How To Control your Aquarium with Apex and Alexa
- Thread starter fabutahoun
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- alexa apex neptune apex reef video
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I have the Hanna ppm alkalinity checker, I assume since she asked what the units were you can use ppm too.
__Jreef__
Active Member
I just start using Alexa and I notice works better when I use the feed mode with the Reeflink to control my MPs, on the Apex works sometimes and sometimes doesn't. I guess is going to get better with time.
OP
OP
fabutahoun
Angels and Acros
First You make an alias for the feed cycle you want to trigger, For Example "Turn of the Pumps". or you can use without alias like previous comment
Then you go to your pump program and add this line of code:
If FeedB 005 Then OFF
This will turn the pump for 5 minutes, you change the number , and the feed cycle to A,B,C or D as needed.
Then Just say "Alexa tell Apex fusion to Turn of the Pumps" or "Alexa tell Apex fusion to start feed cycle B"
WallyB
REEF Techno-Geek
As much as I am an Automation Enthusiast, and getting stuff working with Alexa is Fun and in some cases Very Useful..... (Feeding mode, etc)
I would never rely on or Trust Alexa for anything Critical.
I trust my Apex....
..... directly controlled with the Direct LAN WEB page, or the LCD Display.
............ slightly less with Fusion (since it relies on Internet, and Neptune's Servers).
The problem with Alexa to control anything is two key things. Accurate Voice Recognition, and Delay.
Recognition can be improved with Well picked words, but even that can be ruined if there is noise in the room.
DELAY is the key thing why I wouldn't trust Alexa to turn off a pump (for example a water change setup)
I have many household Lights (Philips Hue type), others Controlled by (Smart Dimmers, Smart Switches, and Smart Outlets) /
YES THEY WORK, and Alexa ROUTINES can make them work really Cool in Sequences. (but sometimes after saying Alexa.....) I have to wait, or it doesn't happen.
Delay varies, and it sometime is bad, so controlling a pump that must turn off exactly when you want, isn't something I would recommend.
Also controlling Your Apex to expect it to work each time, isn't something I would trust either.
I actually do use Alexa/Apex on my Tank, I'm not against it, just nothing that could Cause an Accident you don't want.
(Too bad Routines will not with with Alexa..YET). If they did work, you could say "Alexa Movie time" and ALEX would set the room lights just right AND ALSO dim my Apex/Alexa controlled tank.
I got that to work but with a Apex Virtual Switch, and an Alex Routine to Control (Room lights, AND SMART Relay.... that closes a switch, that is connected to Apex Input Breakout that changes a Apex SoftSwitch, which triggers the Virtual Outlet, which dims the Fish Tank Lighting.
I would never rely on or Trust Alexa for anything Critical.
I trust my Apex....
..... directly controlled with the Direct LAN WEB page, or the LCD Display.
............ slightly less with Fusion (since it relies on Internet, and Neptune's Servers).
The problem with Alexa to control anything is two key things. Accurate Voice Recognition, and Delay.
Recognition can be improved with Well picked words, but even that can be ruined if there is noise in the room.
DELAY is the key thing why I wouldn't trust Alexa to turn off a pump (for example a water change setup)
I have many household Lights (Philips Hue type), others Controlled by (Smart Dimmers, Smart Switches, and Smart Outlets) /
YES THEY WORK, and Alexa ROUTINES can make them work really Cool in Sequences. (but sometimes after saying Alexa.....) I have to wait, or it doesn't happen.
Delay varies, and it sometime is bad, so controlling a pump that must turn off exactly when you want, isn't something I would recommend.
Also controlling Your Apex to expect it to work each time, isn't something I would trust either.
I actually do use Alexa/Apex on my Tank, I'm not against it, just nothing that could Cause an Accident you don't want.
(Too bad Routines will not with with Alexa..YET). If they did work, you could say "Alexa Movie time" and ALEX would set the room lights just right AND ALSO dim my Apex/Alexa controlled tank.
I got that to work but with a Apex Virtual Switch, and an Alex Routine to Control (Room lights, AND SMART Relay.... that closes a switch, that is connected to Apex Input Breakout that changes a Apex SoftSwitch, which triggers the Virtual Outlet, which dims the Fish Tank Lighting.
CarolinaReefs
Active Member
Not adding a spybot to my home.
RobertP
Active Member
I really like my Apex and I am a tech guy but I cannot bring myself to have yet another device in my home that is constantly listening. Bad enough I have this danged phone that I cannot really turn off....
Lol.
You understand that it only listens on a 10 second loop to hear its invocation command, then only for 15 seconds IF it hears a command. Only that 15 seconds is recorded. It doesn’t record and upload the whole day
Greybeard
2500 Club Member
Says who? The company that makes all it's money by selling your preferences to advertisers?
Catch the story about Alexa calling the cops when it heard some idiot beating his girlfriend? Yeah.
Seen the headlines lately?
Google facing financial penalty for unlawful tracking
Yeah. I'd trust Google not to listen in. Sure.
Oh, who am I kidding. There's a Pixel 3 sitting on my desk... right next to an iPhone 7.
Privacy is dead.
One of those cute but in practice not useful. I have a panelview with dedicated functions I touch one button and the program function happens simple and does not need to be relying on a internet service to work.
OP
OP
fabutahoun
Angels and Acros
"Privacy and intimacy as we know it
Will be a memory
Among many to be passed down
To those who never knew
Living in the pupil of one thousand eyes" ~ Chuck Schuldiner
Jeremy Luke
Well-Known Member
I use a Profilux 4 and my home is powered by Google.
Really cool...until some random person walks near your tank and accidentally yells commands that cause your tank to implode!
Only if they know the alias names for the actions.
But yeah- I’m setting up diagnostics only, largely because Alexa has problems with my accent.
On more than one occasion, I’ve asked her to turn on the lights, and had the garage door open instead
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