jmichaelh7
2500 Club Member
I’m 7 months in with my tank. Been thinking if spending $1k+ for the controller is worth it. What do you guys think?
Is Apex system worth it
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Alchameth
Active Member
I love my Apex, the monitoring and peace of mind was well worth the expense as far as I'm concerned and I don't even use it to its full potential, but I keep adding on and expanding it. I started with the EL, added the ATK and added a leak sensor, and the VMM for Gyre control. Next will probably be the feeder and RO solenoid to keep my ATO res full... Still debating on if I want to pickup the Trident...
OP
OP
jmichaelh7
2500 Club Member
You mentioned trident. Do you think I’m better off using a good condition used controller Or is the new system the same thing
College_Reefer
Active Member
Im a college student who has to leave his tank for 6 weeks, over 1,000 miles away while Im home for winter break. I did it once with no apex and everything lived but i was a nervous wreck. Now that I have the apex its been life changing in terms of peace of mind. If youre unsure, buy a used Apex Jr. theyre like $70-$120 used and you can give it a shot. If it isnt for you, youre out $80ish instead of $500
Alchameth
Active Member
@joebwiththree I personally would buy new. With something this costly I'd rather have a warranty to go with it. What's the point of saving a few bucks if you have to replace one of the more expensive pieces of it because of a problem, or on its last leg.
PeterC99
Solarbenchmark.com
Absolutely. Go ahead and invest in the APEX. Think about how much you have invested in your aquarium. There is a ton of functionality, information, redundancy, and peace of mind that the APEX gives.
Advantages
1) All equipment is programmed and monitored real-time from the electrical outlet to optimize usage & prevent failures (e.g., APEX will use temp probe to shut off heater if it starts over heating)
2) Real-time PH, Salinity, Temp, and ORP as well as probe alarms when something goes outside your programmed settings
3) Simple Integration and notifications with ATK (top off) and DOS (dosing)
4) Power Usage Alarm and real-time power consumption
5) Problem email notifications when you are away from your aquarium
6) And the list goes on...
Have learned that the goal in this hobby is stable water parameters and operations. While this can be done manually, APEX simplifies many aspects of the hobby and saves you time and money.
As you can tell, I'm a big fan of APEX and strongly recommend.
Advantages
1) All equipment is programmed and monitored real-time from the electrical outlet to optimize usage & prevent failures (e.g., APEX will use temp probe to shut off heater if it starts over heating)
2) Real-time PH, Salinity, Temp, and ORP as well as probe alarms when something goes outside your programmed settings
3) Simple Integration and notifications with ATK (top off) and DOS (dosing)
4) Power Usage Alarm and real-time power consumption
5) Problem email notifications when you are away from your aquarium
6) And the list goes on...
Have learned that the goal in this hobby is stable water parameters and operations. While this can be done manually, APEX simplifies many aspects of the hobby and saves you time and money.
As you can tell, I'm a big fan of APEX and strongly recommend.
These threads come up quite often, but below is a recent one. Apex is a tool, nothing more. You have to use the tool right. It will not do work for you in a manner that you can rely on for important decisions (you need to manually test any negative test since the probes fade and fail), it is not magic and it won't help you if you cannot already help yourself. it is best to let it monitor and not control. If you buy good/solid equipment, then it is likely the weakest link, but if you have cheap/unreliable equipment, then it can be good to alert you. ...it is more complicated than this, but whether it will help you is totally up to you. I had an early one. It failed and I got a modern one. It sucked, so I built my own. Now I don't have any. I seriously could not think of a single way that it would help me, but other people love them. Each person is different.
www.reef2reef.com
Convince me not to get one...
I'm leaning heavily on purchasing an apex system at the end of this month.. I have found that when I went to a larger system I am struggling slightly on keeping my parameters where I want them. I would love to be able to have real time data on ph, salinity, and other things like my ato ( I...
www.reef2reef.com
Daniel@R2R
Living the Reef Life
I love mine!
OP
OP
jmichaelh7
2500 Club Member
How did you build yours
I have a jr I’ve used for 5 years or so. It’s good for what I use it for which is basic tasks and monitoring. I would hesitate to go for the full system though because of the single point of failure problem. If that head unit goes down your whole tank could be dead in the water. I’m interested to see how that coralvue controller holds up over the next few years. I think they make have the solution for redundancy there if their equipment lasts.
burningmime
Well-Known Member
I bought an Apex for my new tank. But, there are a few other options...
- There's GHL. Looks like it's basically the same price.
- There's CoralVue HYDROS Control 4. This is brand new. It's a fair bit cheaper.
- There's Reef-Pi if you're a DIYer. Much cheaper, but requires more work and there's more danger of doing something wrong. Seems like a fun extension of the hobby, though.
- There's SenEye. It's a $200 PAR meter that can also measure pH, temperature and free ammonia.
