Apex EL Aquarium Monitor - BRS Special Edition.

[TonyTPA]

I'm trying to digest this new Product Package. What I am seeing is an Entry level Apex, with Temp, PH, and 2 Float Switches to monitor water levels. You get the Apex Brain, so the sky is the limit as far as expandability. EB832's can be added, and much more. I'm guessing this is the EL Apex Brain, so you don't get Salinity and Orp?? Which could both be added by more modules down the line if needed.

So it's an even less expensive price point for people to jump into the Apex EccoSystem. I like it....'

Curious if here is a new Task coming to configure the new Float Switch Device?
#Terence

I took delivery last night I also bought the ORP with the PM2 module I am going to get it up and running tonight. I had been going back and forth with adding a Apex and when I saw the price point of this I could not pass it up and now I will get it up and running. I plan on expending over time also have plans to build a 180 Gallon tank soon so getting into the Apex world seemed like the right thing to do.

 

[southerntnreefer]

I took delivery last night I also bought the ORP with the PM2 module I am going to get it up and running tonight. I had been going back and forth with adding a Apex and when I saw the price point of this I could not pass it up and now I will get it up and running. I plan on expending over time also have plans to build a 180 Gallon tank soon so getting into the Apex world seemed like the right thing to do.

Looking forward to your thoughts.

 

[PhilT]

I got one Monday unfortunately it appears to have a hardware problem. Won’t lock to blue icon on front. Neptune support talked to BRS and a new EL controller is on the way.

I hope to add a float in my sump reservoir to notify me when it’s low.

do people have opinions on eb8 vs 832? not sure how much id program It?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I got one Monday unfortunately it appears to have a hardware problem. Won’t lock to blue icon on front. Neptune support talked to BRS and a new EL controller is on the way.

I hope to add a float in my sump reservoir to notify me when it’s low.

do people have opinions on eb8 vs 832? not sure how much id program It?

8/32 has more slots for todays components such as FMM, AFS and so forth.

 

[trmiv]

Got mine today. Unfortunately there was no pH probe calibration fluid packs in the box like it says should be included. BRS is sending some out. Sucks because I wanted to get this going today.

 

[TheHarold]

8/32 has more slots for todays components such as FMM, AFS and so forth.

I don’t really agree with your examples though. All those devices you listed use aquabus, and the EB8 has 6 aquabus ports while the EB832 has 4. Doesn’t really matter given they can be daisy chained

The relevant unique ports on the EB832 are the 2x controlled 24v and 2x 1link. For WAV, PMUP, trident and DOS using 1 wire, etc.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I don’t really agree with your examples though. All those devices you listed use aquabus, and the EB8 has 6 aquabus ports while the EB832 has 4. Doesn’t really matter given they can be daisy chained

The relevant unique ports on the EB832 are the 2x controlled 24v and 2x 1link. For WAV, PMUP, trident and DOS using 1 wire, etc.

I was referring to the controlled ports for which you clarified.

 

[trmiv]

Darn I was hoping I could set the floats up on this thing to monitor my top off container for low water level, and my sump for high water level. Unfortunately the cables are far too short to reach my top off and tank at the same time. I may just stick the entire float setup thing in my top off container so I can get alerts when it needs filling. Don’t see the point of monitoring water level in my sump.

 

[Feet4Fish]

Monitoring the level in your return chamber will tell you if your return pump is off and likewise if your ATO reservoir is empty. Also will tell you if your ATO has gone nuts and overfilled.

Darn I was hoping I could set the floats up on this thing to monitor my top off container for low water level, and my sump for high water level. Unfortunately the cables are far too short to reach my top off and tank at the same time. I may just stick the entire float setup thing in my top off container so I can get alerts when it needs filling. Don’t see the point of monitoring water level in my sump.

 

[PhilT]

Darn I was hoping I could set the floats up on this thing to monitor my top off container for low water level, and my sump for high water level. Unfortunately the cables are far too short to reach my top off and tank at the same time. I may just stick the entire float setup thing in my top off container so I can get alerts when it needs filling. Don’t see the point of monitoring water level in my sump.

