finally got apex...Its not the sexiest controller board but its super compact

[SPR1968]

Very neat and tidy!

 

[CoralB]

Welcome !!

 

[Fishy Guy]

That is awesome! The picture inside shows what a herculean task that was ha. I can’t believe it’s only 3 inches.

I’m also a freshwater guy just venturing over to the salty side. What is the CO2 going to be used for? I run it on my 75g planted tank but this is the first I’ve seen it mentioned for a reef build.

 

[amyxagl]

That is awesome! The picture inside shows what a herculean task that was ha. I can’t believe it’s only 3 inches.

I’m also a freshwater guy just venturing over to the salty side. What is the CO2 going to be used for? I run it on my 75g planted tank but this is the first I’ve seen it mentioned for a reef build.

thanks! yes 3 inches is a bit small when trying to fit it all including power bricks.

yeah it wasnt till i dived into a low maintenance tank i found out about calcium reactors.
CO² is used to lower the ph of the water inside a small chamber. that chamber is fill with calcium bits/dead coral bits. the lowered ph of the water slowly dissolves the calcium into a liquid form as a way to dose calcium and alkalinity to a reef tank instead of using 2 part or kalkwasser.

 

[amyxagl]

Very neat and tidy!

thanks! took some planning and lots of staring at it

 

[Swfiend]

Wow makes my attempt at a clean wiring a Pinterest fail… I’ll take 1 please! Haha

 

[Varmette]

Very clean looking set up. Nice job

 

[rm22_newbie]

In your build you mentioned getting a 90 degree cable or extension for your aquabus, do you mind sharing which one you used? I need a 90 degree adapter or cable bc my AFS is right up against the wall and I can't move it. Some people said u could use normal USB others said you can't, any help would be awesome, Thanks!

 

[Pvtgloss]

 

[amyxagl]

In your build you mentioned getting a 90 degree cable or extension for your aquabus, do you mind sharing which one you used? I need a 90 degree adapter or cable bc my AFS is right up against the wall and I can't move it. Some people said u could use normal USB others said you can't, any help would be awesome, Thanks!

LOL i had the same problem!

i used an adapter with the provided apex usb cord:

90 Degree USB 2.0 A male to female Adapter Connector Angle Extension Extender | eBay

1 x USB 2.0 Male A To Female Adapter. Easily convert existing cables to your needs. Four Types for choice. Net weight: 11g. If you receive wrong item or do not satisfied with our item. You may also like.

www.ebay.com

this is what i used. i just made sure it was cheap usb 2.0 and not 3.0
also pay attention to how you need to orient your cord. they have all 4 directions to choose from (up, down, left, right). I chose Down.
fyi it came from china so it took almost 2 weeks

also i used this if any one else is wondering:

1pcs Right Angle 90 Degree USB 2.0 A Male to Male Data Extension Cable Cord 25cm | eBay

USB male to USB male Converter allows you to easily convert existing cables to your needs. 1m OTG USB 3.1 Type C Male to Micro / Mini / Type C Male Plug Connector Cable. Connector: USB Type A maleRight angle and USB A male straight.

www.ebay.com

to go from module to module that was right above it.
again usb 2.0.
the 3.0 has different number of pins (5 i believe) vs plain 2.0's 4 pins. while 3.0 does have both a 4 pin config and 5 pin config inside the plug making it backwards compatible, apex only uses 4 pin and i have ran into issues with other usb 2.0/3.0 compatiblity not apex related devices

 

[amyxagl]

Quick update:
tank is cycling!

I was having issues with my leak dector, LLS, and ATO High and Low sensors. They weren't reading right on apex. some were closed when the should be open and vise versa, and LLS wasnt reading at all. Found the culprit though. it was the small 90 Degree adapters I used. So I bought a different set with a 6 inch cord and works perfectly now. Other than that I've had 0 issues with all my apex equipment. I did run into an issue of my battery backup for the hydros and gyres not working for the first month even with proper programming for low power state. simple fix - PUT THE FUSE IN!

I have my saltwater filling station inside a cabinet next to the tank. Bought 12 gallon tote from HD, bought a cheap timer remote (30 min, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours) and hooked a cheap fluval wavemaker for the salt mix. press of a button on apex fusion and presto! starts filling it with rodi. I just have to come in dump some salt and hit the remote!


wifey peeked at my brs wish list and surprised me with a vdm module. I haven't hooked it up yet b.c now I have to figure out a way to mount it with a full board. it will be used eventually to control hydros that controls my 2 gyres. that requires 2 rj-45 jacks for the 0-10v control. and I was already using one for my lights which ill get to in a second.

filled two days before new years.
caribsea special grade live sand, tropic marin pro biotic for first fill, microbacter 7, dr tims one and only and ammonia for fishless cycling for the first month ( I did ammonia for that long because I was heading out of town for two weeks for an install at the end of jan and didn't want to throw fish in right before I left) 4 jars of ecoPods, phyto daily, fuge, bio media soaked for 24 hrs with microbacter.

Added ozone and dryer soon after. (I suck at carbon).
2 premium picasso clowns from lfs
turned on lights a couple weeks after. blah blah... textbook cycling

Then I realized how soon Reefaplooza is 2 months away by that point (another wifey xmas surprise )
So almost every weekend I was adding a fish or two. Made my first mistake getting a powder brown. Didn't have ich or flukes or anything but did die on me about 4 weeks after I got him. I shouldn't have jumped off the deep end with that one.

I did rent a par meter last weekend. Values are a bit low for sps. 220 top center @ 6". Its a 6 bulb t5 that I built using an old light fixture from my shop (could be the reflectors being commercial/shop grade). changed the ballasts out and rewired for 3 ati 0-10v ballasts and hooked it up to my apex for ramp up/down.
Bought a reef bright lumilight pro to get those numbers up (just showed up today).

current stock:
2 picassos
4 chromis
Baby Blue hippo tang that schools with chromis
tominie tang
convict tang
royal gramma
tailspot blenny
1 conch
hermits and various snails


current params:
78 degrees
8.0 ph
240 orp
18 nitrate and falling
.02 phosphate

 

[rm22_newbie]

LOL i had the same problem!

i used an adapter with the provided apex usb cord:

90 Degree USB 2.0 A male to female Adapter Connector Angle Extension Extender | eBay

1 x USB 2.0 Male A To Female Adapter. Easily convert existing cables to your needs. Four Types for choice. Net weight: 11g. If you receive wrong item or do not satisfied with our item. You may also like.

www.ebay.com

this is what i used. i just made sure it was cheap usb 2.0 and not 3.0
also pay attention to how you need to orient your cord. they have all 4 directions to choose from (up, down, left, right). I chose Down.
fyi it came from china so it took almost 2 weeks

also i used this if any one else is wondering:

1pcs Right Angle 90 Degree USB 2.0 A Male to Male Data Extension Cable Cord 25cm | eBay

USB male to USB male Converter allows you to easily convert existing cables to your needs. 1m OTG USB 3.1 Type C Male to Micro / Mini / Type C Male Plug Connector Cable. Connector: USB Type A maleRight angle and USB A male straight.

www.ebay.com

to go from module to module that was right above it.
again usb 2.0.
the 3.0 has different number of pins (5 i believe) vs plain 2.0's 4 pins. while 3.0 does have both a 4 pin config and 5 pin config inside the plug making it backwards compatible, apex only uses 4 pin and i have ran into issues with other usb 2.0/3.0 compatiblity not apex related devices

Thanks so much, and I almost bought the USB 3.0 before I read the last bit.

 

[Nano_Man]

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

nice looking setup!