Newbie Seeking Controller Advice

[Frigideus]

Tank comes today, yippee!! But I still have some important questions I really need help with!


I tend to be easily confused with some of the technical stuff, and a lot of the tech that exists these days is far more advanced than what I had access to 15 years ago. Currently I am struggling to pick out a controller.

The two brands I see thrown around constantly for controllers are Hydros and Apex (and the occasional inkbird for redundancy). What do people use or recommend for a beginner reefer? Should I know what kind of equipment I am buying before I decide on my controller, or are all the necessary probes attached to it? If the former, which components of my tank should I be expecting to plug into this device?

If you have a recommendation for a controller for me (all suggestions are appreciated), it would be very helpful if it had ethernet compatibility! The other occupants of my home are quite sensitive to wifi, apparently, which means in all likelihood I won't be able to use wifi for this setup. Ethernet will help with this!

Thank you for any help and feedback!

 

[bubbgee]

All of the major controllers in the market have some sort of Ethernet connectivity (Neptune Apex, Hydros and GHK).

While the automation is fun, I’d steer you first into something like Amazon Kasa. It is cheap and works as well as the controlled energy bars.

If it’s monitoring you need, you can start with the Hydros launch with the pH and temp sensors. Or the Apex will work as well. They sell the apex used on the marketplace and I would grab that.

Since it’s a beginner tank, most of the work will be the testing of water by hand and water changes. Those can be automated later as the tank matures.

 

[Frigideus]

All of the major controllers in the market have some sort of Ethernet connectivity (Neptune Apex, Hydros and GHK).

While the automation is fun, I’d steer you first into something like Amazon Kasa. It is cheap and works as well as the controlled energy bars.

If it’s monitoring you need, you can start with the Hydros launch with the pH and temp sensors. Or the Apex will work as well. They sell the apex used on the marketplace and I would grab that.

Since it’s a beginner tank, most of the work will be the testing of water by hand and water changes. Those can be automated later as the tank matures.

So I should just start with manual testing kits and work from there? How about dosing?

Also, the kasa doesn’t look like it supports Ethernet, could be completely wrong but if it can’t do Ethernet it’s regrettably a dealbreaker.

 

[bubbgee]

So I should just start with manual testing kits and work from there? How about dosing?

Also, the kasa doesn’t look like it supports Ethernet, could be completely wrong but if it can’t do Ethernet it’s regrettably a dealbreaker.

Ah, kasa does not. It uses wifi but has been totally reliable for me.

Manual test kits are a way to familiarize yourself with the testing process and what the values mean. Eventually you might want to automate it so you can just monitor. This learning is necessary for success.

Dosing is a topic that is waaay too early at this point. You will need to dose once you see the tank flourish as you see frags turn to sizeable colonies and when a single head torch turns to five. You'll see your alk and calcium consumption sway drastically day to day that water changes cannot replenish. But that's around the six-eight month range.

Stick with either the hydros or apex then. Hydros is much more expandable (Android) but the Apex is more easier to use (iPhone). I used smartphones as an analogy on how you are comfortable with technology. GHK seems too advanced for me and probably better for SPS tanks with massive colonies.

 

[n2585722]

If you want to check out my Hydros system I have quite a bit of information on it in my build thread. Just click on the My Tank Thread banner in my post and that will take you to my build thread here on R2R. The Hydros info starts on page 6 on post # 119. That is when I got my first Hydros controller about 4 1/2 years ago. I do have lots of screenshots of settings and also explain what I am doing with it. Also whenever a new feature came out or I got a new controller to add to my collective I would make a post. So the Hydros post are spread out in the build thread and there are several years of them. I now have 15 controllers in my main collective and 2 in another collective. There will be a learning curve to any controller you get but Hydros has no direct coding but you can still do complex things with it when needed but there are specific output types to make it easier to get things setup like a return pump, skimmer or heaters. If you want to do something more complex that what is allowed in those output types there is the generic and combiner output types that can be setup to do pretty much anything you want but it might take setting more that one output to accomplish it. I have examples of those in my build thread especially before some of the newer output types were added like the RODI Filter output type.

 

[Frigideus]

Ah, kasa does not. It uses wifi but has been totally reliable for me.

Manual test kits are a way to familiarize yourself with the testing process and what the values mean. Eventually you might want to automate it so you can just monitor. This learning is necessary for success.

Dosing is a topic that is waaay too early at this point. You will need to dose once you see the tank flourish as you see frags turn to sizeable colonies and when a single head torch turns to five. You'll see your alk and calcium consumption sway drastically day to day that water changes cannot replenish. But that's around the six-eight month range.

Stick with either the hydros or apex then. Hydros is much more expandable (Android) but the Apex is more easier to use (iPhone). I used smartphones as an analogy on how you are comfortable with technology. GHK seems too advanced for me and probably better for SPS tanks with massive colonies.

Sadly reliability isn't the only thing keeping me from opting for a wifi-operated controller, though I will admit the wifi in my home is very flimsy and hinges on my computer being turned on and manually activated (due to the restrictions mentioned in my original post).