Yeah, my tunze ATO essentially has the same sensors just no notifications other than an alarm for high water.
if you get a breakout box, you can cut the io port connector off and use the leads inside the the wire shrink wrap to connect to the box and add a third float to your top off.

this is what I was told:

If you cut the MDin8 cord, you will see 8 colored wires and one bare wire.

SW1 (the lower float) is the black wire, SW2 (the upper float) is the brown wire, and the ground (for both floats- it is already combined at the shrink wrapped connection) is violet.

 

[trmiv]

Monitoring the level in your return chamber will tell you if your return pump is off and likewise if your ATO reservoir is empty. Also will tell you if your ATO has gone nuts and overfilled.

I know the purpose I just don’t find it useful. Monitoring my ATO water level is far more useful to me. I want to know when the reservoir is close to empty so my tunze isn’t sucking air. In the 16 years I’ve been reefing I’ve forgot to fill my ATO reservoir countless times, but I’ve never had a return pump fail or had an ATO overfill. The tunze alarm would alert me on the rare occurrence of an overfill anyway.

 

[TonyTPA]

Well I have set up my new ApexEL and it was easy to get it up and running. I am having some problems setting up the high low water monitor, how do I configure it in the Apex. Have been looking for a document that shows which switch is which with the IO port but I can not find one. I am assuming I would set up a alarm based on the high or low float in the unit but having some trouble finding them so I can make sure the switch is on. I can tell already I will be expanding and most likely my next purchase will be the power bar.

 

[Nevil]

Well I have set up my new ApexEL and it was easy to get it up and running. I am having some problems setting up the high low water monitor, how do I configure it in the Apex. Have been looking for a document that shows which switch is which with the IO port but I can not find one. I am assuming I would set up a alarm based on the high or low float in the unit but having some trouble finding them so I can make sure the switch is on. I can tell already I will be expanding and most likely my next purchase will be the power bar.

If you click on the lock icon in the upper right on the dashboard you can add, remove and move things around on the dashboard. You should see an option to drag out tiles for both switches into the dashboard when you unlock it.

 

[Sleepydoc]

Price point is better, but it's still overpriced, honestly.

Depends on your perspective. Related to a post I made on another thread, you’re getting an Apex EL brain, the probes and float sensors but then also paying for Apex Fusion which Neptune provides for ‘free.’ You have all the expansion capabilities/possibilities of the Apex EL as well as firmware support. If none of those matter to you then yeah, it’s over priced and not for you. Value depends on what you want and your perspective.

Not clear how the BRS exclusive (for now) 'devalues' the EL? OK, you end up with a couple of float switches and the bracket for 'free', but the $250 difference is really just no EB832 …. which you can buy later on for $250 to get you to the full EL. I think it was pretty smart, particularly if it sold out of 150 in such a short period of time.

I don’t think it does, any more than selling the EL devalues the 2016 Apex. Plenty of companies offer their products in different packages at varying discounts. This is no different.

Yeah but you cant do anything about it. Your much better off spending the $500 and just get the package with the EB832. I know some people are going to say they cannot afford it. I also heard the BRS video thing about people being within a one hour drive of the Tank 80% of the time. I have another Statistic for them. 50% of the time when your tank has a major issue you will be far away from the Tank. My tank has run for 6 months at a time with Zero issues and then like clockwork I go on a trip and a day later I am getting an alert. That 80% number that BRS talks about seems to have forgotten Murphy, he is always waiting to mess up your vacation

Anyway I can assure you that just about everybody who gets the $250 package is going to get bored with what they have, and very soon and they will be looking for a powerbar so that they actually can automate stuff and remotely react to emergencies.

Controllers do two things, monitor and control. I would argue that of the two, the monitoring is the far more valuable part. As others have posted, there are many different ways of controlling. Getting an Apex energy bar is only one of these.

