Neptune Systems Apex or Hydros controller, which is better?

[SunnyJohn]

I am tired of manually doing maintenance on my aquarium. It is a pain in the butt and I would like to ease off on hands on stuff. I saw that there are controllers out there that allows you to connect all of your equipment into one controller and control them through an app. Unfortunately, I am not sure which to choose. An Apex or a Hydros. What is easier to control, set-up, and convenient? I would like some advice from experienced hobbyist that has messed around with controllers and would love to hear the opinions out there!

 

[Troylee]

Both work great… the choice is yours lol… they both can accomplish the same thing but apex has a trident for daily testing that hydros doesn’t have yet! Sure they have something in the works thou. I’d think at least to keep up with the competition..

 

[tmccaff]

GHL the best! I had all three currently have Hydros and wish never left GHL.

 

[tmccaff]

Ease of use I would for sure go Hydros. Apex not hard but hate all the modules. The modules cheap looking to be honest. One thing Hydros does best is each controller(module) has it's own brain collective so if one of modules should not function it wouldn't break your system. GHL a bigger learning curve but well worth it. The hardware on GHL is like Mercedes vs Hyundai (Apex). Apex Software is absolutely the best Apex Fusion is what separates them from all. Hydros better design though in hardware in my opinion. Apex though has a lot more third party devices you can add so something to consider that you can control through controller.

 

[tmccaff]

Here is my summary:

Ease of Use (Hydros)
Hardware(GHL)
Software(Apex) because of fusion
third party devices control (Apex)

 

[tmccaff]

Both work great… the choice is yours lol… they both can accomplish the same thing but apex has a trident for daily testing that hydros doesn’t have yet! Sure they have something in the works thou. I’d think at least to keep up with the competition..

GHL has ION Director. and Kh Director both very good. Trident Apex has had issues or they fix it? Hydros can use mastertronic, alkatronic, kh carer for testing at moment.

 

[dschuffert]

I have used all three. It is a personal preference. My preference is GHL. The hardware is rock solid, but the software is less mature and works. The probes and calibration of the probes on GHL have always worked for me and are easy to do. Both Apex and Hydros probes and calibration take a little more effort and have not always worked for me.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I too have used all 3 and would rank them as
1st Apex
2nd GHL
And a far distant 3rd Hydros

 

[legacy2mj]

I’m in this same boat.. wanting to bite the bullet but unsure on which. I know Reef Factory doesn’t have a “controller” like Apex or Hydros, but the KH Keeper is awesome and sometime this year they are releasing the next device, that if works well and stands the test of time, will change the game. Automated testing and dosing for Ca, Mg, No3 and Po4.
I’m considering foregoing the Apex or Hydros route all together at this point and start transitioning my build into Reef Factory products that are currently available. Like the KH keeper and dosing pumps. This will at least allow me to be set up and ready to plug in the new control equipment once it becomes available. You can look into it more on Reef Factory’s website. Let me know your thoughts

 

[tmccaff]

I have used all three. It is a personal preference. My preference is GHL. The hardware is rock solid, but the software is less mature and works. The probes and calibration of the probes on GHL have always worked for me and are easy to do. Both Apex and Hydros probes and calibration take a little more effort and have not always worked for me.

100% agree. Apex probes salinity never worked for me ever. GHL you can use different calibration fluids as long as you tell system what you're using. GHL Calibration works a ton better. Hydros is weird dont tell you when done. GHL just overall better in my opinion wish never changed to Hydros. Hydros may get better since its newer.

 

[tmccaff]

I too have used all 3 and would rank them as
1st Apex
2nd GHL
And a far distant 3rd Hydros

Why you say Apex over GHL? Only reason can be is the dashboard other than that GHL is better.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Why you say Apex over GHL? Only reason can be is the dashboard other than that GHL is better.

I don't like the way profilux is set up. I always differentiated the 2 as GHL attracts those who like 90s style windows operations systems and Neptune Systems more in C++ arena.

I'm in the United States and I like the quick turn around for warranty issues.

 

[tmccaff]

I don't like the way profilux is set up. I always differentiated the 2 as GHL attracts those who like 90s style windows operations systems and Neptune Systems more in C++ arena.

I'm in the United States and I like the quick turn around for warranty issues.

That is fair. However, I only had one issue and was with the KH Director they fixed it took about 3 weeks to get back. I know people had a lot of issues with Apex hardware that is main issue. Also keep in mind Apex will not warranty second hand unit must be original owner and proof of purchase. I think GHL does honor secondhand as long as you register could be wrong. WARRANTY is a lot stricter with Apex facts.

I also always look at warranty it tells me how they trust equipment from failure. It's not taken if you will actually use warranty. Example a pump is 90 days vs a warranty of a year. In this example manufacturer don't trust it to go past 90 days; other one it trust to last at least year. Apex 1 year vs GHL 2 years. I think all there modules only 90 days. However, if you buy used beware warranty can be voided or open box.

