Do I need an Apex reef controller?

stanleo

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Before I ask, I want to give you the specs and equipment on my tank.

120 gallons, not drilled, with a DIY 55 gallon sump. Two years old. Everything is great with this tank. It is stable and my maintenance routine is easy. Daily I feed two or three times, and sometimes I need to scrub the glass. Weekly I do a full battery of tests with Red Sea and Salifert kits that I record on a spreadsheet on my laptop in the fish room so I can monitor trends. Every two weeks I do a 20 gallon water change, I clean the skimmer cup when it needs and I periodically check the dosing pump to make sure it is working. That's pretty much it. I did a ICP test recently only three parameters were off and not by much. So I am confident in stating that this tank is running well. I think that has more to do with luck than reefing skills on my part. And of course all the amazing help I get here.

Equipment list:
Octo Classic 202-S in sump skimmer
Hydrofill ATO
Current eFlux DC Flow Pump for the return
DT lights are 2 Red Sea ReefLED 90s that I control with my phone
Fuge light is a generic plant light I got from Lowe's
2 Hydor Koralia wave pumps 2450gph connected to a Hydor Wavemaker
1 Hydor pump less powerful on the back wall that runs continuously.
For temp control I found this Ketotek KT400 Temperature Controller online that hasn't failed me yet in a year and a half BUT I do remember reading the temp probe goes bad in salt water after a year. I clean it regularly but I am sure it won't last much longer.
One heater right now, 300W but I am going to buy a second heater for a backup. The one I had was giving off a charge in the water.
My Dosing pump is a Hygger 4 Head Dosing pump that doses calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. My potassium and iodine was low on the ICP test so I am going to start dosing for those when they come and I only have one head left on the doser so I probably need to get a second dosing pump.

I have been saving since the first of the year for an Apex and I have had the money for a few weeks now but I am reluctant to pull the trigger. Do I really need one or is the gear head in me being a devil on my shoulder? I am not much of a gear head anyway to be honest and this online connectivity stuff confuses me.

If I do get one, do I have to replace most or all of the equipment I currently have? Cause I will have to save more if I do that.

In two years we are planning a 6 week trip to Europe. I would feel better having a system I can control from anywhere. Is it really that reliable though?

What exactly is ORP monitoring and why do I need it? I tried looking it up but it still confuses me because I don't think I do that now and I haven't needed it yet.

Do you have to pay separately for the Trident testing thing? If I don't get the Trident is it even worth it for me to get the Apex at all?
 

DaveC

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No, spend the $$$ on livestock. I have a profilux 4 and don't use most of the features. One thing that struck is, What happens if this thing ever breaks?

Pick up something like a Kasa Smart HS300 Plug Power Strip if you really want some controllability.
 

Philly Reefer

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Do you need it? No
Do I recommend it? Yes

I don't think I can have a reef tank without apex anymore.
It has made it easier for me to monitor my ph, Salinity, and temp. And with the additional stuff that it can do....

At least get a controller to make your reefing life easier.
 

sam2110

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Do you need it? No
Do I recommend it? Yes

I don't think I can have a reef tank without apex anymore.
It has made it easier for me to monitor my ph, Salinity, and temp. And with the additional stuff that it can do.
A seneye will monitor PH and temp at less than half the cost and from what I've heard the apex salinity prope is very unreliable, the shop that sells the advised me to save my money and don't buy one with a salinity probe
 

Philly Reefer

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A seneye will monitor PH and temp at less than half the cost and from what I've heard the apex salinity prope is very unreliable, the shop that sells the advised me to save my money and don't buy one with a salinity probe

Funny thing is, lots of people has apex with their salinity probe without issues.
I do want to know the percentage of how many complaints that neptune received for the Salinity issue and how many Apex they sold so far.

I am not discounting there is issue with the Salinity probe. But mine is working fine so far. And I also always double check with my refractometer weekly and if I see my probe goes way up or way down.
 

sam2110

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Funny thing is, lots of people has apex with their salinity probe without issues.
I do want to know the percentage of how many complaints that neptune received for the Salinity issue and how many Apex they sold so far.