You may well be right about people getting an EB shortly after. I’m sure Neptune is banking on that and people here have openly stated that they plan on doing so. This is a way for them to start out slowly, seeing if the controller is for them before spending a lot more money on one. I’m sure there will be some people that are happy with the system as-is. Just because it doesn’t meet your needs doesn’t mean it won’t meet someone else’s needs.

 

[PhilT]

Well I have set up my new ApexEL and it was easy to get it up and running. I am having some problems setting up the high low water monitor, how do I configure it in the Apex. Have been looking for a document that shows which switch is which with the IO port but I can not find one. I am assuming I would set up a alarm based on the high or low float in the unit but having some trouble finding them so I can make sure the switch is on. I can tell already I will be expanding and most likely my next purchase will be the power bar.

I thought all the probes and floats were supposed to be preprogrammed with some default settings as part of the BRS se package?

maybe theres A special firmware/data config or something? Cause I don’t know how the fusion setup program knows it’s a SE apex el?

 

[Nevil]

I thought all the probes and floats were supposed to be preprogrammed with some default settings as part of the BRS se package?

maybe theres A special firmware/data config or something? Cause I don’t know how the fusion setup program knows it’s a SE apex el?

I have the BRS Edition and the float switches came preprogrammed on mine. Only the alarm was set and active on the dashboard out of the box though.I had to find and put the tiles for the state of each switch onto the dashboard myself.

 

[TheHarold]

Well I have set up my new ApexEL and it was easy to get it up and running. I am having some problems setting up the high low water monitor, how do I configure it in the Apex. Have been looking for a document that shows which switch is which with the IO port but I can not find one. I am assuming I would set up a alarm based on the high or low float in the unit but having some trouble finding them so I can make sure the switch is on. I can tell already I will be expanding and most likely my next purchase will be the power bar.

should be preprogrammed

 

[TheHarold]

Yeah, my tunze ATO essentially has the same sensors just no notifications other than an alarm for high water.
if you get a breakout box, you can cut the io port connector off and use the leads inside the the wire shrink wrap to connect to the box and add a third float to your top off.

this is what I was told:

If you cut the MDin8 cord, you will see 8 colored wires and one bare wire.

SW1 (the lower float) is the black wire, SW2 (the upper float) is the brown wire, and the ground (for both floats- it is already combined at the shrink wrapped connection) is violet.

Yeah that was me explaining the Mdini wire color scheme. I’m also making a small board that will let you connect both the float assembly AND a breakout or toggle box to the IO port. That lets you utilize the whole 6 switch functionality without cutting any wires.

But the PCB was sadly delayed due to Coronavirus. (Just upper traces pictured)

 

[Quietman]

Installed mine...it was preprogrammed. May need to calibrate of course (and bad luck for me my probes were bad - luckily had a pinpoint probe lying around to troubleshoot) but mine was just setup the wifi and notifications, adjust the float heights and it was good to go. Of course, I'm in playing around a bit with the settings and code just to get familiar but isn't necessary.

Even with the bad probes, I'm very happy with the purchase and think it's going to be doing exactly what i want in the way I want to do it.

 

[Quietman]

Personally, I think this configuration directly takes on Seneye. I can add ORP monitoring (which I think is a fair substitute for ammonia) and still come in under their price point. Plus limits any future competition from any other "monitor only" like the Milwaukee Black Box. Also since this is an expandable standalone monitor that's going to be tough to beat. True Seneye also has PAR but that's a choice by Apex which can probably be resolved easily if not cheaply.

I also believe with the IoT (internet of things) that more and more products are going to come out with internal wifi connectivity and controllability and the power bar control is going to be seen as less important. Plus there are already programmable web enabled power switches (Digital Loggers) with more features that would allow complete remote control and not be tied into the Apex. True all this is less convenient than buying all in one with Apex at the same price for now, but for a significant portion (myself included), this configuration is ideal.

I don't think it's devaluing any other Apex line products. And not sure how people can comment it's too expensive when if I buy a power bar separately with this unit it's the same price as an ApexEL with an added level system.

This was special edition and may not be offered again at that price. But I will be expanding with added monitoring modules which should be intent of entry level system and I don't mind spending more money when it adds more value to what I want.