- There's Wi-fi controllable power outlets eg https://www.kasasmart.com/us/products/smart-plugs/kasa-smart-wi-fi-power-strip-hs300 . You can combine this with one of those smart home things (eg Amazon Echo if you're OK with Amazon listening in on everything you do).
- There's Alkatronic (that setup video scared me off that one) or kH Director (looks like it doesn't require a full GHL controller). If you're mostly interested in the Apex for the trident and dosing, these can also fill those gaps.
If you go for Apex, I highly recommend just going EL. ORP is obtuse and difficult to make actionable. Salinity would be useful if you don't have/don't trust your ATO, but I'd definitely get an ATO before an Apex. The Apex EL comes with pH and temp probes, which is what you really want.
- There's GHL. Looks like it's basically the same price.
- There's CoralVue HYDROS Control 4. This is brand new. It's a fair bit cheaper.
- There's Reef-Pi if you're a DIYer. Much cheaper, but requires more work and there's more danger of doing something wrong. Seems like a fun extension of the hobby, though.
- There's SenEye. It's a $200 PAR meter that can also measure pH, temperature and free ammonia.
- There's Wi-fi controllable power outlets eg https://www.kasasmart.com/us/products/smart-plugs/kasa-smart-wi-fi-power-strip-hs300 . You can combine this with one of those smart home things (eg Amazon Echo if you're OK with Amazon listening in on everything you do).
- There's Alkatronic (that setup video scared me off that one) or kH Director (looks like it doesn't require a full GHL controller). If you're mostly interested in the Apex for the trident and dosing, these can also fill those gaps.
If you go for Apex, I highly recommend just going EL. ORP is obtuse and difficult to make actionable. Salinity would be useful if you don't have/don't trust your ATO, but I'd definitely get an ATO before an Apex. The Apex EL comes with pH and temp probes, which is what you really want.
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wildcrazyjoker81
Well-Known Member
All depends on what you find important. If it is outlet control is what you are specifically after then just get a wifi power bar off Amazon for under 30 bucks. If more probes or more advanced features are important then definitely a controller. I personally used Apex for a while and made the GHL switch and have never looked back. GHL used to be a tough product to use, but now it is very simplistic and the entire thing can be setup via your phone. I will never own another APEX after owning a GHL Profilux. But that is just my personal opinion. Heck even the old Reefkeepers do most functions well minus internet connectivity/phone app/notifications.
PilotOfSubmarines
Active Member
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I simply can't tell you how great it is to load the app on your phone from anywhere and get a glimpse of what's going in inside your tank.
Lighting changes, feed mode, move the slider turn off the skimmer, hit a button and feed the tank, etc.
There is no substitute. In over 11 months of using mine I haven't had any significant problem with my Apex and it just works.
Lighting changes, feed mode, move the slider turn off the skimmer, hit a button and feed the tank, etc.
There is no substitute. In over 11 months of using mine I haven't had any significant problem with my Apex and it just works.
southerntnreefer
Valuable Member
Apex was the one thing, i never wanted, and now is the one thing i couldnt live without. Its on my new tank, and i totally get why its huge. I travel alot. The ability to get an alert saying something is out of range is huge. I can then call my daughter walk her through what to do, and go back to vacation.
saltwaterpicaso
Valuable Member
mine was great for about 2 years then it went all downhill from there. there products are just built cheaply. the hydros is getting really good reviews. if i had to do it all over again i would of went with ghl. do a google search on apex problems there is a lot of them. im not being negative either this is just my experience so far
hockeyhead019
Well-Known Member
OP, you never really mentioned why you're looking to get one. I think that's a huge part of this conversation.
Do you travel a lot? Are you attempting to automate things (think waterchanges) for a large system where that is time consuming?
I think you'll have to list out some reasons why you'd like to get one before you'll get a great answer. I think the Apex and all other controllers are cool and can be very helpful in the right application, but I don't think they're necessary by any means and personally I'd rather put the money towards livestock in my tank.
Reefs and Geeks
Well-Known Member
I don't have one, but would like one. I currently have a 385 gallon system and am fairly packed with coral. one big reason I'd like one is for the trident so me getting busy or lazy doens't translate to missed testing. I'd also really like live monitoring or alerts to my phone. I'm sure once I have one I'll be saying I wouldn't have a tank without one, but for the last 7 years i've managed tanks my system from 40 gallons to almost 400 without and have never had a crash. I do admit though, that I am very hands on with my tank which is likely a factor.
92Miata
Valuable Member
Depends on what "worth it" means to you. To me, its not, because my Robo-Tank/Reef-Pi does everything an Apex does, costs 20% as much, and I'm not buying into a closed system from a company who has been very anti-competition/anti-consumer.
What are your priorities?
What are your priorities?
