Jumping from Apex to hydros, suggestions

[OutColdCRNA]

For the kalk reactor I highly recommend the SOLE, its heavy duty and rated for continuous duty. I use one on each of my kalk reactors and they work well. The minnow is likely undersized for that application. For the alkalinity, you could get away with a minnow or just a hydros simple doser on a drive port.

I would suggest:
Launch (4 AC, 4 Drive, 4 Sense ports, pH/Salinity)
XP8 (8 more AC outlets)
Sole (1 doser for kalk)
Hydros simple doser for alkalinity off the Launch Drive Port
3 optical sensors off the launch

If you wanted to do alkalinity testing, you could add a iV tester to the launch:
- need 1x iV
- 1 2ml/min hydros AC doser (reagent pump)
- 2 hydros simple dosers (drain/fill pump)
- use 1 pH port on the Launch for the iV pH probe, 2 drive ports on the launch for fill/drain doser, 1 AC port on the Launch for reagent doser, 1 drive port on the launch for the stir bar

Could also ditch the 3 hydros simple dosers and just add on a minnow instead as well and pickup 4 more sense ports. If you went with the minnow, you could switch the Launch out for the X4 as well, but you need to make sure only 8AC ports is enough. This would give you 2 pH ports so you could do pH in tank and pH for the iV.

Theres many ways to slice this pie.

Thank you so much for the thorough reply.
I got a response from Neptune and they want to check out my system remotely. I’m assuming the are going to say I need to replace something.
Do you think that the hydros ecosystem lacks in any way from the apex universe?

 

[JeffB418]

Thank you so much for the thorough reply.
I got a response from Neptune and they want to check out my system remotely. I’m assuming the are going to say I need to replace something.
Do you think that the hydros ecosystem lacks in any way from the apex universe?

I would be lying if I said no. They are just different. You won't find 100% overlap between the 2, one does it one way and the other does it another. Both get the job done. I came from Neptune to Hydros and I have been generally happy.

 

[OutColdCRNA]

I would be lying if I said no. They are just different. You won't find 100% overlap between the 2, one does it one way and the other does it another. Both get the job done. I came from Neptune to Hydros and I have been generally happy.

I’m thinking it’s going to run me about $1200 to make the switch. That’s a tough pill to swallow to replace equipment that is a little over two years old.

 

[areefer01]

I’m thinking it’s going to run me about $1200 to make the switch. That’s a tough pill to swallow to replace equipment that is a little over two years old.

You can always try and sell it and maybe get some of it back. Can also start with something small in the Hydros ecosystem such as the Wave Engine LE and see if it works for you. If not can always sell that.

Honestly they both have their warts and neither is perfect.

 

[OutColdCRNA]

You can always try and sell it and maybe get some of it back. Can also start with something small in the Hydros ecosystem such as the Wave Engine LE and see if it works for you. If not can always sell that.

Honestly they both have their warts and neither is perfect.

Wish I could outright sell the apex. But can’t rightly sell something that’s not working correctly to begin with.

 

[Connor At CoralVue]

@OutColdCRNA Glad you are getting a great response rate here! I'd love the opportunity for you to first hand put our support to the test, reach out to support.coralvue.com and request a call or ask a question, we'd love to help you with any questions, or ID what control or controls may work best for you. It's no joke that customer service is our #1 priority.

What's nice is, you won't ever have to sell off any HYDROS to upgrade. Our system is ever expanding, that first HYDROS Device you buy doesn't go away when you upgrade, the system just grows, and when it does, it becomes more redundant with more brain units.

If you mention my name in the support portal, the system will auto tag me, look forward to hearing from you!

 

[OutColdCRNA]

@OutColdCRNA Glad you are getting a great response rate here! I'd love the opportunity for you to first hand put our support to the test, reach out to support.coralvue.com and request a call or ask a question, we'd love to help you with any questions, or ID what control or controls may work best for you. It's no joke that customer service is our #1 priority.

What's nice is, you won't ever have to sell off any HYDROS to upgrade. Our system is ever expanding, that first HYDROS Device you buy doesn't go away when you upgrade, the system just grows, and when it does, it becomes more redundant with more brain units.

