Apex Controller Vs Neptune Energy Bar

[melonheadorion]

i decided to jump into getting an apex a month or two ago. mainly so that i can do some simple control and monitoring while im on vacation. i dont have anyone nearby that knows how to handle a reef tank other than feeding, and even that im concerned with, so with the apex, it allows me to control anything.
since my apt doesnt have central air, i also have to worry about heat on my two tanks, more specifically the smaller of the two, as it rises in temp faster, so i can have fans turn on/off as needed with temp. obviously, i can monitor salinity and pH as well with having the full version. the salinity and pH dont necessarily do much other than to allow me to see oddities that might happen, that i need to look into. if my pH drops lower than normal, it might tip me off that a pump is off, or i need to add alk, or somethign like that. a change in salinity might tip me off that my ATO isnt working. different things like that. i dont take what they say as guarantee, because they arent always correct, but it will tip me off to any actual issues.
adding of the trident, which i dont have yet, will be a useful addition as it will allow a automated system for dosing, which i currently do manually every day, and i will be able to do it based trident readings, or a schedule, etc. More specifcally, if im on vacation, and a reading comes back really crazy high, i can shut off the doser, or anything else connected to the bar for that matter.

 

[araziza]

Not sure about GHL but Apex has an actual display if you like to take quick glance at the tank parameters. This can be accomplished with Hydros but you need a dedicated tablet or phone.

Just jumping in here, I actually decided not to get this display for my Apex, because while you’re right, buying a decent Android tablet (kindle fire or some such) costs 1/4 or 1/2 the price of the small lcd display. And the tablet at least gives a nice visual for the graphs.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

My advice when it comes to Neptune is to avoid the EB832 at all costs (get the EB8 instead), avoid the ATK, avoid the salinity probe, and avoid the auto feeder.

The EB832 when used only for outlets is more reliable than an EB8 not less. The part that can make it less reliable is that it's easy to overload the 100W 24V transformer with stuff like WAV COR etc on the 1link and 24V aux ports. As long as you are careful what you put on those, it's a far better energy bar than the EB8. No need to sell that and replace.

Agreed just a normal breakout box with float switches is less headache than FMM. The opticals I used to only get 6months-1year out of before they rusted and the newer iteration I get like 3 years before they need replacement. I have some 10 year old float switches still going strong.

The salinity probe is actually really great. The problem is their calibration instructions and BRS calibration video are complete garbage. There is a thread on here that explains the importance of TC and proper calibration method. If you follow that, it's dead nuts accurate and very useful.

Auto feeder is kind of a piece of ****. Really hard tp adjust. I had to modify mine with cut up plastic plant labels to have any reasonable adjustment range. I still use two though regardless because it's unfortunately still the best integrated feeder despite the lack of adjustment.

 

[BigTerp]

i decided to jump into getting an apex a month or two ago. mainly so that i can do some simple control and monitoring while im on vacation. i dont have anyone nearby that knows how to handle a reef tank other than feeding, and even that im concerned with, so with the apex, it allows me to control anything.

This is my primary reason for wanting a controller of some type. We typically take a yearly week long vacation with several long weekend trips mixed in. I really want the ability to monitor tank and/or sump levels and pump outputs to quickly identify a problem that could lead to a flood and then have the system shutdown whatever pump is necessary to prevent said flooding.

 

[melonheadorion]

This is my primary reason for wanting a controller of some type. We typically take a yearly week long vacation with several long weekend trips mixed in. I really want the ability to monitor tank and/or sump levels and pump outputs to quickly identify a problem that could lead to a flood and then have the system shutdown whatever pump is necessary to prevent said flooding.

basically same thing. i have it setup so i dont have to worry about overflow, but i would have to worry about a leak, or heat, or something that might cause fish death, so using it allows me worry free vacation

 

[rtparty]

The EB832 when used only for outlets is more reliable than an EB8 not less. The part that can make it less reliable is that it's easy to overload the 100W 24V transformer with stuff like WAV COR etc on the 1link and 24V aux ports. As long as you are careful what you put on those, it's a far better energy bar than the EB8. No need to sell that and replace.

Agreed just a normal breakout box with float switches is less headache than FMM. The opticals I used to only get 6months-1year out of before they rusted and the newer iteration I get like 3 years before they need replacement. I have some 10 year old float switches still going strong.

The salinity probe is actually really great. The problem is their calibration instructions and BRS calibration video are complete garbage. There is a thread on here that explains the importance of TC and proper calibration method. If you follow that, it's dead nuts accurate and very useful.

Auto feeder is kind of a piece of ****. Really hard tp adjust. I had to modify mine with cut up plastic plant labels to have any reasonable adjustment range. I still use two though regardless because it's unfortunately still the best integrated feeder despite the lack of adjustment.

I showed the internals of both energy bars to my father in law who is an electrical engineer and designs systems for multi billion dollar public transit systems and he said the EB832 isn't even high school level education. He laughed at it and said that is as cheap as you could build it.

Also, go look at a decade worth of reviews on both. Well, 2016 for the EB832. You will find a very disproportionate amount of negative reviews and failures with the EB832. Yet, very few failures with the EB4 and EB8.

 

[surlytx]

Hydros also has a web app as well as the phone/tablet app. I use the web app almost all the time as my tank is located in my office.