Aquarium Controller or Nah for your reef?

[Reef Puncher]

Four tanks on an Apex, with two Tridents. I am far too busy to be home and dose the tanks all day, and the Apex has saved them from my negligence MANY times. Just had the emergency siren go off yesterday because I turned off the cooling fan on a tank and forgot to turn it back on. Tank temp went to 83.

even if someone doesnt have a trident, EVERYONE should get at LEAST a cheap inkbird wifi temp monitoring and alerting system. i forgot to turn my main pump back on and went to spend weekend at a girls house. at 2am i got an alert my temp was dropping below 75, and i RUSHED home. i wouldnt have known and i would have lost corals for sure.

 

[robmiller2]

I have an Apex on my tanks. Helps me monitor and make the changes I need for my dosing. Really helps me keep the system stable. I also tend to travel for work so if it needs anything I can let someone at home know and keep things going well.

 

[cbreier]

I have used both Apex and Coralvue Hydros, and I like the Hydros much better. Had many, many failures with Apex, some that even came close to nuking my tank by turning off heaters or dosing tons of ALK when it was not supposed to. As part of that, I now only use controllers to monitor and alert my systems, and would not use them to control life support type systems after the issues I had with Apex controllers. Have never had an issue with Hydros, plus seems silly to me that an Aquarium controller that is near a ton of water is not protected at all from any amount of splash.

 

[BryanM]

100% yes.

Automation helps considerably IMO. Between autofeeding, turning things on and off automatically, temp control, etc.

The big win in my tank (confirming w/ICP that I just sent out) will be the KH Guardian, which tests alk and doses AFR. That plus the ATO, no water changes, and I may need to dose a couple supplemental things.

 

[Project1004]

I’m using apex jr on my two system together.

I have 3 EB8 which means I have 24 outlets.

They are all in use. Recently 2 became free when I took off Algae turf scrubber off line.

I don’t think I’ll be willing to trace a wires back to the outlet and unplug for services and maintenance etc.

Turning off wrong things happens a lot and messes up lots of the time.

Service time come, I know eexacly which plugs I need to unplug for cleaning etc.


Programming is another good reasons as well.

 

[BriDroid]

I have moved my little cube over to Hydros and I LOVE it! I needed to since when I travel for work no one here will take care of it. The wife and kids have 0 interest in it, and I don’t trust them to even feed the fish, let alone dose.

Now that it’s automated, I even have it run 2% daily water changes, everything has really stabilized for me. It really just runs itself at this point.

 

[Reef Puncher]

I have moved my little cube over to Hydros and I LOVE it! I needed to since when I travel for work no one here will take care of it. The wife and kids have 0 interest in it, and I don’t trust them to even feed the fish, let alone dose.

Now that it’s automated, I even have it run 2% daily water changes, everything has really stabilized for me. It really just runs itself at this point.

i did too. i bought a hydros x10 and hydros IV and hydros sole for kalk dosing. so far i like it, im struggling a little getting the IV to give me a stable number. for some reason its showing like anywhere from 8.2 to 8.9 during the week. which the fact it jumps around shows my tanks alk is unstable. however my hannah and salifert test kits show the same numbers every day. shows it is stable. so im not really sold on it yet. just sucks cause i spent like $1200 on all that stuff. the X10 and sole work flawlessly tho.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

MOAR VOTERS!!

 

[backbayreef]

I'm a "controller" freak, ask my wife! j/k lol
450gal: Apex EL, 2 x EB832's, 2 x PMs's, Trident, Trident NP
150gal: Apex EL, EB832, PM1, Trident
90gal: Hydros (XP8 & X4), manual testing with Hanna
25gal: no controller, no WC, no skimmer, no sock, no problem! :)

It's very nerve wrecking to operate a tank w/o a controller, esp while on vacation - creating a sense of anxiety. Again, I'm a monitoring freak of nature...

 

[backbayreef]

MOAR VOTERS!!

yup - I was gonna suggest that but figured I might get banned from R2R for challenging local authorities! lol

 

[Baylott224]

I use Kasa smart power strips, not exactly a controller but makes it easy to power on/off equipment and schedule some equipment to only run at certain times.

I got govee ones with energy monitoring there great

 

[mpatterson42]

I got govee ones with energy monitoring there great

I've got mine linked up to Home Assistant and monitoring the energy use, even shows me how much it costs to run.

 

[Baylott224]

Mine are linked too on home assistant it does not show cost but it show. How. Many

 

[mpatterson42]

Mine are linked too on home assistant it does not show cost but it show. How. Many

Settings > Dashboards > Energy > Add Consumption. You'll have to know how much your electricity costs.

 

[Philip Chin]

Had an apex but decided to keep everything simple. A lot less stress and things are still doing well. One less thing to worry about or go wrong

 

[CBonito]

Oh yeah , every aspect of automation. My HYDROS Collective is rocking 11 HYDROS Controls. Automation is key, just gotta tell the system what you want it to do.

It's ok to admit we're inconsistent humans that can't be as good as a program.

 

[Cow]

I have 2x Apex and am building 2x Robotank and looking at an ESP AquaPi for future cost savings for nano tanks. Would love to get integrations with home assistant.

 

[Fish Fan]

I have 2x Apex and am building 2x Robotank and looking at an ESP AquaPi for future cost savings for nano tanks. Would love to get integrations with home assistant.

I also have been using Robo-Tank, I really like it, and I would be very interested in any comparisons you could make between Robo-Tank and an Apex setup.

Thanks for your help!

 

[hatfielj]

I currently use only minimal control on my tank. I have a Hydros X2 system and 2 of their 4 outlet strips. I use it for redundant temperature control and to turn my reefbrites on and off. That's it. I love the hydros btw. I used to have Apex, like 7 or 8 years ago and frankly hated it. I don't know if it's improved since then, but I do know that their prices kept me away this time. Hydros has many different options for entry level systems that I found most attractive. And I love their app and web-based control. It works flawlessly for me and I think it's way easier to use than previous controllers I've owned.

 

[HELLCO]

I’m running full Apex, for controlling, monitoring and dosing. I’m not per se a numbers chaser, but I do tweak dosing at times get stable, consistent numbers which is key in a reef tank. Currently 2-part dosing All for Reef and Sodium Carbonate.
I couldn’t see me wanting it any other way.