If you mention my name in the support portal, the system will auto tag me, look forward to hearing from you!

Connor, thank you for the response to my thread. I appreciate the customer service that comes along with that!

 

[rtparty]

Both have their pros and cons IME

I went from Apex to Hydros years ago and it was rough.

My nano now has no controller and I’ve really enjoyed it. I am more into monitoring now than controlling.

 

[SPS2020]

An Apex guy here following along. I have redundant Apex eL units and 832 power bars. Last year, the original Apex eL started having issues as well as the power bar. I switched out both pieces and even though I had made a backup of the configuration, it was still a slight PITA to accomplish. What I found was that Kasa strips were an amazing piece of equipment to have on hand in such cases. Two strips kept everything going nicely until I had the other Apex unit up and running. I'll be interested to see how you like the Hydros system if you decide to go that route.

 

[OutColdCRNA]

An Apex guy here following along. I have redundant Apex eL units and 832 power bars. Last year, the original Apex eL started having issues as well as the power bar. I switched out both pieces and even though I had made a backup of the configuration, it was still a slight PITA to accomplish. What I found was that Kasa strips were an amazing piece of equipment to have on hand in such cases. Two strips kept everything going nicely until I had the other Apex unit up and running. I'll be interested to see how you like the Hydros system if you decide to go that route.

I’m still debating on making the switch. I was able to gain control of my apex again by switching out the sd card for a new one. Everything is working as it should now but I think I’m going to slowly make the switch to hydros and see how I like it.

 

[TheWB]

I’m still debating on making the switch. I was able to gain control of my apex again by switching out the sd card for a new one. Everything is working as it should now but I think I’m going to slowly make the switch to hydros and see how I like it.

If you haven't already made a decision yet then another option for you to consider is to just dip a toe into the Hydros world and try it out. That's what I did. I have an Apex 2016 with two EB832's and two Sky's so I'm fairly heavily invested in Neptune products.
I was intrigued by Hydros though and wanted to try it out. Maven looks interesting to me if they ever get it figured out and it proves to be reliable, I won't be a first day buyer. When the time came to add on to my system instead of getting a DOS and Neptune sensors I bought these instead.
1 Hydros Minnow.
1 Rope leak detector.
1 Optical level sensor.
1 WiFi power strip.
All in all a fairly minimal investment.
I use the Minnow to dose Nopox which it handles very well. The other dosing head will be for All For Reef once I have the need.
The rope leak detector works well when I test it and the sensitivity is adjustable so it doesn't have to send an alarm if you drop a couple of drops while refilling the ato container if it happens but will trigger if a larger spill or leak occurs.
The optical level sensor is in my ato container and sends me an alert when it needs to be refilled.
I use the wifi power strip for non essential tasks. The pump and heater I use to mix fresh saltwater are plugged into it along with an extra pump I use to keep the water moving in the first couple of chambers of my sump. So one item that is always on and two that I turn on manually when needed.
So far for me its all worked great except for the common problem of the wifi strip losing it's connection which probably has more to do with me not knowing how to properly set up my network access points than any actual flaw with the strip.
Hope this was helpful.

 

[Redemptioner]

I have everything under the sun Hydros and the same for Apex along with tons of non-brand integrated devices (wave/return/skimmer/media/air pumps, lights, heatmats, chillers, water/air flow meters, O2/CO2/humidity/temp sensors), putting the CoralVue customer service and their fanboys to one side, it really comes down to what you put the highest priority in.

