Important/ needed probes

[drtrash]

New apex installed, awesome unit some will say i am underutilizing it, would agree i wanted a simple system and sure the function priority may change, currently only using temp probe, yep i know i paid for all but if I'm not going to make decisions on data then it has limited value. Just trying to learn about how then are used to make a decision on keeping or pass on to fellow reefers. Not using doser, tunze ato.

 

[Ranjib]

Are you asking a specific question, like if this is enough? or just expressing your opinion that this should be enough.
None the less,. I agree with you

 

[drtrash]

I am new to apex, but dont see the value of all these probes, generation data that has limited value. I understand i have alot to learn od capabilites so my question would be what am i missing and do you use probe data for?

 

[n2585722]

What probes do you have other than temp? It is OK to start out slowly with a controller. Temp is a good start. Even if you don't use the other probes to control anything they can help to give you an idea if things have changed. This will requires using them and gaining some history of the normal values in your tank over time.

 

[Ranjib]

Temperature is most important as heater failure is one or most frequently failed equipment , causing tank crashes . Temp sensor is required for detecting such failure and preventing it.

water level sensor (such as optical or float switches ) are second most critical sensor (won’t call them probe) for maintaining salinity

pH probe are the third most important ones for checking tank is getting 7-8 pH, which impacts sps growth. Also dialing down calcium reactor or dosing regimen

orp probe is fourth common probe that detects suddenly change in chemistry , although there’s no direct use of , but it can be useful detecting fish death or some other changes that impact tank water’s redid potential
Ec probe (also called as salinity ) are used to detect salinity level.

I think both orp and ec are of not that much value due to their limited usage and then being very expensive. pH is expensive as well , but I can see it being very useful for dialing down dosing, so for sps, I highly recommend it. Temp probe I’ll always recommend .

 

[drtrash]

I have the temp probe in sump, get that data, have the rest that come with new wifi (ph, cond, orp) sitting in box.

 

[chefjpaul]

I have the temp probe in sump, get that data, have the rest that come with new wifi (ph, cond, orp) sitting in box.

Ive never taken my orp out of the box.

I keep the PH and cond. Going until they loose calibration, but dont usually replace them.

 

[drtrash]

I get the value of cond probe if you have integrated ato or wc system, using tunze so not integrated into apex and dont see the need with tunze failsafes ( optical and float) along with set max run time for pump

 

[Breadman03]

I have a handful of probes running, but the only one I consider generally important is the temperature probe. The rest are only useful if you are doing something specific like running ozone.

pH can be useful when dosing as it can alert you to an accidental overdose, or for running a calcium reactor.

ORP can be useful for ozone and UV, but is mostly just something to look at like how much dust is sitting on your lights.

The conductivity probe bailed me out once. Some knucklehead knocked my ATO sensors loose right before leaving on a 15 day trip. I reprogrammed my ATO to run based on the conductivity probe and the water level was good when I got back, though a smidgen low as I'd set it to keep levels a hair high to help ensure the sump wouldn't overflow if the power went out. It has also alerted me to refill my ATO reservoir a time or two.

 

[chefjpaul]

The conductivity probe bailed me out once. Some knucklehead knocked my ATO sensors loose right before leaving on a 15 day trip. I reprogrammed my ATO to run based on the conductivity probe and the water level was good when I got back, though a smidgen low as I'd set it to keep levels a hair high to help ensure the sump wouldn't overflow if the power went out. It has also alerted me to refill my ATO reservoir a time or two.

I 100% agree with this.