Project Apex (Black Edition) by Elder1945

Sleepydoc · Sep 10, 2017

I love your modification - I'm not crazy about the stacked arrangement of the connectors on the Apex 2016; the flat arrangement seems more convenient to me. I have a feeling they did it that way to allow the entire controller to be mounted on the rotating bracket and be tipped up and down, but that's just a guess. I would have chosen a black case, rather than stainless, but that's just me. Stainless is definitely a nice choice, too. I'm curious as to how the case will affect the WiFi.

Coming from a medical background I have to say that I understand Neptune's decision to pull the thread. Regardless of whether they like it, agree with it, think it's neat or not, if they have any sort of involvement, real or perceived, and someone subsequently gets injured, they're going to get sued. I can virtually guarantee that the primary reason for pulling the thread on their own site was legal. That said, they definitely should have sent the PM either ahead of time or at the very least when they did it- very poor form not to, and really no excuse there.

Kyl · Sep 10, 2017

Just realized you are the one that did that massive wall to wall acrylic tank I saw on Canreef last year. Big thumbs up!

Terence · Sep 10, 2017

Sleepydoc said:
That said, they definitely should have sent the PM either ahead of time or at the very least when they did it- very poor form not to, and really no excuse there.

We sent one the moment it was pulled.

najer · Sep 10, 2017

Can't believe how much popcorn I just shoved in my face and I was only 1 page behind from yesterday!

Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI · Sep 10, 2017

najer said:
Can't believe how much popcorn I just shoved in my face and I was only 1 page behind from yesterday!

come join me! I got so much to share

tj w · Sep 10, 2017

To me, I don't care who thinks or says what, you have done a fantastic job here and your other projects!! Keep on keeping on!

ReeferBud · Sep 10, 2017

I'm very interested in seeing how this project turns out!

If anything can be learned from the last 5-10 years of consumer marketing trends is that people want their gadgets to look high-quality and cool, in addition to being functional. Cheap plastic is out and high end materials and design are in (apple anyone?). I think you're doing great and I applaud your passion and interest in sharing with the rest of us who could only dream of being able to do something like this.

Reefcowboy · Sep 10, 2017

Js.Aqua.Project said:
Just sitting here waiting to see the finished product....who cares about Neptune's opinion?

You are taking this a bit far from what is needed, no jab intended.
You have a really nice design, no doubt

. You have no responsibility however in this diy project. It doesnt work, shorts or kills your tank, nobody else is harmed. You seem like you know what you are doing, but even manufacturers screw up and equipment fails.

They wrote here no toes stepped on, and that there are rules they must go by and changing design of the product is a big no no liability wise. Place yourself as owner and seeing someone do the same thing you are doing? Nothing against your creativity IMO. This is a hobby, but companies involved run a real business and take these things seriously.

I also think they could see your approach as a you making an attempt to make a business from changing the design, selling these mods. Some do it modifying ATI fixtures adding LEDs, also powdercoating the unit. ATI can careless, but if a fire happens who is to blame?

Again, I like your approach, and love what you came out with.

Elder1945 · Sep 10, 2017

Reefcowboy said:
You are taking this a bit far from what is needed, no jab intended.
You have a really nice design, no doubt . You have no responsibility however in this diy project. It doesnt work, shorts or kills your tank, nobody else is harmed. You seem like you know what you are doing, but even manufacturers screw up and equipment fails.

They wrote here no toes stepped on, and that there are rules they must go by and changing design of the product is a big no no liability wise. Place yourself as owner and seeing someone do the same thing you are doing? Nothing against your creativity IMO. This is a hobby, but companies involved run a real business and take these things seriously.

I also think they could see your approach as a you making an attempt to make a business from changing the design, selling these mods. Some do it modifying ATI fixtures adding LEDs, also powdercoating the unit. ATI can careless, but if a fire happens who is to blame?

Again, I like your approach, and love what you came out with.

Yes I can agree with most of that

. I can see where Neptune issues are with this build.

It is hit or miss if I am going to make a business out of anything aquarium related. This industry is so political and everyone is out to sink everyone else for penny's

. I will have fun with this as it is my hobby I plan on doing quite a bit more but I end up selling it all at cost of giving it away for free. Kinda hard to make a business out of giving everything away LOL.

