Question regarding Apex and current equipment

[artieg1]

I have been a controller skeptic for a while, because all good equipment comes with its own dedicated controller these days. But I am now considering "one ring to rule them all" so that I have greater visibility to issues when I am away. I am leaning towards the Apex, because of track record, support, forums, etc. I have a 200 gallon display, with 180 gallon sump in basement.

My questions regard compatibility with existing equipment and whether it is worth changing/upgrading any to get greater compatibility.

1. Powerheads. Currently have a single MP40 and the largest Maxspect Gyre (350). Is it worth replacing these with 2-3 Neptune Wav's, in order to get perfect compatibility? I do love my MP40, which is a workhorse, and silent. Don't care for the Gyre as much. Thoughts? The WAVs are louder, I have read. I read that Apex no longer plays well with Vortech powerheads.

2. Lights. I currently have 3 AI Hydra 52s. Love them. Totally self-contained and separately programmed, so I suppose I could leave them off the Apex system. Or is there a reason to hook them up to Apex?

3. Return pump. External Blueline 100HD. Love it. Would cost a fortune to upgrade to a more programmable DC, so not inclined to do anything here. But thoughts welcome.

4. Thermostat. Using an Inkbird controller with BRS heater. Do I give away the Inkbird and just use the Apex? Or use both for added redundancy.

5. ATO - currently Tunze. Again, do I do away with that entirely? Is it worth getting the dedicated Neptune ATO to replace?

6. Dosing. I hand dose 2-part now, but would be nice to have option to start automating.

All thoughts welcome, including a platform other than Apex. I mostly want to be notified of issues remotely. Thanks.

 

[SlugSnorter]

I have been a controller skeptic for a while, because all good equipment comes with its own dedicated controller these days. But I am now considering "one ring to rule them all" so that I have greater visibility to issues when I am away. I am leaning towards the Apex, because of track record, support, forums, etc. I have a 200 gallon display, with 180 gallon sump in basement.

My questions regard compatibility with existing equipment and whether it is worth changing/upgrading any to get greater compatibility.

1. Powerheads. Currently have a single MP40 and the largest Maxspect Gyre (350). Is it worth replacing these with 2-3 Neptune Wav's, in order to get perfect compatibility? I do love my MP40, which is a workhorse, and silent. Don't care for the Gyre as much. Thoughts? The WAVs are louder, I have read. I read that Apex no longer plays well with Vortech powerheads.

2. Lights. I currently have 3 AI Hydra 52s. Love them. Totally self-contained and separately programmed, so I suppose I could leave them off the Apex system. Or is there a reason to hook them up to Apex?

3. Return pump. External Blueline 100HD. Love it. Would cost a fortune to upgrade to a more programmable DC, so not inclined to do anything here. But thoughts welcome.

4. Thermostat. Using an Inkbird controller with BRS heater. Do I give away the Inkbird and just use the Apex? Or use both for added redundancy.

5. ATO - currently Tunze. Again, do I do away with that entirely? Is it worth getting the dedicated Neptune ATO to replace?

6. Dosing. I hand dose 2-part now, but would be nice to have option to start automating.

All thoughts welcome, including a platform other than Apex. I mostly want to be notified of issues remotely. Thanks.

TLDR: ATO, Dosing, Thermostat IMO are all better to use apex, the rest is your preference,

1. Power-heads = If your current flow is good and quiet its fine

2. Lights, if you like your lights current schedule keep it, it can be controlled w AI prime app anyway, if you change schedules maybe hook it up.

3. If the pump breaks get one that works with Apex, Murphy's law kinda thing so don't change it for the sake of just getting apex functions.