I am discounting there is issue with the Salinity probe. But mine is working fine so far. And I also always double check with my refractometer weekly and if I see my probe goes way up or way down.
I honestly can't say from experience I'm only going on what the shop told me, it put me off the apex and I just use a hanna salinity checker every couple of days, only takes 10 seconds
 

Philly Reefer

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Before I ask, I want to give you the specs and equipment on my tank.

120 gallons, not drilled, with a DIY 55 gallon sump. Two years old. Everything is great with this tank. It is stable and my maintenance routine is easy. Daily I feed two or three times, and sometimes I need to scrub the glass. Weekly I do a full battery of tests with Red Sea and Salifert kits that I record on a spreadsheet on my laptop in the fish room so I can monitor trends. Every two weeks I do a 20 gallon water change, I clean the skimmer cup when it needs and I periodically check the dosing pump to make sure it is working. That's pretty much it. I did a ICP test recently only three parameters were off and not by much. So I am confident in stating that this tank is running well. I think that has more to do with luck than reefing skills on my part. And of course all the amazing help I get here.

Equipment list:
Octo Classic 202-S in sump skimmer
Hydrofill ATO
Current eFlux DC Flow Pump for the return
DT lights are 2 Red Sea ReefLED 90s that I control with my phone
Fuge light is a generic plant light I got from Lowe's
2 Hydor Koralia wave pumps 2450gph connected to a Hydor Wavemaker
1 Hydor pump less powerful on the back wall that runs continuously.
For temp control I found this Ketotek KT400 Temperature Controller online that hasn't failed me yet in a year and a half BUT I do remember reading the temp probe goes bad in salt water after a year. I clean it regularly but I am sure it won't last much longer.
One heater right now, 300W but I am going to buy a second heater for a backup. The one I had was giving off a charge in the water.
My Dosing pump is a Hygger 4 Head Dosing pump that doses calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. My potassium and iodine was low on the ICP test so I am going to start dosing for those when they come and I only have one head left on the doser so I probably need to get a second dosing pump.

I have been saving since the first of the year for an Apex and I have had the money for a few weeks now but I am reluctant to pull the trigger. Do I really need one or is the gear head in me being a devil on my shoulder? I am not much of a gear head anyway to be honest and this online connectivity stuff confuses me.

If I do get one, do I have to replace most or all of the equipment I currently have? Cause I will have to save more if I do that.

In two years we are planning a 6 week trip to Europe. I would feel better having a system I can control from anywhere. Is it really that reliable though?

What exactly is ORP monitoring and why do I need it? I tried looking it up but it still confuses me because I don't think I do that now and I haven't needed it yet.

Do you have to pay separately for the Trident testing thing? If I don't get the Trident is it even worth it for me to get the Apex at all?

You don't need to change your equipment.
You can let apex control those through the outlet (on/off).
Trident is apex testing equipment for alk/cal/mag. It can only work with apex.
You can disregard ORP. Unless you are using ozone in your system
 

PeterC99

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Think about how much money and time you put into your aquarium. Our reef systems are incredibly complex. Apex helps you maintain and monitor these systems. Apex has saved my aquarium multiple times.

1) Had a heater that got stuck on. Apex cut the power when the tank got to 82 degrees.

2) Made a mistake on a water change and forgot to switch water station from RODI to saltwater. Salinity dropped to 31 from 35 on my APEX and sent me a notification email. Quickly did another water change to get Salinity back to 35. Corals were a little upset but eventually forgave me.

On top of this the Apex will save you significant time on testing and monitoring. Great insurance policy and will help you achieve incredible consistency in your system.
 

shblink

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Interesting.. I see a lot of people on here saying no to Apex..
I'll be the one to give you reasons on why you should have one.

How much do you spend on livestock? If you have a couple thousand dollars of livestock in your tank, why not shell out the cost of an Apex to add fail-safes to your system?

Looking at your equipment list, i'll give you two reasons why an Apex would be beneficial.

1) Heaters - If your current controller or temp probe was to fail and your heater stays on and overheats your tank, you wouldn't even know until you were home. The Apex has a higher quality temp probe less prone to failure and it would alert you if it detected anything outside of a threshold that you set. It can also automatically shut off your heater.