Things to consider are:

Live dashboards - Apex (Hydros times out after a minute or so not walking past and taking a quick check/glance)
Custom Dashboards - Apex hands down beats Hydros (Hydros not even in the same league)
Additional Displays - Apex (a number of commercial options, nothing for Hydros at all)
Custom triggers/if/then/when/timers/%/maths etc - Apex (mostly not possible on Hydros)
Custom Analogue inputs - Hydros (but still very limited on both)
Custom Digital Inputs - Apex (only because you can "code" the use of other non-brand devices)
Available Branded Devices - Hydros (recently swung to Hydros and seems the gap is increasing)
Simplicity to do basic setup - Much the same
Integration with Pumps - Apex (mostly due to wireless control and better scheduling and flow patterns, more direct connect options with hydros though)
Quality of Products - Hydros (although slow out of the gate with many design errors and DOA's, the newer devices have been learning from some of these mistakes and DOA's and failure rates have fallen off)
Parts and Availability - Apex (they just been around for a long time and in every country)
Support Groups & Service - Apex (don't mention "the war" around hydros)
Warranty - Both are the same, depending on your country and who you are dealing with can play a lot into that factor (who has the better reputation for warranties, BRS or CoralVue?)
Complete Ecosystem - Still sits with Apex, not only is there a full spectrum of integrated devices across a number of brands, you can pretty much script any outcome you desire control wise, but this can come with a pretty steep learning curve initially.


The mobile phone you prefer to use is probably going to answer the question on what to get to be honest. If you want to be able to do what you want when you want and have everything look the way you want it, then Apex is probably the go, but if you want to follow a prescribe recipe and be apple'd along, then Hydros is probably the answer. What you really want is the Apex integration and capability, but on the Hydro hardware with Apex warranty and support

 

[n2585722]

I have everything under the sun Hydros and the same for Apex along with tons of non-brand integrated devices (wave/return/skimmer/media/air pumps, lights, heatmats, chillers, water/air flow meters, O2/CO2/humidity/temp sensors), putting the CoralVue customer service and their fanboys to one side, it really comes down to what you put the highest priority in.

Things to consider are:

Live dashboards - Apex (Hydros times out after a minute or so not walking past and taking a quick check/glance)
Custom Dashboards - Apex hands down beats Hydros (Hydros not even in the same league)
Additional Displays - Apex (a number of commercial options, nothing for Hydros at all)
Custom triggers/if/then/when/timers/%/maths etc - Apex (mostly not possible on Hydros)
Custom Analogue inputs - Hydros (but still very limited on both)
Custom Digital Inputs - Apex (only because you can "code" the use of other non-brand devices)
Available Branded Devices - Hydros (recently swung to Hydros and seems the gap is increasing)
Simplicity to do basic setup - Much the same
Integration with Pumps - Apex (mostly due to wireless control and better scheduling and flow patterns, more direct connect options with hydros though)
Quality of Products - Hydros (although slow out of the gate with many design errors and DOA's, the newer devices have been learning from some of these mistakes and DOA's and failure rates have fallen off)
Parts and Availability - Apex (they just been around for a long time and in every country)
Support Groups & Service - Apex (don't mention "the war" around hydros)
Warranty - Both are the same, depending on your country and who you are dealing with can play a lot into that factor (who has the better reputation for warranties, BRS or CoralVue?)
Complete Ecosystem - Still sits with Apex, not only is there a full spectrum of integrated devices across a number of brands, you can pretty much script any outcome you desire control wise, but this can come with a pretty steep learning curve initially.


The mobile phone you prefer to use is probably going to answer the question on what to get to be honest. If you want to be able to do what you want when you want and have everything look the way you want it, then Apex is probably the go, but if you want to follow a prescribe recipe and be apple'd along, then Hydros is probably the answer. What you really want is the Apex integration and capability, but on the Hydro hardware with Apex warranty and support

I switched from the Digital Aquatic Archon to Hydros over a period of time. I used all the float switches I already had in place with Hydros. So far I have been able to get the Hydros to do everything the Archon was doing. I have my RODI and mix station controlled by Hydros along with the things at the tank. It does ATO and AWC. It also auto refills my DI reservoir and fresh saltwater reservoir if the contents in the mix tank is ready to use. It also auto refills the mix tank once the contents has been transferred to the fresh saltwater reservoir. All I have to do is add the salt mix and press a button when it is ready to use. I also have it doing alkalinity test 4 times a day and do dynamic KH buffer dosing based on the results. I also have the iV testing pH and salinity every other hour during the day. The readings between those probes and the ones in the sump are close. I do have both so I have 2 readings for pH and salinity. I do have a large collective with 15 controllers so I have quite a few inputs and outputs setup on it.