I'm about to make a big purchase and need advice please

[Diazreeflife]

I have been going to be buying a controller. I am going back and forth between the Apex and the Reef Angel plus. I really like the Angel. One thing i like about the Angel is that i can spend less upfront and buy attachments and expansions as i go on, which is easy on the wallet and easier to get past the other half lol. What do you guys think about these two units?

David

 

[reid429]

I like the angel tbo but I have an apex

 

[Dan1789]

Never used the Angel, but my apex is awesome.

 

[Mrfresh]

I say apex
They have great customer service.
I dropped my controller in my water change bucket.... My bad
I sent it to them and they fixed it for me

 

[cdness]

I was going back and forth like you but I got a killer deal on an apex so that's what I have now. The Angel has some really nige things going for it though. You'd be happy with either one I bet.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Compared to using timers I really live my new (to me) reef keeper lite. It has a strange interface at first but so did I when I was born.

 

[Diazreeflife]

Anyone have the reef angel that can comment?

 

[mgdth]

apex


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Johmanda]

I, too, am curious about this discussion. I will be shopping for a killer deal at MACNA,

 

[Diazreeflife]

Anyone else?

 

[SeymourDuncan]

I think the general verdict online is the apex...if I had the cash id have all my tanks on Neptune lol.

 

[Genesis Corals]

+1 on Apex

 

[dunc101]

First off, I have an APEX and it 'gets the job done and has done everything I wanted it to.' Second, I am a programmer by trade and I REALLY like the flexibility that the reefangel gives you coding wise. If you are just going to be doing the 'typical' stuff like letting it control your lights, control your heater, turn on/off this, etc, the APEX is probably the easier of the two to set up. On the other hand, if you want to do some custom coding (like programming 'reef crest' mode for your jebao wp25/40 pumps, very fast lightning storms for your diy led lights, etc) then the reefangel is easier to work with, imo (from looking at the examples on the reefangel website). Doing the latter gets rather cumbersome with the APEX as you may have to create several virtual outlets on the APEX and it is just a 'different way of thinking' than I am used to when writing standard 'code' like the reefangel uses (a simple if/else statement would suffice in the regular programming world...).

Again, with that said, I believe the APEX is the easiest 'plug and play' solution and is rock solid for the typical aquarist.

 

[Diazreeflife]

First off, I have an APEX and it 'gets the job done and has done everything I wanted it to.' Second, I am a programmer by trade and I REALLY like the flexibility that the reefangel gives you coding wise. If you are just going to be doing the 'typical' stuff like letting it control your lights, control your heater, turn on/off this, etc, the APEX is probably the easier of the two to set up. On the other hand, if you want to do some custom coding (like programming 'reef crest' mode for your jebao wp25/40 pumps, very fast lightning storms for your diy led lights, etc) then the reefangel is easier to work with, imo (from looking at the examples on the reefangel website). Doing the latter gets rather cumbersome with the APEX as you may have to create several virtual outlets on the APEX and it is just a 'different way of thinking' than I am used to when writing standard 'code' like the reefangel uses (a simple if/else statement would suffice in the regular programming world...).

Again, with that said, I believe the APEX is the easiest 'plug and play' solution and is rock solid for the typical aquarist.

So if you could go back you would go with the Reef Angel?

 

[dunc101]

So if you could go back you would go with the Reef Angel?

If I had to do it over again, I would pick whichever one is the most budget friendly as they can both accomplish everything needed. That would leave me to pick the reef angel plus ($269/$289 over the $500 apex). Most people would probably be just fine with the regular reef angel ($220/$240) if they don't plan on loading a lot of custom code / expansions. I believe the big downside is the very small display screen that comes with the base reef angel; however they are working on an expansion module for a larger display screen and/or you can buy your own 'cheap tablet' and send the display to it (something like in this thread Reef Angel Controller ? View topic - My Second LCD ).