lunar cycles etc.

 

[Tankkeepers]

Yeah I use that. There are people that make custom breakout boxes where you click a button to trigger a feed cycle or do whatever you want. If you get apex I advise you to get one of those instead of their regular breakout box. also, lsm is cool, people that spawn corals use apex to do it based on the lunar cycles etc.

I will look into this

I had no clue that it was widely used for spawning

I did know that the moon phases do help a reeftank

My old system I used a timer and a spreadsheet and set quarter phases of the moon week to week

I had some cool things spawn in that never coral tho

Coolest thing I had was micro jellyfish that once a month showed up for a few nights

 

[MrMreef]

After 6 months of weighing up I went GHL in the end, mainly because I didn’t want to dive in and out of 10 different apps to manage everything. I went all in with a kh and ion director, 3 dosing uni

Pros:
- hardware is excellently put together and maintainable
- control works extremely well
- with a bit of cheap additional hardware nearly everything is possible thanks to exposed digital and 1-10v ins and outs (if you can buy a 24v relay board and program an ESP32 nearly anything is possible)

Cons:
- the software is a mess, being organized around functional units rather than task units and with a dubious categorization of these functions (e.g. Sensor settings under “control”), da habt ihr das richtig verpeilt Leute.
- No exposed API
- Connectivity over the app is patchy

 

[MrMreef]

Everything iv read everywhere say ghl is good but not if you need to control it wirelessly

Right now I'm looking at apex and what iv found about them is you have to calibrate them every 2 months

Also if u don't want to test as often as that check this out

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Dp8v5vGn9ru4&ved=2ahUKEwis8r3y6pz3AhXUjokEHWwODuEQxa8BegQICxAE&usg=AOvVaw0RTBQtcDtXA1ZoYS9VtxBF

Just a quick note here: you can ONLY control a profilux wirelessly, more exactly via Wi-Fi connection (from there you have the choice between myGHL and direct local connection, both of which offer the same functionality).

The only other option is to connect via USB and use GCC on a windows PC (or virtual machine, works fine) - this works flawlessly but is not really a great way of quickly checking what your alkalinity’s been doing over the last 24 hours.

 

[MrMreef]

GHL has problems with wireless communication. They did not implement their algorythm correctly.

Just to clarify here: No one “implements a wireless algorithm” - the Wi-Fi stack part doesn’t seem to be an issue currently, where they’re having problems is in the protocol between their app and the embedded software on the profilux or doser SA.

While we’re there: their cloud service “myGHL” is well done and very reliable (i.e. over a web browser), the app which communicates with myGHL and the devices directly, on the other hand, suffers from all sorts of memory leaks and reconnection issues.

I’ve heard they’ve been improving so I’m hoping they keep it up!

 

[saltyfins]

Just to clarify here: No one “implements a wireless algorithm” - the Wi-Fi stack part doesn’t seem to be an issue currently, where they’re having problems is in the protocol between their app and the embedded software on the profilux or doser SA.

While we’re there: their cloud service “myGHL” is well done and very reliable (i.e. over a web browser), the app which communicates with myGHL and the devices directly, on the other hand, suffers from all sorts of memory leaks and reconnection issues.

I’ve heard they’ve been improving so I’m hoping they keep it up!

I keep losing connection. I just keep my laptop there, and it's fine by me. If I decide I need to go somewhere, I'll get it back up on my app., and be sure it's good for a few days prior. sad, but that's what will happen.

 

[HuduVudu]

Just to clarify here: No one “implements a wireless algorithm” - the Wi-Fi stack part doesn’t seem to be an issue currently, where they’re having problems is in the protocol between their app and the embedded software on the profilux or doser SA.

Whether it is an ASIC or it is sitting on Flash or an EEPROM it is software. There may be third parties involved, but at the end of the day the product that sits under an aquarium says GHL and they are responsible for all of the code that is running on their device.

I don't go into technical details because first off I don't know how GHL implmented, and second getting too detailed just confuses people.

where they’re having problems is in the protocol between their app and the embedded software on the profilux or doser SA.

This is a little confusing given your first statment. It is a software algorithm that sets up the protocol. Once again this may be implemented third party lower in the hardware, and the third party software may or may not have bugs in it, but the outside of the box says GHL.

the app which communicates with myGHL and the devices directly, on the other hand, suffers from all sorts of memory leaks and reconnection issues.

This is interesting to know. I struggled with the Windows app. I am on Linux so I just chocked it up to Wine. This is good information. I sensed the GHL struggles with software. The way they implemented their software interfaces is very hardware based. I decided that I wasn't going to continue on with GHL because they didn't seem to want to deal with the software. I have dealt with hardware people before, they didn't much like the software side.