Official apex users q&a....

[CJO]

If you hook up a float switch to a breakout box (CJO said you can make one in another thread, but I don't personally know how) which is like $35 and that plugs into your I/O port on the brain. Then you can write code to shut down the pump when the switch is open/closed.

Can we link to other forums or is that considered bad manners?

CJ

 

[swannyson7]

another thing was i downloaded aqua notes on my iphone and when im hooked to wifi at my house i can acsess the controller well it see's it anyways but i can't do anything becuse im not using the plugs on the apex it's self yet lol... anywho when im away from the house like right now i open the app and it just searches and never recognizes the controller???

I thought aquanotes was only for the other neptune controllers like the AC3, AC2, and AC Jr.. I'm pretty sure that the Apex should have it's own program. You can also use a hosting site made by another reefer to access it on the go. If you google "kenargo" it will come up and he even has windows sidebar apps to have the info on your desktop if you'd like.

 

[Troylee]

I guess I'm gonna need a whole day to play with that thing... Right now I just hooked it Up and I'm using the orp, ph, and temp nothing else lol... I have a netgear router and I bought the netgear bridge which was pretty easy to install I just had to push the lock button on my router and and the sync button on the bridge and it was good to go... My kind of install lol.. Besides that I have not configured anything...
Is it best to use a Ethernet cord while I set it Up ony pc or will the bridge be okay?

 

[Troylee]

I thought aquanotes was only for the other neptune controllers like the AC3, AC2, and AC Jr.. I'm pretty sure that the Apex should have it's own program. You can also use a hosting site made by another reefer to access it on the go. If you google "kenargo" it will come up and he even has windows sidebar apps to have the info on your desktop if you'd like.

This could very well be true I just googled it and aqua notes came up... When I open the app on my phone it connects well at least it says it does lol... It shows a ip address and the light turns from yellow to green...

 

[swannyson7]

I guess I'm gonna need a whole day to play with that thing... Right now I just hooked it Up and I'm using the orp, ph, and temp nothing else lol... I have a netgear router and I bought the netgear bridge which was pretty easy to install I just had to push the lock button on my router and and the sync button on the bridge and it was good to go... My kind of install lol.. Besides that I have not configured anything...
Is it best to use a Ethernet cord while I set it Up ony pc or will the bridge be okay?

The unofficial guide reccomends that you set it up with an ethernet cable and then worry about the wireless. I think it's because they know how difficult it is and figure people will get discouraged from square one

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

Also I would like to hear some cool things you guys are doing with tour controllers and maybe share how to program it to do those neat things lol...

I'm not sure ow much of this qualifies as "cool" but here are some of the things I use my Apex for. I manage 3 tanks using 2 Apexs (home and office.)

At the top of the list is a Heater controller. I can't imagine EVER trusting a heater(s) without a controller. Setting the heater thermostat slightly higher then the controller saves cycles on the bi-metal switch in the heater and extend it's life while providing redundancy (safety.)

• Control of lights - Currently only T5 and sump on/off as the AquaIllumination and MaxSpect LEDs use their own controller (I have the VDM module, just haven't had time to configure it yet.)
• Control of pumps including Skimmer (feed, maintenance), MP-40s (using WXM) and Tunze wavemaking and night/sleep modes. GFO/GAC Media reactor, Air pump driving C02 scrubber.
• pH Driven controls (2-part dosing, Kalk dosing, CO2 scrubber, alarms, trend monitoring...)
• ATO - Osmolator with a salinity fail-safe provided by the Apex and a conductivity probe.
• ORP monitoring - a great overall water quality gauge
• Salinity - Maintain a stable salinity (helps with salinity creep from 2-part) and use as fail safe for ATO.
• Cooling - Control of fans (although not needed since LED upgrade.)
• Internet access, alerts and alarms - I travel a lot. The Apex provides access to all tanks, alerts or alarms me of any changes and gives me the ability to make any needed changes from anywhere from cell or laptop.

I think one of the biggest benefits I've gained from the use of a controller is knowledge. The trending and graphing functions allow you to see the constant changes taking place and identify any negative trends long before they would impact your livestock. Early last year I put together a very basic, brief Webinar on controllers featuring the Apex. It included,

• Controller Concept – What you can do with a controller
• Basic hardware and software setup (Temp, Lights, ORP…)
• Web interface and controls including remote control via a handheld device (I use a Palm Pre – but works with all.)
• Programming, alerts and warnings
• Dosing and top off methods and programming

You can view the recorded Webinar at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/868485570

 

[CJO]

I thought aquanotes was only for the other neptune controllers like the AC3, AC2, and AC Jr.. I'm pretty sure that the Apex should have it's own program. You can also use a hosting site made by another reefer to access it on the go. If you google "kenargo" it will come up and he even has windows sidebar apps to have the info on your desktop if you'd like.

IIRC, Aquanotes is also the name of an app for the Apple iPhone that lets you connect and control your Apex remotely.

CJ

 

[CJO]

I guess I'm gonna need a whole day to play with that thing... Right now I just hooked it Up and I'm using the orp, ph, and temp nothing else lol... I have a netgear router and I bought the netgear bridge which was pretty easy to install I just had to push the lock button on my router and and the sync button on the bridge and it was good to go... My kind of install lol.. Besides that I have not configured anything...
Is it best to use a Ethernet cord while I set it Up ony pc or will the bridge be okay?

1 day? I've had mine for 6 months and am still figuring new things out!

CJ

 

[swannyson7]

Once you get it set up, you'll be able to have some of these perks. Here are a few pics of droid app. Here's the widget to display on your homescreen:

When you click on the widget, it pulls up the menu where you can controll any outlet plugged into the EB8:

You can also get daily graphs of pH, Temp, Amperage draw, ORP, or any other probes you have attached:

Here's the windows sidebar app from kenargo for on your computer:

You can pull all of this up on a computer as well, which would allow you to rewrite programming if you needed to:

And while on the topic of piece of mind over vacations, another great purchase I made was a droid app called "my webcam." It was like $2 in the app store and allows you to use port forwarding of your webcam and pull up a live (but choppy) video feed on your phone:

 

[Reggie]

FYI, the AquaNotes iPhone app has a bug in it and it looks like the original developer is not actively updating it. It only shows data for the current month. So every 1st day of the month, it's as if all your historical data have been wiped. It's all in the Apex though, it's just the app that has a problem.

 

[swannyson7]

You can't adjust how long it stores data? The droid app allows to you prune data after it is a certain number of days old in the setting menu

 

[Reggie]

You can't adjust how long it stores data? The droid app allows to you prune data after it is a certain number of days old in the setting menu

The iPhone app has daily, weekly, and monthly views. They work well but the bug won't let you go past the current month.

 

[swannyson7]

The iPhone app has daily, weekly, and monthly views. They work well but the bug won't let you go past the current month.

The droid app only lets me graph the past 24 hours, but I can keep data in the data log for up to 45 days. I wish I could graph the week or month on my phone! :cry: