Only Care About Reliability - APEX or GHL

[Sisterlimonpot]

Thanks. I apologize then. I’m not a YouTube follower or subscriber as you call them. I would still like to see some written outline for these videos.

Haha, Ken you old fart! You have to get with the times. And understand the current lingo... it's forever changing. Wait is "lingo" even part of the current trending vocabulary?

"That's hip man!"
"How can he reference that to his hip? It looks nothing like the human anatomy"

"Far out!"
"Far out? It was right in front of him"

"My subs"
"Oh wait, is he a monarch?"

 

[ichthyoid]

I have 2 Apex Classics & recently upgraded to Wifi versions- 1 full Apex (used) & 1 EL. For what I paid, I couldn’t get into 1 GHL, plus I get to reuse some things/modules, etc.

That said, I’ve written a fair amount of code, in multiple languages. Also specified, installed, programmed & debugged more than my share of automation, in both industrial & medical environments; in addition to the Apex/aquaria.

The Apex does what I want. It will be dosing All for Reef & amino’s, monitoring basic chemistry, turning lights on/off & sensing a few vital unknowns, like (God forbid!) an overflow onto my wife’s prized hardwoods! It does what I need it to.

Fwiw-
I’d like to see IP67 waterproof intrusion rated electronics around my aquarium (uh, hello?). Until Neptune & GHL (which is IP54) do that, any discussion about reliability is moot to me. They are both still lacking greatly. My $0.02

 

[KenO]

I have 2 Apex Classics & recently upgraded to Wifi versions- 1 full Apex (used) & 1 EL. For what I paid, I couldn’t get into 1 GHL, plus I get to reuse some things/modules, etc.

That said, I’ve written a fair amount of code, in multiple languages. Also specified, installed, programmed & debugged more than my share of automation, in both industrial & medical environments; in addition to the Apex/aquaria.

The Apex does what I want. It will be dosing All for Reef & amino’s, monitoring basic chemistry, turning lights on/off & sensing a few vital unknowns, like (God forbid!) an overflow onto my wife’s prized hardwoods! It does what I need it to.

Fwiw-
I’d like to see IP67 waterproof intrusion rated electronics around my aquarium (uh, hello?). Until Neptune & GHL (which is IP54) do that, any discussion about reliability is moot to me. They are both still lacking greatly. My $0.02

I agree 100% on the IP67 rating. I love it when I read that a device meant for an aquarium states you need to keep it out of a high humid environment and that water damage is not covered under warranty.

 

[KenO]

Haha, Ken you old fart! You have to get with the times. And understand the current lingo... it's forever changing. Wait is "lingo" even part of the current trending vocabulary?

"That's hip man!"
"How can he reference that to his hip? It looks nothing like the human anatomy"

"Far out!"
"Far out? It was right in front of him"

"My subs"
"Oh wait, is he a monarch?"

Hey Jimmy just get with the program. Lol.

 

[LadyTang2]

IP67 Waterproofing would be nice! This is how they need to be thinking.

 

[vangvace]

On the subject if IP67.... I might have accidentally forgot about my ato being topped off and let RO water flow all over on of my GHL powerbars a few months back. Thankfully all the safety features worked (either the GFCI and/or powerbar's surge protecton kicked in, but I cannot remember which)

I let the bar air out for a few days, plugged it in without load for a day, and then transitioned tank stuffs back to it. Still working today, though there could be corrosion inside the chassis or outlets I haven't checked.

 

[ichthyoid]

On the subject if IP67.... I might have accidentally forgot about my ato being topped off and let RO water flow all over on of my GHL powerbars a few months back. Thankfully all the safety features worked (either the GFCI and/or powerbar's surge protecton kicked in, but I cannot remember which)

I let the bar air out for a few days, plugged it in without load for a day, and then transitioned tank stuffs back to it. Still working today, though there could be corrosion inside the chassis or outlets I haven't checked.

Deionized water is electrically non-conductive, though it is highly corrosive to most metals. If dried quickly you should be good, as there is no residue.

People often find the insulation factor of pure water to be unbelievable. Back in the day, we sometimes used to insulate submerged high voltage components with it.

 

[ReefBeta]

IP67 Waterproofing would be nice! This is how they need to be thinking.

This is why I'm looking forward to Hydros controller. At least they got the moisture resistance right.

 

[ichthyoid]

This is why I'm looking forward to Hydros controller. At least they got the moisture resistance right.

I got tired of waiting

 

[LadyTang2]

This is why I'm looking forward to Hydros controller. At least they got the moisture resistance right.

Do they have a powerbar?

 

[robbyg]

IP67 Waterproofing would be nice! This is how they need to be thinking.

