Is Apex system worth it

[Super Fly]

Personally I do not think they are worth the high price esp when there are other "smart" devices readily avail at much less price, i.e. Inkbird & smart power strips. To me monitoring of Alk, ph & salinity is not worth the high cost of Apex when I can do these myself as part of tank husbandry. There are many cost effective ways to go about in this hobby w/o breaking the bank. just my 2 cents.

 

[Marc2952]

Ita a nice piece of kit from what ive been told. Im new to the hobby and havent seen the incentive to spend so much money on it. Got an inkbird temp controller and i be home everyday so i always test my alk and nutrients manually.

 

[Biokabe]

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...

The Trident is definitely worth it, but the feeder is a joke. Overpriced, loud as hell, and there's a good chance it won't even work. You're better off getting an Intellifeed or an Eheim feeder - better quality and much cheaper. The only downside, of course, is that it won't interface with the Apex.

 

[Biokabe]

It doesn't have to be the Apex, but having some form of controller on your tank is a godsend. If you're tech-savvy and don't mind playing with electronics, you can save quite a bit by building a controller with Reef-Pi and a Raspberry Pi. You can piece something together with smart outlets/power strips that will approximate a controller, and of course you can always monitor your parameters with regular testing.

That said, it's very nice to be able to control it all from one central dashboard, and my Trident will never forget to test the water.

 

[BrandonS]

is 1k all you want spend? Most apex setups especially one with a trident will cost you more than this. GHL has a few options as well as Hydros these days. But all depends on how much you want to spend and how much you want to use it for.

I have seen many very expensive apex setups that were only used to monitor ph, do feed mode and turn lights on and off. All of which can be done for much cheaper.

 

[Montiman]

I purchased my Apex Classic After my GFCI tripped because of some electrical issue with the 1 pump I had connected to the battery back up. I lost about $600 in fish overnight. I was even at home, just asleep and in 6 hours the fish were suffocating. I realized that if I had just had an audible alarm I could have saved the fish and the price of the fish was more than the controller.

If you ask me over a 10 year horizon chances are something like what happened to me will happen to you and it will cost at least as much as the apex would have. In addition how do you calculate the heart ache of seeing fish you have kept for years die. I think the Apex is worth it.

One note is that I do not use my Apex to control much. To me the Apex is an alarm system with fail safes to let me know of a power outage or turn my stand alone products off if they malfunction. Most of the Apex complaints I hear about are in regards to Neptune Hardware. ATK, DOS, WAV. I still use my Osmolator, Rossmont Movers, and Kamoer stand alone units and I would encourage you to do so as well.

 

[BrandonS]

I purchased my Apex Classic After my GFCI tripped because of some electrical issue with the 1 pump I had connected to the battery back up. I lost about $600 in fish overnight. I was even at home, just asleep and in 6 hours the fish were suffocating. I realized that if I had just had an audible alarm I could have saved the fish and the price of the fish was more than the controller.

If you ask me over a 10 year horizon chances are something like what happened to me will happen to you and it will cost at least as much as the apex would have. In addition how do you calculate the heart ache of seeing fish you have kept for years die. I think the Apex is worth it.

One note is that I do not use my Apex to control much. To me the Apex is an alarm system with fail safes to let me know of a power outage or turn my stand alone products off if they malfunction. Most of the Apex complaints I hear about are in regards to Neptune Hardware. ATK, DOS, WAV. I still use my Osmolator, Rossmont Movers, and Kamoer stand alone units and I would encourage you to do so as well.

Couldn't this be accomplished by cheaper methods if you use yours mostly for monitoring?

 

[Mical]

+1 Apex fan here. I have a Classic and it controls 2 tanks - lights, heaters, skimmers, vortech pumps, ATOs and monitors PH & temps. Personally, I wouldn't have a tank without one, if anything "it's an electronic set of eyes on the tanks 24 hrs a day". It's the equivalent of a smoke or CO2 detector for your home but for your tanks

 

[Double monti 61]

Hi you do not need such elaborate equipment it will not be as good as your eyes the life in your tank does not live by a digital schedule.

 

[Alchameth]

The Trident is definitely worth it, but the feeder is a joke. Overpriced, loud as hell, and there's a good chance it won't even work. You're better off getting an Intellifeed or an Eheim feeder - better quality and much cheaper. The only downside, of course, is that it won't interface with the Apex.

Ya I've seen it isn't the best, but it would be for weekends while I'm away not an every day thing. May go with the Avast Plank, from what I've heard it's pretty good. New, so time will tell, but off to a good start.

 

[MarshallB]

It really all depends on what you want it for. I built my system with apex in mind. If you want plug and play without a whole lot of effort then its great, it just costs a premium. If there are only very specific things you want to automate then there are cheaper alternatives.

With my ApexEL I:
Automate water changes daily
1 touch for bigger water changes
Monitor temps and PH
Auto top off from a container on the other side of my house
Refug Light
Heater
Monitor water levels in my ATO and salt mix storage containers
Dose 2 part
Control lights
Control cooling fans in the canopy
Control my power heads
1 touch feed mode for all devices that I trigger via the app or a manual switch I wired in
Program all the above for various situations
Alerts on my phone if anything out of the ordinary happens

All of these I can easily and quickly modify from one app or in a browser.

I think it was worth the $1200 I put into it ( DIY'd a few cords and a break out box ).

Do you need an apex to do all this? No. Would it be as easy and quick to do without an Apex? That really depends on your experience and knowledge on electronics. For quick and easy automation for the lesser experienced I think its worth the price.