So it sounds like for the first few months I will be just keeping my water parameters in check and waiting for my frags to grow out? Would I be able to get away with just buying manual checkers for the time being, or should I be sure to pick up the controller as well? I'll admit the transition of information from a FOWLR tank is jarring but I am determined to at least try and learn since this has been a dream of mine for a long time running. :)

 

[Frigideus]

If you want to check out my Hydros system I have quite a bit of information on it in my build thread. Just click on the My Tank Thread banner in my post and that will take you to my build thread here on R2R. The Hydros info starts on page 6 on post # 119. That is when I got my first Hydros controller about 4 1/2 years ago. I do have lots of screenshots of settings and also explain what I am doing with it. Also whenever a new feature came out or I got a new controller to add to my collective I would make a post. So the Hydros post are spread out in the build thread and there are several years of them. I now have 15 controllers in my main collective and 2 in another collective. There will be a learning curve to any controller you get but Hydros has no direct coding but you can still do complex things with it when needed but there are specific output types to make it easier to get things setup like a return pump, skimmer or heaters. If you want to do something more complex that what is allowed in those output types there is the generic and combiner output types that can be setup to do pretty much anything you want but it might take setting more that one output to accomplish it. I have examples of those in my build thread especially before some of the newer output types were added like the RODI Filter output type.

I'll give your thread a look, thanks!

 

[BriDroid]

When I went with Hydros recently, I bought a cheap access point on Amazon that has an ethernet port on the side. I'm able to plug it directly into my router, and my router and that access point are on a UPS, and only have my reef tank stuff on that network. I've had 0 issues running it like that so far.

Before the access point, I was running it (and all my other tank stuff) on a 2.4g guest network. It worked OK, but the kids friends have that password and it would bog down sometimes. Now no one has the reef tank password but me!

 

[exnisstech]

What do people use or recommend for a beginner reefer?

Personally I would recommend no controller to a beginner outside of an inkbird or similar for heaters. Unless you travel a lot what do you need to control? Only asking because I have 5 tanks running and have never felt the need for a controller on any but I'm never away from home long.

 

[edsbeaker]

I have always used Apex, and have read that it is a bit easier to set up.

This is just my recommendation, though. I think it is helpful for a beginner to know how to run a tank before putting it in the hands of a controller. You need to know the basics so that you can understand what you are setting up the controller to do, and how doing A can affect B, For instance, turning off the return pump may cause your skimmer to overflow. Turning off a skimmer may cause your ATO alarm to go off. If you don’t know the fundamentals of how a tank works you won’t be able to set up a controller without mishaps.

I think it’s fine if you are using the controller as a timer, but anything a bit more complicated I think you should learn how to do it yourself first.

I’m pretty sure that if you waited a bit until you are comfortable running the tank, the controller would also seem less overwhelming to program.

 

[Frigideus]

I have always used Apex, and have read that it is a bit easier to set up.

This is just my recommendation, though. I think it is helpful for a beginner to know how to run a tank before putting it in the hands of a controller. You need to know the basics so that you can understand what you are setting up the controller to do, and how doing A can affect B, For instance, turning off the return pump may cause your skimmer to overflow. Turning off a skimmer may cause your ATO alarm to go off. If you don’t know the fundamentals of how a tank works you won’t be able to set up a controller without mishaps.

I think it’s fine if you are using the controller as a timer, but anything a bit more complicated I think you should learn how to do it yourself first.

I’m pretty sure that if you waited a bit until you are comfortable running the tank, the controller would also seem less overwhelming to program.

So a controller only exists to automate the process, and isn't necessary? I will be happy enough to learn the steps manually first then if I can get away with a normal power strip and some manual testing kits.

 

[bubbgee]

So a controller only exists to automate the process, and isn't necessary? I will be happy enough to learn the steps manually first then if I can get away with a normal power strip and some manual testing kits.

That is correct. Once you're aware of what and how to run the tank, you know what you want the controller to do to make your maintenance better. Then as the tank grows, you can look into dosing. I would say you'll know what you want the controller to do once you establish your routine and do it for about 6-8 months to a year.

 

[edsbeaker]

So a controller only exists to automate the process, and isn't necessary? I will be happy enough to learn the steps manually first then if I can get away with a normal power strip and some manual testing kits.

Exactly!!!

 

[n2585722]

So a controller only exists to automate the process, and isn't necessary? I will be happy enough to learn the steps manually first then if I can get away with a normal power strip and some manual testing kits.

You will need some kind of ATO and control of heaters anyway. You will probably want to wait on dosing but you may want make sure your flow pumps, return pump and skimmer pump are compatible with the controller you choose. The Launch can do ATO with a water level sensor and a pump. Hydros has a kit with a water level sensor and a pump for ATO. You can also turn your return on and off along with your skimmer. In fact you can setup the skimmer to go off if the return output is turned off. You can also set a delay before it comes back on once the return is turned back on. It can also turn your heaters on and off using a temp sensor. With heaters I would use a backup off with them regardless of how you control them. My heaters do have their own thermostats which I set about 3 degrees higher than the turn off setpoint in Hydros. So in my case the Hydros controls the heaters and the thermostats in the heaters are the backup. You can also set it to send alerts if things it is monitoring go out of a set range. So you are able to check on things. I had a leak at my RODI filter unit a few days ago. My Hydros controls the input and output solenoids to my RODI unit. When it turned on and started leaking the leak detector caught it and the Hydros had the input solenoid turned off just 30 seconds after turn on. I have not touched it in a few months so not sure what caused the canister filter to crack and start leaking but the Hydros did save me from a big mess since it did shut it off. The RO side of my RODI also goes to a bladder tank which feeds my ice maker in my refrigerator so I have it set to turn on every other hour for 10 minutes to refill that bladder tank if needed. My RODI does have a ASOV valve but that would not have stopped the leak since it was in a filter canister that was before that valve. So a controller can be very helpful in that way also.