2) Dosing - If your current dosing pump fails and one pump keeps pumping chemicals into your tank, let's say Alk for example, there's nothing to stop it from dumping the entire contents and nuking your tank. With an Apex, you could set pH fail-safes and tell the Apex to cut power to your dosing pumps if your pH hits a certain threshold.
 

sam2110

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Interesting.. I see a lot of people on here saying no to Apex..
I'll be the one to give you reasons on why you should have one.

How much do you spend on livestock? If you have a couple thousand dollars of livestock in your tank, why not shell out the cost of an Apex to add fail-safes to your system?

Looking at your equipment list, i'll give you two reasons why an Apex would be beneficial.

1) Heaters - If your current controller or temp probe was to fail and your heater stays on and overheats your tank, you wouldn't even know until you were home. The Apex has a higher quality temp probe less prone to failure and it would alert you if it detected anything outside of a threshold that you set. It can also automatically shut off your heater.

2) Dosing - If your current dosing pump fails and one pump keeps pumping chemicals into your tank, let's say Alk for example, there's nothing to stop it from dumping the entire contents and nuking your tank. With an Apex, you could set pH fail-safes and tell the Apex to cut power to your dosing pumps if your pH hits a certain threshold.
Seneye and a smart power strip can do exactly the same, temp raises it sends me a notification. I open my app for the power strip and turn it off. Ph raises seneye sends me a notification, I open my app and switch off my doser
 

mindme

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Think about how much money and time you put into your aquarium. Our reef systems are incredibly complex. Apex helps you maintain and monitor these systems. Apex has saved my aquarium multiple times.

1) Had a heater that got stuck on. Apex cut the power when the tank got to 82 degrees.

2) Made a mistake on a water change and forgot to switch water station from RODI to saltwater. Salinity dropped to 31 from 35 on my APEX and sent me a notification email. Quickly did another water change to get Salinity back to 35. Corals were a little upset but eventually forgave me.

On top of this the Apex will save you significant time on testing and monitoring. Great insurance policy and will help you achieve incredible consistency in your system.
1. a $30 inkbird can do the same thing.

2. Nice feature. I recently had my salinity drop to 33pt and I didn't realize it. I rarely check my salinity and apparently should do it more often. It was completely unexpected that my salinity was that low. I don't have salt creep problems or anything.
 

Philly Reefer

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Seneye and a smart power strip can do exactly the same

No. Seneye doesn't talk with the outlet.
With the example that he said, when the dosing pump stuck on. When the ph change too much, it will directly turned off the dosing pump outlet.
Then send him an alert.

Seneye might only send him an alert. Then he has to open his smart outlet app to turn off the pump manually
 

sam2110

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No. Seneye doesn't talk with the outlet.
With the example that he said, when the dosing pump stuck on. When the ph change too much, it will directly turned off the dosing pump outlet.
Then send him an alert.

Seneye might only send him an alert. Then he has to open his smart outlet app to turn off the pump manually
Yes but it's less than half the cost. Some people can't justify to their wife spending 800-900 on a controller lol. And a skimmer guardian can be used as a ATO cut off should your ATO stick on
 

Philly Reefer

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Yes but it's less than half the cost. Some people can't justify to their wife spending 800-900 on a controller lol

Just making sure you are not misinformed. How fast do you get the alert from seneye?

What happen if you are on a meeting with your boss and cant check your phone?
Or you are driving on a bad reception area.

That delay can kill your fish/corals.

I also understand that the expense is high. But.. aren't all your fishes and corals also high expenses if you have to replace them all?
 

mindme

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Just making sure you are not misinformed. How fast do you get the alert from seneye?

What happen if you are on a meeting with your boss and cant check your phone?
Or you are driving on a bad reception area.

That delay can kill your fish/corals.

I also understand that the expense is high. But.. aren't all your fish and corals also high expenses if you have to replace them all?
I think the keyword in the OP is "need".

I would totally use one if I had it, and I'd probably love it. I just can't justify the costs.
 

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