 

[Biokabe]

Ya I've seen it isn't the best, but it would be for weekends while I'm away not an every day thing. May go with the Avast Plank, from what I've heard it's pretty good. New, so time will tell, but off to a good start.

Even just for the weekend, I wouldn't trust it.

I picked one up when I first picked up my Apex. Didn't work right out of the gate, the drum would never retract fully and it would often fail to dispense food because of that. Apex offered to repair it, but they wanted me to pay for shipping just to even see if it was fixable.

Some of the products that Apex makes are great, but their customer service could use a lot of work and many of their tertiary products (like the feeder) are just overpriced and under-functional.

My Eheim feeder, meanwhile, has always worked flawlessly out of the gate with no issues whatsoever.

 

[DC Reefer]

I have three tanks up on Apexes. A small tank on a jr, one on the EL and one on the full featured Apex. Could run all three on 1 Apex but two of the tanks are too far apart in the home. Used the Junior on one the tanks because I had it as an extra and like a dashboard for each tank. Prior to the two new Apexes ran the two tanks on the Apex classics which worked great but don't support the Trident so a "forced" upgrade for me. One thing I did note on the new Apexes the salinity probe worked much better for me. On the Apex classics had salinity probes on both but could never get them calibrated and get consistent readings from them, moved the new Apex and they worked great and I even used one of the old probes.

The biggest benefit to me is it saves me time and I believe adds some stability to my tank that would be much more time intensive for me to achieve without the Apex. I use the DOS to do automated water changes on all three tanks. Periodically you have the recalibrate and or change out the dosing head. The salinity monitor has been very helpful to catch automated water change issues very quickly (putting in more fresh SW than it was pulling out so increased salinity). I also feel comfortable that I can leave for weeks at a time and monitor the tank, make some adjustments and easily walk the house-sitter through manual interventions as needed and monitor the results.

 

[Montiman]

Couldn't this be accomplished by cheaper methods if you use yours mostly for monitoring?

I have thought of this but once I added up everything I would need I don't believe so. Once I add a PH controller, Temperature Controller, and ORP Controller Each about $150 plus a solution for power monitoring and some way of getting remote notifications it is about as expensive and not as seamless as a Neptune unit.

To be clear I plug my stand alone dosser into my Apex to turn it off if the pH gets too high, but I do not have the Apex control my dosing amounts directly. Likewise my Apex turns off my Ozone generator if the ORP gets too high but I have the generator dialed in to where I should be able to leave it constantly on. I also use a stand alone light controller and simply use the Apex as a temperature cut off.

I am not a fan of a single point of failure which is why I do not like when the Apex is the only "Brain" so to speak.

 

[tricky_tran]

what do you plan on doing with the system? if its only to turn on and off lights and what not, then its not worth it, if you are going to help automate and monitor and alert. then i think it is a great investment and time savings.

 

[ReefBeta]

I used Apex EL + Trident on my older tank. But I choose Hydros + Alkatronic over Apex on my new build.

Price wise depends on what you need.

Apex EL is $500, one pH/ORP port, 8 outlets. $280 for every 8 additional outlets
Apex is $800, two pH/ORP ports, 8 outlets. $35 per additional outlet
Apex Trident is $600, reagent is $0.13 per test, $200 per year.
Hydros Control 4 is $450, two pH/ORP ports, 4 outlets, $40 for every 4 additional outlets
Alkatronic is $900, reagent is $0.04 per test, about $60 per year.

So if you need more than one pH/ORP port, Apex + Trident is the same price of Hydros + Alktratronic, with a lot cheaper running cost and expansion cost. Apex EL and Hydros Control 4 + additional power strip is also the same price, with an additional ph/ORP port. Also adding temp probe for Hydros is easy, just buy another probe, since temp probes and level sensors all use the sense port and there are 4. For Apex you will need to buy another PM1/2 module besides the probe.

Functionality wise, they do similar things. Apex is a mature system on an outdated foundation, Hydros is a modern system yet to be matured. Both have pros and cons. Apex have more accessories readily available, depends on what you want to do. Hydros is still missing many, though they said they will catch up within a year, but who knows.

Software and programability is easier on Hydros with real no code required while capable of AND/OR logics. I have a bit more write up in my build thread.

 

[Dp916]

Best thing I ever purchased, and a trident. Paired with calcium reactor, look at my phone app and good to go.

 

[mike550]

I’m 7 months in with my tank. Been thinking if spending $1k+ for the controller is worth it. What do you guys think?

I’ve been at this for a bit over a year and just added an Apex last month. I use it to monitor the typical levels, added leak detectors, and a breakout box so I can control certain functions via mechanical switches instead of the app (“Emergency” etc).

Couple of thoughts for you. First, have you already purchased some great testing gear (Hanna, etc) and your emergency spare parts (heater, pump)? Second, take time getting to know your tank and what it needs (do you have a doser or replace filter socks with a roller system?). I’ve had my tank about a year and still test manually every three days.

Personally, I think an Apex is a nice to have not a must have.

 

[ReefPig]

I wouldn't let an Apex manage my toilet, but that's just me. Had one many years ago and the thing was a piece of crap.
Been running GHL ever since and never looked back.

Even the "Trident" appears to be garbage, so many constant complaints about how terrible the accuracy is.

I have the KHD, I don't even recalibrate the probe anymore (maybe more than 6 months) and it's still spot on.

 

[Reef man 89]

I put it off for 4 years kept going back and forth if I really needed it. I finally gave and a bought it and let me tell you it has changed reefing for me. Wish I picked it up earlier. I highly recommend it! I also see a lot of people bashing the salinity probe but I have had me going for a full year and it’s on point.