As for running this modded Apex on a my tank.. This is a NO not because I modded it but because of this ( https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-apex-2016-lol.255462/ ). The apex is a no go for a long time for me. I do not trust them to keep my tank up and running for any period of time. The old apex I trust

it worked 100% of the time. This is why a GHL profilux 4 is on my display plus I do not need to remake the whole enclosure to make it displayable.

I have also seen many people run the Apex 2016 with no issue... I was not so lucky with the first 2 I bought.

This apex I am modding is the 4th Apex 2016 I have purchased... I am doing my best to try to reinvigorate or convince my self that the new Apex is worth another try...... Even to the point of spending a few thousand dollars on modding the wholes system....

This next week will be cool as I will start on the EB832

.

Slayvoff · Sep 10, 2017

Elder1945 said:
Yes I can agree with most of that . I can see where Neptune issues are with this build.

It is hit or miss if I am going to make a business out of anything aquarium related. This industry is so political and everyone is out to sink everyone else for penny's . I will have fun with this as it is my hobby I plan on doing quite a bit more but I end up selling it all at cost of giving it away for free. Kinda hard to make a business out of giving everything away LOL.

As for running this modded Apex on a my tank.. This is a NO not because I modded it but because of this ( https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-apex-2016-lol.255462/ ). The apex is a no go for a long time for me. I do not trust them to keep my tank up and running for any period of time. The old apex I trust it worked 100% of the time. This is why a GHL profilux 4 is on my display plus I do not need to remake the whole enclosure to make it displayable.

I have also seen many people run the Apex 2016 with no issue... I was not so lucky with the first 2 I bought.

This apex I am modding is the 4th Apex 2016 I have purchased... I am doing my best to try to reinvigorate or convince my self that the new Apex is worth another try...... Even to the point of spending a few thousand dollars on modding the wholes system....

This next week will be cool as I will start on the EB832 .

In process of building my first tank and debating if I want to invest in an Apex. What issues have you run into with the 2016?

Elder1945 · Sep 10, 2017

Slayvoff said:
In process of building my first tank and debating if I want to invest in an Apex. What issues have you run into with the 2016?

This is my old thread on this issues I was having.. It took over a month to work it out Kinda...... Never worked 100%... I assume this is all fixed now but this almost cost me my 16 foot long reef

.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-apex-2016-lol.255462/

Neptune would have to do something ground braking for me to change from a GHL now.. The Profilux 4 is just so well done. Even the non existent Vertex Cerebra was a breath of fresh air. I still can not wait to get my hands on one of the V2.0.
There are hundreds if not thousands of Apex 2016s out there working 100%... I was just unlucky and a few people I know had the same bad luck with them. I have tens of thousands invested into my display and with the history I have with Apex 2016 it will take me a while to trust it again.

Elder1945 · Sep 20, 2017

Finished the head unit....

20170919_155329 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170919_155337 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170919_155343 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170919_155355 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170919_155406 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170919_155424 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170920_181445 by Elder1945, on Flickr

20170920_181755 by Elder1945, on Flickr

Well finished the project for now..

I blew up the RB832.... LOL I did something and was too aggravated to trace back.. I did this however with the Apex connected and bricked it....

This is me debugging the Apex Head unit to see what is wrong... I give up....

I have 2 options now..

1. Give up

2. Buy another apex and give it a go again

. I have a few thousand invested in this project for no real reason so whats another thousand

. It comes down to time as I have none

....... We might have to go on hold.

We will see but I think I have a $1000.00 4gb Sandisk micro sd and a wifi dongle so its not that bad LOL

. Also that cool looking battery.... LOL

Fudsey · Sep 20, 2017

Case looks very cool and BUMMER on the unit.....

dcraigj · Sep 20, 2017

That's too bad. I really liked the flatter appearance. Thanks for sharing your mod attempt and letting us tag along.

Water Dog · Sep 20, 2017

Either way, I applaud your efforts to make it cooler... great stuff!

Elder1945 · Sep 20, 2017

Fudsey said:
Case looks very cool and BUMMER on the unit.....

dcraigj said:
That's too bad. I really liked the flatter appearance. Thanks for sharing your mod attempt and letting us tag along.

Water Dog said:
Either way, I applaud your efforts to make it cooler... great stuff!

Thanks

.. The more and more i look at it on my desk makes me want to push the order button LOL... I might need 2 just in case something else goes wrong.......