2 tanks, 1 Apex? Cables?

hatfielj · Oct 11, 2015

I'm considering putting a Nano tank in another part of my house away from my main tank which is located in the basement. I'd like to be able to use my current Apex controller to control the 2nd system (monitor temp, pH, control lighting and temperature).
What would I need to accomplish this? Can I run long cords from the main Apex unit up to my Nano? I can put it basically one floor directly above my main tank so I would probably need around 20 or 30 ft of cord? Is that something that can be done?

abecker · Oct 11, 2015

You can find long aquabus cables here: http://www.usbfirewire.com/parts/rr-apex-xxg.html. I'm not sure but it looks like the EB8 acts as a hub.

stunreefer · Oct 11, 2015

Yes, use the long cables linked above to attach one unit near nano to unit in main aquarium. You can then daisy chain to the unit under nano.

Be careful using the Apex to control temperature, they're not made to do that long term - I know of three devastating failures. Better options here.

hatfielj · Oct 11, 2015

stunreefer said:
Yes, use the long cables linked above to attach one unit near nano to unit in main aquarium. You can then daisy chain to the unit under nano.

Be careful using the Apex to control temperature, they're not made to do that long term - I know of three devastating failures. Better options here.

Could u explain how it could fail? What do u mean they're not made to control temp long term?

stunreefer · Oct 12, 2015

hatfielj said:
Could u explain how it could fail? What do u mean they're not made to control temp long term?

I've seen a major failure first hand in three separate cases. In every case the motherboard fried and reset, causing the unit to tell the heaters the tanks temperature were far from what it actually was. In the worst case controller was reading 62°F when the tank was pushing 94°F (I believe you lived in Michigan for a while - this case happened to Brian Vu after winning TOTM on RC). This system had two titanium heaters controlled by Apex with no redundancy. When manufacturer was contacted they said their units should be used for temperature monitoring, and only control as redundancy (meaning use a heater with internal thermostat, which is failed would be shut down by external controller). They also noted to keep the controllers out of a high humidity area, which ya know, most tank stands and even rooms are.

Units like Ranco's are used in multiple industries - I've seen them in dairy's being sprayed down at close range by a power washer - and they never skip a beat.

The key is certainly redundancy. Two undersized heaters with their own thermostat (whether internal or external) redundantly controlled by something else puts your tank at much less risk.

I've also never seen an Apex/ReefKeeper temp probe stay accurate for more than a few months. At which time calibration is recommended to be done in a cup of ice (cal point is freezing point). That tells me they're built for an incredibly wide range of temperatures, which makes the ability to skew well out of our useful range apparent.

hatfielj · Oct 12, 2015

stunreefer said:
I've seen a major failure first hand in three separate cases. In every case the motherboard fried and reset, causing the unit to tell the heaters the tanks temperature were far from what it actually was. In the worst case controller was reading 62°F when the tank was pushing 94°F (I believe you lived in Michigan for a while - this case happened to Brian Vu after winning TOTM on RC). This system had two titanium heaters controlled by Apex with no redundancy. When manufacturer was contacted they said their units should be used for temperature monitoring, and only control as redundancy (meaning use a heater with internal thermostat, which is failed would be shut down by external controller). They also noted to keep the controllers out of a high humidity area, which ya know, most tank stands and even rooms are.

Units like Ranco's are used in multiple industries - I've seen them in dairy's being sprayed down at close range by a power washer - and they never skip a beat.

The key is certainly redundancy. Two undersized heaters with their own thermostat (whether internal or external) redundantly controlled by something else puts your tank at much less risk.

I've also never seen an Apex/ReefKeeper temp probe stay accurate for more than a few months. At which time calibration is recommended to be done in a cup of ice (cal point is freezing point). That tells me they're built for an incredibly wide range of temperatures, which makes the ability to skew well out of our useful range apparent.

Very helpful info. I have to be honest I had never thought about these sort of failures. I am going to be changing a few things on my system asap. Thanks. And yes I did used to live in Michigan:) thats where I got hooked on this darn hobby

Triggreef · Oct 12, 2015

abecker said:
You can find long aquabus cables here: http://www.usbfirewire.com/parts/rr-apex-xxg.html. I'm not sure but it looks like the EB8 acts as a hub.

I bought from there as well. I have one 200' cable since the only way from one of my tanks to the other is from outside the house and around, back into the basement. lol. Works just fine.

stunreefer · Oct 12, 2015

hatfielj said:
Very helpful info. I have to be honest I had never thought about these sort of failures. I am going to be changing a few things on my system asap. Thanks. And yes I did used to live in Michigan:) thats where I got hooked on this darn hobby

"Hobby", LOL! ;)

Glad to help - heaters are evil. But complete disasters can be avoided with a couple extra steps and not much extra dough.