Neptune Apex worth it??

[mtraylor]

The functionality of you apex are local to the devices and hardware in your home. Thats it. A crash of remote moitoring server to control your apex is not in the mix.

 

[justmee]

The functionality of you apex are local to the devices and hardware in your home. Thats it. A crash of remote moitoring server to control your apex is not in the mix.

Wait, but I read that peoples unit keeps on rebooting until it reconnects with Neptune's servers... doesn't rebooting powers off and on the unit? how does that not affect functionality?

 

[pelphrey]

My classic rebooted at least twice, the system rebooted in an effort to connect to fusion. Had it been a long outage a lot of my equipment would have been off, for examples the state of my heaters is to turn OFF.

The truth is these outages can and will happen, I've ran the apex classic for over 2 years. No issues at all, this is the first one. That I am aware of anyway, I love having the apex control my tank and if I were to buy a new one I would get the EL. I don't need a salinity probe and my PH probe stopped working months ago, still haven't replaced it. I decided to get the apex primary at the time to control my kessil lights (Classic has the vdm port VS the EL that does not), the apex is a heater controller and I can use modules to detect changes/leaks and shut equipment down and alert.

 

[ca1ore]

I’ve had no auto reboot of my system recently.

 

[ca1ore]

The durability of the equipment is what I questioned, for the energy bar to break/fail in less than 2 years that’s crap ...

I’ve plenty of criticisms of the apex - durability isn’t one of them. Maybe just bad luck (or you got it wet), but I’ve got energy bars that are 6 years old and still going strong.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

I have done quite a bit of research on getting either the full Apex or EL. The biggest positive I see for Apex are the notifications. Most of the controlling I was able to replicate with smart outlets at a significantly lower cost. I am waiting for a controller that is not a controller but just a monitor at a significantly lower price.

 

[mtraylor]

Wait, but I read that peoples unit keeps on rebooting until it reconnects with Neptune's servers... doesn't rebooting powers off and on the unit? how does that not affect functionality?

You will need to address that to some people with rebbot problem. I ran the classic for many years until it croked. Maybe 8+ years off top of my head. Now i have new one and i havnt experienced this reboot issue. Sounds awful.

Your programing and redundacy you have in place for this will ultimately lay out what effects you will have from that and what energy bar settings are set for.

 

[pelphrey]

This memo doesn't change the fact that I still love my apex and the functionality of it. I do plan to get the EL brain one day to swap out for my classic brain unless I find a good deal on the full EL system. The fact that at the moment all modules are backwards compatible is great!

 

[Why-Me]

This memo doesn't change the fact that I still love my apex and the functionality of it. I do plan to get the EL brain one day to swap out for my classic brain unless I find a good deal on the full EL system. The fact that at the moment all modules are backwards compatible is great!

I'll be doing the same down the road, right now just got it set up. My used apex lite with eb8, pH, temp, extra DC8, and controller was around $300. That's 16 controllable outlets, yes it's used but all works well except I left the pH probe in little bottle of water for a year and it got stagnant so I need to replace it, my fault.

FWIW I didn't lose service on Fusion or resets recently either. Must've been regional.

 

[Triquatics]

I love them personally I think they work well and all the options you get is worth the money.

 

[marlinmon]

Get the EL

 

[danreefman]

Its absolute garbage. Don't do it. Myself and other I know have had tanks nuked or close too. By this test run of a computer. To me they still have quite a few kinks to work out. But they're all about the buck so cost them less and makes them alot more money quickly to put all their products out, and you us (the people) be their trial and error, on our dime. Kinda like modern doctors.

Buy this product at a high risk!!!

 

[crashegordon]

I say yes for me. It gives me a piece of mind when I travel and has saved me twice with issues. One was a stuck heater and it shut the power off to it. Other was a leaking sump.

 

[scriptmonkey]

The reboot did not effect the 2016 Apex the memo stated.

 

[malacoda]

OP, only you can answer that question. And you can only answer it for yourself.

You can spend hours upon hours reading through threads on people declaring their love for them and how they saved multi-$1,000 systems from crashing. And you can spend hours upon hours reading threads on people who've maintained multi-$1,000 for years or even decades with no controller.

