Neptune System Yay or Nay?

[CC13]

Next to the LED vs. Halide argument the "which controller is best" is a 100% guaranteed questions to end in the thread being closed because of arguing.

 

[Billldg]

I think we r getting off topic here. Do you need a controller to be successful in reefing, no, can it help you and give u a piece of mind, yes. I am in the process of installing an apex for some consistancy and redundancy. Will I say the Apex is above all others, well, I can't say as this is my first controller and I will not bash other controllers without using them first. Unfortunately you really need to do your own homework and see if this controller or any others work for u and then just take a leap of faith.

 

[RFL]

I'm looking into uprading my system next year and was very impressed with the various features of the neptune. Would you recommend.. Tank is a 180g with 60g sump. Not sure if my dosing pumps and lights are apex compatible tho.

I've run the Apex (2016) for over two years, love it, and would recommend it to any reef aquarist. The price did cause me to pause before pressing the 'Order' button but it's been worth every penny spent. Beyond the many conveniences it provides is the peace of mind experienced when I can check in on my tank from anywhere I have internet access. I could easily run the reef without it but frankly it wouldn't be as enjoyable for me.

 

[dantimdad]

I think we r getting off topic here. Do you need a controller to be successful in reefing, no, can it help you and give u a piece of mind, yes. I am in the process of installing an apex for some consistancy and redundancy. Will I say the Apex is above all others, well, I can't say as this is my first controller and I will not bash other controllers without using them first. Unfortunately you really need to do your own homework and see if this controller or any others work for u and then just take a leap of faith.

Well said.

I think the question of the OP has been answered, folks.

Let's let this thread die a proper death now.

 

[CC13]

Well said.

I think the question of the OP has been answered, folks.

Let's let this thread die a proper death now.

This.

Now someone please ask whats better: LED or Halides.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

This.

Now someone please ask whats better: LED or Halides.

Or "what salt is the best?"

 

[dantimdad]

Or which BBQ?

I hate white sauce! There, I said it!

 

[CC13]

Or "what salt is the best?"

Or which BBQ?

I hate white sauce! There, I said it!

LOL

 

[dantimdad]

Oh my goodness @CC13!

I just realized you were in TC and like hockey. Go Blues! HAHAHAHAHA!

Sorry, had to be done. That being said two of my top 5 restaurants I have visited are/were there. Canoe and le pommier (IIRC)

 

[CC13]

Oh my goodness @CC13!

I just realized you were in TC and like hockey. Go Blues! HAHAHAHAHA!

Sorry, had to be done. That being said two of my top 5 restaurants I have visited are/were there. Canoe and le pommier (IIRC)

LOL Good thing I am a Redwings fan.... I cant stand the Leafs.

And Canoe is a great restaurant, I used to work right across the street (literally) in the Royal Bank Towers.

 

[Andrew Schubert]

I just got my Neptune yesterday. Per the conversations about how poorly written the code is, that is all just personal preference. I highly doubt their codebase is open-source, meaning only an employee of Apex would have access to even see the actual code. To say their code is crap, is just making an 'opinion' off of your own experience. With that in mind, it did take me 2 hours to get the wifi connected properly when setting my system up. So that was not the greatest experience. However, if you want a controller for your system there is not any better option out that at the moment.

To answer if its worth it or not. No one can really answer that question for you except you. For me these are the reasons I decided to take the plunge.

1) Cord Mess - I don't like all the cords. Yes, there are still plenty...but many of the items I can implement with the power supply. In fact, I bought 2 WAVs and plan on selling on my Maxspect Gyres. Loved the Gyres, but wanted one less cord to worry about (hope I don't regret that!).

2) Stability - Allows me to easily control the parameters of my aquarium to keep them a whole lot more stable than if I did not have one. I plan on hooking a solenoid up to my co2 scrubber to help monitor and keep my PH at a very even level. I've also been dosing Kalk through the old fashion siphon method in a jar. I picked up some sensors, and plan on adding my own DIY ATO to does KALK. *KEEPING THINGS MORE STABLE SHOULD DO WONDERS FOR MY TANK*

3) Safety - I've had my tank up for 5 months, and cannot tell you how many emergencies I've already had with the thing. Knock on wood, I think I got all the kinks ironed out; but the Neptune would have saved me many hard aches in the long run. The first two leaks I had were during the first couple weeks. I guess my fittings weren't tighten down all the way and there was a leak that got my carpet wet. HOWEVER, the biggest issue was when my soft tubing popped off my return pump during the night. I woke up with 30 gallons of salt water all over the carpet. The Neptune could have saved me all that mess if I had it! I had to take the day off work to clean up the mess (if I look at it that way, my time off work could have almost paid for it right there!). ** I've install hard plumbing on everything after that.

4) Fun - I'm a computer programmer. So I like nerdy things! What else is there to say :-).

Again, I just got mine setup yesterday. So more than anything these are the things I HOPE the Neptune will solve for me...but we will see. You'll have to figure out why YOU want to add one to your system and determine if its worth it.

 

[CC13]

I just got my Neptune yesterday. Per the conversations about how poorly written the code is, that is all just personal preference. I highly doubt their codebase is open-source, meaning only an employee of Apex would have access to even see the actual code. To say their code is crap, is just making an 'opinion' off of your own experience. With that in mind, it did take me 2 hours to get the wifi connected properly when setting my system up. So that was not the greatest experience. However, if you want a controller for your system there is not any better option out that at the moment.

To answer if its worth it or not. No one can really answer that question for you except you. For me these are the reasons I decided to take the plunge.

1) Cord Mess - I don't like all the cords. Yes, there are still plenty...but many of the items I can implement with the power supply. In fact, I bought 2 WAVs and plan on selling on my Maxspect Gyres. Loved the Gyres, but wanted one less cord to worry about (hope I don't regret that!).