4. Thermostat, Just use Apex and sell ink-bird IMO, but you can have multiple heaters on an Apex system I think anyways

5. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/need-some-advise-on-hooking-up-my-tunze-ato-to-my-apex.278895/ (this should help)

6. Dosing you should, its a key feature of apex

Extra: Do your self a favor and just get the trident system thing, it will test your params that the apex probes cannot

 

[Radman73]

I have been a controller skeptic for a while, because all good equipment comes with its own dedicated controller these days. But I am now considering "one ring to rule them all" so that I have greater visibility to issues when I am away. I am leaning towards the Apex, because of track record, support, forums, etc. I have a 200 gallon display, with 180 gallon sump in basement.

My questions regard compatibility with existing equipment and whether it is worth changing/upgrading any to get greater compatibility.

1. Powerheads. Currently have a single MP40 and the largest Maxspect Gyre (350). Is it worth replacing these with 2-3 Neptune Wav's, in order to get perfect compatibility? I do love my MP40, which is a workhorse, and silent. Don't care for the Gyre as much. Thoughts? The WAVs are louder, I have read. I read that Apex no longer plays well with Vortech powerheads.

2. Lights. I currently have 3 AI Hydra 52s. Love them. Totally self-contained and separately programmed, so I suppose I could leave them off the Apex system. Or is there a reason to hook them up to Apex?

3. Return pump. External Blueline 100HD. Love it. Would cost a fortune to upgrade to a more programmable DC, so not inclined to do anything here. But thoughts welcome.

4. Thermostat. Using an Inkbird controller with BRS heater. Do I give away the Inkbird and just use the Apex? Or use both for added redundancy.

5. ATO - currently Tunze. Again, do I do away with that entirely? Is it worth getting the dedicated Neptune ATO to replace?

6. Dosing. I hand dose 2-part now, but would be nice to have option to start automating.

All thoughts welcome, including a platform other than Apex. I mostly want to be notified of issues remotely. Thanks.

As a long time Apex owner/user(over 10 years) these are my thoughts:

1. Keep the MP40 and maybe get another. There is a way, at least on some new MP40's, to downgrade the firmware to work with the Apex. Had to do that with one of mine. I also run a gyre but don't control it with the Apex.

2. Only reason to hook them up to the apex is to power them on or off. I run my Kessil stand alone.

3. I wouldn't upgrade if it were me. You can run it from the Apex if you turn it off to feed or want to turn it off if a leak is detected.

4. I've always run mine from the Apex('s) and have heater failures, but not controller failures.

5. I use Tunze, don't fix what isn't broken and is widely considered to be the best.

6. Apex DOS is a great, truly great, tool. I've used it for everything from AWC to dosing 2-part for 6-7 years now. Whenever they came out I bought one and it's been flawless.

Now for the con's. I did have an EB832 fail me recently. Thankfully a LFS had one in stock and stayed open late for me to get over and pick it up. It was outside of warranty(3 years old) but still a bitter $300 pill to swallow. All that said, I'm hoping to repair the old one this week, there are write-ups on R2R about it, and use it in my garage for the remote fuge. It will become my operational backup.

That's it, the only con. Nothing else has failed me in 11 years. I started with an Apex Jr, then a full Apex(now classic), then 2 classic's for 2 tanks, and then the latest Apex that I bought in 2018. I wouldn't run a tank without one. Way back in 2011 I had a heater fail on my 32g biocube. I got the alert at work and was able to walk my wife through replacing the heater with a backup over the phone. I've also been able to change light color over the phone or other things if my wife was showing the tank while I was away. Like I said, I wouldn't run a tank without one .

 

[n2585722]

1. The Hydros WaveEngine will run the Maxspect Gyre (350) with the proper adpter cable. The RF version will also control the MP40.

2. Not sure if any controller will control them other than power them off, but it is probably not needed.

3. You can probably power the return on or off with any controller as long as the power rating of the pump does not exceed the outlet limit. I currently use a Syncra 3.0 a power it on and off with the controller.

4. You can set the controller up as a backup and set the off and on temp about 3 degrees higher than the Ink-bird controller. It is always a good idea to have a back up way to turn off a heater.

