To buy Apex or not???

[Abe K]

My 6 foot long 125 gallon tank crashed last year almost to the day today. I posted how I would do more to automate as to not have this happen again. I am wondering is the Apex system the way to go? Currently I just lost one of my current USA power heads. I am planning on replacing it with an MP40 and take the other current USA unit out. My return pump is also Ecotech and my skimmer is Reef Octopus and my lights are currently 3 AI 26HD’s. I am planning on replacing with the new Radion X15’s. So the questions are:
Will the Apex be beneficial as the lights, return pump, skimmer, probably won’t be compatible?
Is there another controller equal to the Apex?
All recommendations are greatly appreciated.
I am attaching a picture of the tank today

 

[Juniorh2r]

If I'm not mistaken I think rations are compatible to apex but on another note I own an apex and yes it helps anything happens you will get a notification to your phone and you'll have time to react before its too late its saved me a couple of times in my opinion yes its worth it especially if your stocked with a lot of corals believe me it can save you a lot of money

 

[Tdoan]

My 6 foot long 125 gallon tank crashed last year almost to the day today. I posted how I would do more to automate as to not have this happen again. I am wondering is the Apex system the way to go? Currently I just lost one of my current USA power heads. I am planning on replacing it with an MP40 and take the other current USA unit out. My return pump is also Ecotech and my skimmer is Reef Octopus and my lights are currently 3 AI 26HD’s. I am planning on replacing with the new Radion X15’s. So the questions are:
Will the Apex be beneficial as the lights, return pump, skimmer, probably won’t be compatible?
Is there another controller equal to the Apex?
All recommendations are greatly appreciated.
I am attaching a picture of the tank today

The skimmer and return pump should be hooked up the the apex power strip. This can monitor the power and will let you know if it stops working or is pulling more power or less power than it should. It will monitor power of anything that is plugged in so even you power head that failed would have triggered and alarm if setup correctly. I also like that it monitors temp and PH, this is a great as well. I currently am using the apex power heads and the dont use a power block and hook directly in to the power strip in the DC port and programming the flow is really easy.
I also us the apex DOS for auto water change that pulls out water daily. I also have the ATO pumping from My RO storage so I never have to top off anything.
I think it is a great piece of equipment and really isn’t that much in the over all cost of a system for what it does.

 

[Anubisxii]

I was in the fence about mine, now a huge fan after I got it. It makes everything easy especially if you have a devices you want to control like skimmer, power heads, return pumps, dosing etc.

 

[Heist]

Check out the Hydros controllers and wave engine before you make a decision, they’re able to control components from different companies on their platform, and the quality looks to be better than apex.

 

[jaxcarnage]

My initial thought was that I can live without the equipment since the price was a little rich. Now, 6 months into using Apex equipment and I‘m glad I made the purchase. It’s a good way to be proactive instead of reactive, you can set alerts to whatever levels you wish. As already mentioned by @Tdoan it will also monitor power consumption and you can control any outlet at your leisure for easy maintenance. Here is a SS on it working (calcium has been on the rise this week for some off reason I’m trying to figure out)

 

[User1]

Apex owner here. Have been a Neptune customer since 1999. I did take a break for a bit and picked up a Reef Angel but with the recent upgrade picked up an Apex. I still use the RA because it does some things just better than any other controller on the market (custom libraries) but the Apex is the primary.

Now let me remove my Apex and Neptune (bias) hat and just say this.

Ask yourself what is it you want in a controller. Seriously, it is that easy.

Now you can start to narrow it down to features, "known" product road map, etc. For example let us say you want automated water testing. If so then today that just leaves the Neptune. Down the road it will open up GHL but the ION isn't ready yet. See what I did? If you can wait it out then you can choose between the two product features. Now if you want automated testing but don't really care for a controller then maybe the Reefbot is for you. Pick up that, throw in a Seneye for out of water alert email notification, and Bob's your uncle.

We can continue to play this game but at the end of the day what do you want. Apex and GHL are probably the two big players right now that can give you reach back technology for alerting. Apex may go a step further due to the smart energy bar but as I said I do not own a GHL so maybe read up on @Ditto 's thread for more GHL information. Those are the two I would look at especially if you want automated testing.