2) Stability - Allows me to easily control the parameters of my aquarium to keep them a whole lot more stable than if I did not have one. I plan on hooking a solenoid up to my co2 scrubber to help monitor and keep my PH at a very even level. I've also been dosing Kalk through the old fashion siphon method in a jar. I picked up some sensors, and plan on adding my own DIY ATO to does KALK. *KEEPING THINGS MORE STABLE SHOULD DO WONDERS FOR MY TANK*

3) Safety - I've had my tank up for 5 months, and cannot tell you how many emergencies I've already had with the thing. Knock on wood, I think I got all the kinks ironed out; but the Neptune would have saved me many hard aches in the long run. The first two leaks I had were during the first couple weeks. I guess my fittings weren't tighten down all the way and there was a leak that got my carpet wet. HOWEVER, the biggest issue was when my soft tubing popped off my return pump during the night. I woke up with 30 gallons of salt water all over the carpet. The Neptune could have saved me all that mess if I had it! I had to take the day off work to clean up the mess (if I look at it that way, my time off work could have almost paid for it right there!). ** I've install hard plumbing on everything after that.

4) Fun - I'm a computer programmer. So I like nerdy things! What else is there to say :).

Again, I just got mine setup yesterday. So more than anything these are the things I HOPE the Neptune will solve for me...but we will see. You'll have to figure out why YOU want to add one to your system and determine if its worth it.

Your too late for the argument... we have moved on to LED vs. Halides, Salt and BBQ comparatives and me getting hammered for living in Toronto and being accused of being a Leaf fan LOL

 

[wesman42]

Their codebase isn't open source, but have you heard of a de-compiler?

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

The price of the system is quite literally insane. They play off of others ignorance...and it works.

Same goes for most of the popular products in this hobby. cough*Eco-Tech*cough cough

 

[CC13]

Their codebase isn't open source, but have you heard of a de-compiler?

We have moved on to LED vs. Halides, Salt and BBQ comparatives!! haha

Personally I don't get why everyone jumped on you the way they did. Who cares what you (or anyone else) thinks or uses. We are all adults here and everyone should be able to disagree and still respect everyone else's opinion even if its not the same.

 

[CC13]

Same goes for most of the popular products in this hobby. cough*Eco-Tech*cough cough

Ecotech Vs. Tunze

I'll add that to our list haha

 

[SPR1968]

Almost every high end reef you will see these days has one. It provides redundancy and monitoring of tons of aspects. If anyone mentions reef-pi to compare it- know that the reef-pi is a in-progress DIY controller that does a small portion of these things. It will also cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars to get anything close to these features, and have a mediocre (but in development) interface.

Some things I have mine do, ill list the "stock" things I use on the apex 2016.

Notification/warning:

Notify me if my skimmer is full.
Notify me if my ATO reservoir is empty
Notify me if my sump water level is low
Notify me if my sump water level is high
Notify me if leaks are detected anywhere.
Notify me if my temperature is out of range
Notify me if my pH is out of range
Notify me if my salinity is out of range
Notify me if any of my devices are using too much or too little power (A fault).

Take action:
Shut power to the heater if the heaters internal temperature controller fails. Common cause of tank crash,.
Turn off my skimmer if the cup is full.
Shut off all non-essential devices if the power is out (I have it on battery backup too run just a wave maker).
When I press one button, all pumps shut off so I can do a water change without fiddling with plugs.
When I press a feed button, the return pump and skimmer shut off for 15 minutes before resuming.

Used as a timer:
Controls the time that my 6 t5 bulbs are on
Controls the time that my 2 t5 bulbs are on
Controls the time that my refugium light is on
Controls the program of my LEDs
Controls the program of my skimmer-cleaner; every 6 hours.


Thats just some of the features I use on the standard 2016 unit. I also have their doser for my 2 part :). (Though currently off)

Well I ran without Apex for 12 months whilst awaiting the new energy bar for the UK, which never came so I purchased it including various monitoring systems.

If you can afford Apex it’s a no brainier, just get it. It’s so simple to program without much computer knowledge and the stuff it can do well......

And @TheHarold having seen yours and the others Apex Fusion page, I need to seriously up my game with it !!! Lol

I’m currently in Antigua, and I can see my tank with HD cameras, I can manually feed my fish if I want although Apex does it for me automatically, I can switch lights on, skimmers off, leak detection.............. it makes my happy so...

 

[Mortie31]

Apex users will say Apex are the best..
GHL users will say GHL is the best...
I can’t find any users which switch from GHL to APEX, but more and more are switching from APex to GHL...
More people in the US use computers than in the ROW and APEX is a US company, that’s the only reason more APEX units are sold, reliability which I believe is the most important factor in a computer is far better in GHL than APEX...

 

[CC13]

Apex users will say Apex are the best..
GHL users will say GHL is the best...
I can’t find any users which switch from GHL to APEX, but more and more are switching from APex to GHL...
More people in the US use computers than in the ROW and APEX is a US company, that’s the only reason more APEX units are sold, reliability which I believe is the most important factor in a computer is far better in GHL than APEX...

I switched from GHL to Apex.

GHL is in my opinion superior and plan to switch back.

 

[wesman42]

Apex users will say Apex are the best..
GHL users will say GHL is the best...
I can’t find any users which switch from GHL to APEX, but more and more are switching from APex to GHL...
More people in the US use computers than in the ROW and APEX is a US company, that’s the only reason more APEX units are sold, reliability which I believe is the most important factor in a computer is far better in GHL than APEX...

I will wholeheartedly agree with you here. There's genuine software developer for GHL it would seem. They make excellent products.