All depends on how -- as in what way -- you value your tank and your reefing journey. Whether more hands on or hands off gives you more joy from our system. How much time you have to devote to your system. Etc.

The answer on this one can't come from without, it can only come from within.

 

[justmee]

OP, only you can answer that question. And you can only answer it for yourself.

You can spend hours upon hours reading through threads on people declaring their love for them and how they saved multi-$1,000 systems from crashing. And you can spend hours upon hours reading threads on people who've maintained multi-$1,000 for years or even decades with no controller.

All depends on how -- as in what way -- you value your tank and your reefing journey. Whether more hands on or hands off gives you more joy from our system. How much time you have to devote to your system. Etc.

The answer on this one can't come from without, it can only come from within.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don’t agree that I can answer the question. Yes, I have to make the decision, but with more info and insites from users, then I can make a sound decision base on pros and cons.

 

[shoggoth43]

Three days ago, my super expensive Apex decided that it was going to randomly turn on my lights at night. Then it would shut one off, then the other shortly thereafter. Then it would repeat the cycle a few minutes later. I had to set the switched outlet to the lights to OFF to stop that from happening. As such, I don't think it's worth the kind of money they charge on the full/complete model when a device that worked fine for weeks/months with no programming changes made may randomly decide "Starting now I will burn your corals with full intensity light for minutes at a time dozens of time per hour at night or all day for a week or so until you just happen to notice." Right now, if it's not going to ramp up and down properly when it's supposed to, a couple of 10$ mechanical timers would arguably handle my lights better, simpler, and more reliably. That's not exactly a glowing endorsement for a several hundred dollar controller.

As more and more manufacturers remove the 0-10V controls on their equipment and come up with their own integrated control method it becomes even harder to justify spending the cash on a full blown reef controller that cannot access/control all your equipment's features, assuming it can control any of them besides cutting power to the outlet.

As such, your best bang for the buck may well be a "lesser" system that acts more as a failsafe or even just as a monitor. Get an industrial pH controller for example, then use the reef controller to also monitor pH and send a notification and possibly cut power to the industrial controller/outlet if something goes way off. Same with temperature, or other items. As more manufacturers make their own control systems that don't tie into Apex, this is essentially the model you're going to be using anyway. This is making the lower end model controllers much more viable than they used to be as the 800$ controller may just end up a bunch of extra features that either can't work, or don't make sense to use, with your newer equipment.

 

[HaveFishWillTravel]

Thanks for everyones inputs!

Great question! IMHO, since I don’t travel (we can’t in this world today) it seems a bit much. Although, even just being at home heading into a cold, stormy winter has me worried. Generators kicking in when the power is out. I have recently had issues with rodents chewing on wires in my garage. My circuit breaker flipped the other day that had two of my freshwater tanks on that circuit. it just keeps going...
Recently, I was contemplating an Inkbird and Seneye to monitor my heater after speaking with a guy who lost 3 of his 5 heaters (the same heaters I have). They burned up. Also, all the information out there about electricity leakage especially from heaters. An Inkbird and Seneye for example is ~$300 investment to just monitor your heaters. It makes the APEX much more palatable when you look at all you get for $800 bucks. My tank keeps getting more and more expensive as I add the battery backups and redundancies. Not to mention the wear and tear on me worrying about it all the time. It really boils down to how much money can you afford to spend on this stuff which is different for everyone. Personally, I like to invest in a few new frags or something new every time I get paid. $35 to $150 bucks here or there. Over time, it adds up to $1,000’s of dollars before you know it. It sneaks up on you. I love my tank and would not want to go away for the day and come home with water all over the floor and my heaters steaming...so, I invested in one. We’ll see how it goes after it gets here and I set it up and see how it works for my lifestyle. Hopefully, it will be worth it.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

I will say both no and yes. The controller is not for someone who does not perform routine maintenance but the controller can help out with other matters.

 

[HaveFishWillTravel]

I will say both no and yes. The controller is not for someone who does not perform routine maintenance but the controller can help out with other matters.

When you say “routine maintenance” what exactly do you mean? Cleaning of your pumps, wave makers, etc.? Or water changes, testing water parameters and stuff like that?