Had the King of the Sea not partnered with so many distributors to make himself lord then we might have had serious competition but instead we are still using a 20 year old OS that's been wrapped in shinny new clothes and then labeled as an advancement. You can forget IP67 water proofing, because they are so comfortable with the lack of any real competition that any kind of real improvements are unfortunately not even considered.

 

[ReefBeta]

Do they have a powerbar?

There is powerbar with Hydros control 2/4. The question is when they can actually ship it.

 

[robbyg]

Do they have a powerbar?

Nope! And because of that It's not a real controller IMHO. It could become one at a later date, we will have to see what they add as they go along.

 

[ReefBeta]

I got tired of waiting

I'm close to it too. I just got my new tank delivered this week. I'm not too sure I can wait for it to ship to use on my build. Might have to go back to Apex

 

[ichthyoid]

Do they have a powerbar?

Yes, with 4 sockets, plus 1individual power monitoring module.
Additional ones are reported to cost $40 each.
The architecture connects their system component control signals wirelessly. So the only thing to plug into their ‘powerbar’ Is a cord to an electrical outlet & cords from each device to be controlled.

You could conceivably add a ‘power bar’ in the next room & only plug it into a wall outlet and connect things you want to control. Their ‘brain’ sends signals to it wirelessly.

 

[ichthyoid]

Here, the Hydros 4 version is the one for us-

 

[ReefBeta]

@zsxking,

Correct me if I'm wrong, I thought that the trident relied on accurate calcium, magnesium readings to provide and accurate alkalinity as well. I was under the impression that some algorithm took into account the 3 tests to limit any chance for outliers. If one is providing false readings then all are skewed.

I share a lot of your sentiment about coding. The virtual outlet was a fix for a lot of that, and opens the door for many coding options. Although it becomes complicated real fast but makes it possible to have a momentary push button initiate a feed mode, all it needs is a "min time" statement to be added to the VO and then have the equipment point to that VO.

and in melevs case he could've set up a VO with a "When On > XXX:00 Then OFF" statement so that he didn't have to remember to turn it back on. Point being your only limitations are how much time and effort you put into learning various ways to solve an issue.

I have a 2 fold point about apex coding, 1: it's quite possible to program an apex to do what you want BUT 2: the problem becomes that it gets extremely complicated and confusing real fast. And for those versed in coding, it goes against what you were taught. And for the average joe, you're needing to become an expert in this weird coding to go beyond "on/off" statements.

For me, once I wrapped my mind around the foundation of their pseudo coding, I got it. And I've became the resident apex programmer in my area. I stayed up until 11pm last night on the phone of a person I never met programming his apex remotely. He wanted some very complicated tasks that were far beyond the realm of what apex was initially intended. And to be honest some of it was outside the box and am curious whether or not it worked as planned, I expect to hear back from hom today to find out. Hehe

Trident's 3 reading are separate titration test. They're not depend on each other. The alkalinity reading is still good when comparing to Hanna checker.

Programming Apex feels like writing assembly. It's the opposite of smart. ;Facepalm If I really need to do some complicating stuff, I would probably dig up the reefangel and program on it instead. At least it's real full feature programming language.

 

[Saltysav96]

I've had both and sold the GHL because of reliability issues. Currently have all Apex. I personally had a very bad experience with their customer service which confirmed my decision to sell. With that said, it was years ago so I'm sure the product has improved.

2 things to consider in this type of questioning format, I would hazard a strong guess that Apex has significantly more marketshare in the US and subsequently your more likely to hear of problems. Additionally, one aspect of reliability is availability of parts/service. Does GHL have the same support and parts availability of Apex. I don't know the answer but something to factor in

YES , GHL has a warehouse in NC. and support here is growing. @Vinny@GHLUSA is doing a great job with expanding the US market and Support.

 

[LadyTang2]

Those of you who know GHL - What kind of limitations can be set on ca/alk dosing? Can I set a maximum amount, not to be exceeded within 24 hours? Or during a single correction? Is it like max 50ml/hr or day? What are all the possible ways to limit it?

Asking as I fear overdoses. Ty again for lively discussion.

 

[robbyg]

Yes, with 4 sockets, plus 1individual power monitoring module.
Additional ones are reported to cost $40 each.
The architecture connects their system component control signals wirelessly. So the only thing to plug into their ‘powerbar’ Is a cord to an electrical outlet & cords from each device to be controlled.

You could conceivably add a ‘power bar’ in the next room & only plug it into a wall outlet and connect things you want to control. Their ‘brain’ sends signals to it wirelessly.

Has anyone seen one of these Unicorns? I have been hearing about it since December.
I have only seen Pictures but have not seen any hands on usage info.