Open source Reef Angel is the best. Great community. Awesome custom libraries like geo location, full on clock cycle tides, weather with random day of week, month, and more. However, it is open source and you need some basic coding skills or willing to learn. Boolean logic, etc.

Hydro was mentioned. Has so me potential. Integrates with ecotech I believe. Lots of stuff if you search but again I can't speak for it. However, no automated water testing like the RA above. If you don't care about it than any of these 4 will work and you are back to feature sets.

To buy? Depends. Controllers will not save your tank if they are setup incorrectly just as they can save it when setup properly. They can also nag you to no end if things are not set up such that you filter or ignore. So to buy? Sure. It is a awesome product and they have a pretty solid foundation and user base. However, there are other options which brings us back to that bloody list I spoke about at the beginning

 

[Biff0rz]

Love mine! (ps, pay no attention to the ph for the calcium reactor, I'm still dialing the tank in)

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I have an Apex and love it! I think there are other solid options like the Hydros and GHL that are also available and wouldn't be bad choices. I will never own another reef without a controller.

 

[Abe K]

Apex owner here. Have been a Neptune customer since 1999. I did take a break for a bit and picked up a Reef Angel but with the recent upgrade picked up an Apex. I still use the RA because it does some things just better than any other controller on the market (custom libraries) but the Apex is the primary.

Now let me remove my Apex and Neptune (bias) hat and just say this.

Ask yourself what is it you want in a controller. Seriously, it is that easy.

Now you can start to narrow it down to features, "known" product road map, etc. For example let us say you want automated water testing. If so then today that just leaves the Neptune. Down the road it will open up GHL but the ION isn't ready yet. See what I did? If you can wait it out then you can choose between the two product features. Now if you want automated testing but don't really care for a controller then maybe the Reefbot is for you. Pick up that, throw in a Seneye for out of water alert email notification, and Bob's your uncle.

We can continue to play this game but at the end of the day what do you want. Apex and GHL are probably the two big players right now that can give you reach back technology for alerting. Apex may go a step further due to the smart energy bar but as I said I do not own a GHL so maybe read up on @Ditto 's thread for more GHL information. Those are the two I would look at especially if you want automated testing.

Open source Reef Angel is the best. Great community. Awesome custom libraries like geo location, full on clock cycle tides, weather with random day of week, month, and more. However, it is open source and you need some basic coding skills or willing to learn. Boolean logic, etc.

Hydro was mentioned. Has so me potential. Integrates with ecotech I believe. Lots of stuff if you search but again I can't speak for it. However, no automated water testing like the RA above. If you don't care about it than any of these 4 will work and you are back to feature sets.

To buy? Depends. Controllers will not save your tank if they are setup incorrectly just as they can save it when setup properly. They can also nag you to no end if things are not set up such that you filter or ignore. So to buy? Sure. It is a awesome product and they have a pretty solid foundation and user base. However, there are other options which brings us back to that bloody list I spoke about at the beginning

 

[Abe K]

I finally decided to take the plunge. I am hearing the new Apex is backwards compatible. Not sure if that is correct. So lets say it is, and I am able to find the modules to interface scotch marine MP40's and a Vortex return pump. Do you know if they will work seamlessly?

 

[Biff0rz]

I finally decided to take the plunge. I am hearing the new Apex is backwards compatible. Not sure if that is correct. So lets say it is, and I am able to find the modules to interface scotch marine MP40's and a Vortex return pump. Do you know if they will work seamlessly?

They do, assuming you mean ecotech MP40's. I use a WXM to connect to mine wirelessly.

 

[Abe K]

So I got the Apex installed, however the probe cablesz are all too short. Botice some are BNC and the Temp probe is an RJ15 (regular telephone) not sure about the other that looks like a mouse port. Question is can I just order a mouse cable extender and regular BNC male to male with a coupler and lastly the RJ15 extesnion cable? or Do I need to buy specialty cables?

 

[shred5]

Check out the Hydros controllers and wave engine before you make a decision, they’re able to control components from different companies on their platform, and the quality looks to be better than apex.

I agree the Hydros. I own both Apex and Hydros and the Hydros is much easier.
The future looks bright for the Hydros and allot of DYI stuff too.