 

[rbarr110]

I currently use an Apex but also use a Hydros Wave Engine. Granted the Wave Engine isn't their controller, but so far I find the Apex much more useful and configurable.

Apex used to be great for other device control but that has changed over the last few years as many companies have started pushing their own software and decided not to participate in the Apex program any more (example - newer Radion lights).

The only reason I added the Wave Engine was that I wanted Gyre control that could be also controlled through the Apex. which the WaveEngine allows through a 0-10V wire connected to the voltage controller of the Apex head unit.

If you already have a bunch of gear, I suggest you lookinto how well the gear you have interfaces with the controllers. If it is simply outlet control, just about any controller will suffice. If I were to do it over again, I would still stick with an Apex.

 

[n2585722]

I switched from Digital Aquatics to the Hydros and so far it has been able to do everything I wanted it to do. I have controllers in two places some are at the tank and others in the garage where my RODi, mixing station, ATO and AWC pumps are at. The tank is 35ft from the garage. I started replacing the Digital Aquatics stuff in the garage and slowly added the Hydros there and then at the tank It now controls everything. I do have battery backup on it but the only thing that continues to run is my 2 flow pumps. The Hydros remains powered. I also have a UPS for my router and cable modem so I can still communicate with the Hydros. Even if the router or cable modem went down as long as I have access to the internet where I am I will get a notification about no communication with the controllers. I have a build thread on R2R and there is banner you can click on my post that will get you to it. The Hydros information starts on page 6. I have lots of screenshot and an explination on how I set things up
It does start in the garage where my ATO and AWC pumps are and that I believe are the first things it controlled. I also go over changes I made as new things were added to their firmware over time. Let me know if you have questions.

 

[tmccaff]

One thing I like about GHL as well is low power mode feature. They use an adapter with line input. When that adapter dont get power it tells controller to switch to battery if system has one. You can use a UPS backup easy with GHL. Other systems you can't do easy that I know of anyway. Hydros you will need Kraken and I think Wavengine to do it. Apex not sure if you can at moment.

It's not if you will lose power eventually it's when. That is only some I miss with GHL. Also, I miss the doser they have the best in my opinion.

 

[anthonymckay]

Been running Hydros on my system and have no complaints. Simple to setup, lots of accessories, and hasn't given me any issues in the 2 years I've been using it.

 

[n2585722]

One thing I like about GHL as well is low power mode feature. They use an adapter with line input. When that adapter dont get power it tells controller to switch to battery if system has one. You can use a UPS backup easy with GHL. Other systems you can't do easy that I know of anyway. Hydros you will need Kraken and I think Wavengine to do it. Apex not sure if you can at moment.

It's not if you will lose power eventually it's when. That is only some I miss with GHL. Also, I miss the doser they have the best in my opinion.

If you have it setup to go into a mode when on battery power it will. The built in detection is if the controller is getting 12v on the command bus instead of the usual 24v. There is a wire harness kit you can get so you can add a IceCap V3 battery to a Wave engine power input so that it will go into low power mode and power the direct drive ports at12v so if you have flow pumps that will run on 12v at a lower flow rate it can still run them. I think that is the reason for adding it to the wave engine since it powers flow pump on those ports and that requires power on the wave engine power input. They will not run from the command bus power. The Kraken had a battery port you can connect a lead acid gel cell to as a backup. The Kraken has 8 force ports. these ports can be used to power wave engines, X10 and Xd controllers. The are normally a 24v output but in battery mode the output is 12v. The Kraken will charge a lead acid gel cell. If you use a different type of battery you would need to disable the onboard charger in the Kraken and provide your own charger for the battery. I would imagine the wire harness for the wave engines would also work on a X10 or XD but doing that it would only power the outputs on that controller since the wave engine, X10 or XD's output ports only work when power is applied to the power input port on those devices. With a Kraken you can do that if they are powered by the Kraken force ports.

 

[tmccaff]

Issue is the way it is now UPS will not work with Hydros since it will be 24V. GHL uses adapter with line input. When controller senses no power to that adapter it triggers low power mode and switch to either battery or UPS. My UPS is worthless per say right now with Hydros unless a way to do it but I dont think so. I am not sure if it would be possible with Hydros but would be nice feature able to sense no power and use UPS system.

 

[n2585722]

Issue is the way it is now UPS will not work with Hydros since it will be 24V. GHL uses adapter with line input. When controller senses no power to that adapter it triggers low power mode and switch to either battery or UPS. My UPS is worthless per say right now with Hydros unless a way to do it but I dont think so. I am not sure if it would be possible with Hydros but would be nice feature able to sense no power and use UPS system.

If I remember correctly someone did use a small power supply to trigger the Hydros into the low power mode. You can use push buttons on one of the 0-10v inputs to trigger it into different modes if you setup that to happen. I will see if I can find that.