5. This would be a matter of choice as to whether you want to keep your current ATO or go with one on the controller. It will work either way.

6. Dosing is supported by most controllers in some fashion. On the Hydros they have their own doser made by Kamoer that hooks to their drive ports. I have one of these but I currently use it as an ATO pump. That pump gets the most use so I figured I would try it on the task that gets the most use. The other dosing pumps I use are Inttlab which are controlled by the Hydros via the drive port. I had to make adapter cables for them. At the time I started using them Hydros didn't have a dosing pump yet.

Have you though of starting with monitor only such as this https://www.coralvue.com/hydros-control-x3-monitor-pack . It is an actual controller but it is not packaged with any output device here but they can be added if you do decide to add control function. The wifi power bars runs $40. The wired XP8 with 8 outlets is around $280. This will monitor pH and temp and also comes with a point leak detector. Once you have the app setup on your phone It will send either push notifications if anything goes out of the range you set in the app for the three inputs. It can also send an email as an alert. There is alert level of None, Yellow, Orange or Red. You can setup for each whether is sends an email or push notification or both. There is also an audible and visual local alert that you can choose what level that is triggered. To expand the Hydros controller All you need to do is buy another control unit of your choice with a buss cable and terminator and hook it to the buss of the original and put a terminator on the open buss port. Then you create a collective which allows the controllers to share inputs and outputs. So it acts like a single controller with all inputs and outputs available. This is just a thought as another option since you are more interested in monitoring with alerts at the moment than control.

 

[vinnyvidivici92]

As a long time Apex owner/user(over 10 years) these are my thoughts:

1. Keep the MP40 and maybe get another. There is a way, at least on some new MP40's, to downgrade the firmware to work with the Apex. Had to do that with one of mine. I also run a gyre but don't control it with the Apex.

2. Only reason to hook them up to the apex is to power them on or off. I run my Kessil stand alone.

3. I wouldn't upgrade if it were me. You can run it from the Apex if you turn it off to feed or want to turn it off if a leak is detected.

4. I've always run mine from the Apex('s) and have heater failures, but not controller failures.

5. I use Tunze, don't fix what isn't broken and is widely considered to be the best.

6. Apex DOS is a great, truly great, tool. I've used it for everything from AWC to dosing 2-part for 6-7 years now. Whenever they came out I bought one and it's been flawless.

Now for the con's. I did have an EB832 fail me recently. Thankfully a LFS had one in stock and stayed open late for me to get over and pick it up. It was outside of warranty(3 years old) but still a bitter $300 pill to swallow. All that said, I'm hoping to repair the old one this week, there are write-ups on R2R about it, and use it in my garage for the remote fuge. It will become my operational backup.

That's it, the only con. Nothing else has failed me in 11 years. I started with an Apex Jr, then a full Apex(now classic), then 2 classic's for 2 tanks, and then the latest Apex that I bought in 2018. I wouldn't run a tank without one. Way back in 2011 I had a heater fail on my 32g biocube. I got the alert at work and was able to walk my wife through replacing the heater with a backup over the phone. I've also been able to change light color over the phone or other things if my wife was showing the tank while I was away. Like I said, I wouldn't run a tank without one .

Are there anything that needs scheduled replacement for any of the apex stuff you currently have? Such as seals, orings, screens, sensors, ect. Of that nature.

 

[Radman73]

Are there anything that needs scheduled replacement for any of the apex stuff you currently have? Such as seals, orings, screens, sensors, ect. Of that nature.

Mot for any of my equipment. I've never used the Apex display module, though have been tempted. I just use a browser.

 

[vinnyvidivici92]

Mot for any of my equipment. I've never used the Apex display module, though have been tempted. I just use a browser.

Alrighty! Thank you i appreciate it! I plan on setting one up for my first reef tank but i work long hours on the road in the summer but am mostly home everynite and just wanna be weary of anything that could possibly go wrong so i can make contingencies for those times im out of town for a week