The NEXT Generation From Neptune?

[ppatches24]

[/QUOTE]

Ahh, the poor newbie who buys that will be buying an Apex twice once he realizes he can't do much with that.

Former Apex Jr. Owner.

What do you mean? Its an Apex EL. Can you not add almost everything to that? Sure it doesn't have a build in ORP sensor port and one other thing I can't think of. But those can be added, no? Its not an apex jr or a different model. It is the EL just pre programmed?

I buy a 4 port bar and im done for my setup (for now ). What am I missing here?

I give it at least 2-3 years before a new Apex controller. Maybe more integration with the testing and dosing next?

 

[bam123]

That's good. I agree. I was following your posts. I got my money out the 1st week in November. I still can't believe they went that far to screw it up. I bought a trident, then sold it locally for what I bought it for because I didn't want to bother with all the reagents, callibration and other stuff.

Yes they refunded me. The only painful part was not getting a unit and the company being in limbo.

 

[robbyg]

That's good. I agree. I was following your posts. I got my money out the 1st week in November. I still can't believe they went that far to screw it up. I bought a trident, then sold it locally for what I bought it for because I didn't want to bother with all the reagents, callibration and other stuff.

Yeah I know how you feel. I ordered a Ion Director and while I am sure it will do what it says it will I am just not all that excited about getting it and having to deal with dosing pumps and calibration fluids. Truth is None of the units on the market excite me at all. The MindStream was the only revolutionary water testing product.

 

[vangvace]

It is a limited test run. They sold around 150 total units. The people who purchased them are basically part of a test to see how much of a demand there is for a monitoring system at a lower price point than for a full blown controller. It would actually help out the LFS by allowing them to be able to carry a lower priced monitoring system. If it is successful and the buyers respond positively, it could become available everywhere next summer.

Assuming it doesn't stay BRS exclusive and assuming that Neptune changes its hold costs for low volume sellers. The exclusiveness might disappear, but Neptune caters heavily to volume, enough the LFS is basically buying their product and hoping to doesn't sit.

 

[Ippyroy]

Assuming it doesn't stay BRS exclusive and assuming that Neptune changes its hold costs for low volume sellers. The exclusiveness might disappear, but Neptune caters heavily to volume, enough the LFS is basically buying their product and hoping to doesn't sit.

That is the advantage to a lower cost monitoring system. More people can afford it so it wouldn't sit.

 

[ByronP]

Any other engineers in here want to get together and build our own? I was just looking at the price of what is in a GHL (BOM) vs retail price and the most expensive part is the dang case. Having had to modify APEX stuff for my own needs and repair it also is dirt cheap hardware in fairly nice plastic. So essentially the real cost is in the software which for me is free since I can do that in my spare time.

 

[GK3]

Any other engineers in here want to get together and build our own? I was just looking at the price of what is in a GHL (BOM) vs retail price and the most expensive part is the dang case. Having had to modify APEX stuff for my own needs and repair it also is dirt cheap hardware in fairly nice plastic. So essentially the real cost is in the software which for me is free since I can do that in my spare time.

I looked at this a little while back. Yes hardware is relatively inexpensive, but until you have volume, you’ll never get it at their price. I agree the biggest part is software but it’s not the software to make lights turn off at a particular time but the entire eco system and cloud based control. This is the expensive part. Not to mention all the security you’d have to put in place to make sure no one hacked your “fusion” equivalent system.

I feel like reefpi was/is a similar attempt to what you are referring to.

 

[Gerald Anderson]

Any other engineers in here want to get together and build our own? I was just looking at the price of what is in a GHL (BOM) vs retail price and the most expensive part is the dang case. Having had to modify APEX stuff for my own needs and repair it also is dirt cheap hardware in fairly nice plastic. So essentially the real cost is in the software which for me is free since I can do that in my spare time.

Don't have any links off-hand, but do remember looking around a while back and noting there were a couple DIY/open source projects out there, just hit Google. There's nothing magic/too proprietary about aquarium controllers, really, just the retail products come plug and play. Get yourself a Pi3/4 or an Arduino/stm32, break out the soldering iron and 3d printer and have fun ; )

G

P.S. I ended up going with a good Neptune loadout and Trident on the way. As a single father/entrepreneur the value of time just didn't make sense to me by the time you consider the Head, EBS, ATO, WXM, Trident, etc.

 

[rushbattle]

Any other engineers in here want to get together and build our own? I was just looking at the price of what is in a GHL (BOM) vs retail price and the most expensive part is the dang case. Having had to modify APEX stuff for my own needs and repair it also is dirt cheap hardware in fairly nice plastic. So essentially the real cost is in the software which for me is free since I can do that in my spare time.

See reef-pi. If you helped out with programming the capabilities would expand even faster. That would be awesome!

 

[BZOFIQ]

Any other engineers in here want to get together and build our own? I was just looking at the price of what is in a GHL (BOM) vs retail price and the most expensive part is the dang case. Having had to modify APEX stuff for my own needs and repair it also is dirt cheap hardware in fairly nice plastic. So essentially the real cost is in the software which for me is free since I can do that in my spare time.

I can even sell you ReefHub.com to get your started - short, marketable, and perfect name for nex-gen controller.

 

[Forshurley]

ApexEL Aquarium Monitor Special Edition

You can relax about your reef tank knowing that the Apex EL BRS Special Edition has your back. The BRS SE Apex EL monitors key tank parameters and comes pre-configured to send you alerts via the built-in WiFi if anything is amiss. It's hard to overstate the value of having an aquarium monitor...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

It is amazing that BRS sold 250 units of this in less then 24 hours, there is a demand for it.

 

[ByronP]

I looked at this a little while back. Yes hardware is relatively inexpensive, but until you have volume, you’ll never get it at their price. I agree the biggest part is software but it’s not the software to make lights turn off at a particular time but the entire eco system and cloud based control. This is the expensive part. Not to mention all the security you’d have to put in place to make sure no one hacked your “fusion” equivalent system.

I feel like reefpi was/is a similar attempt to what you are referring to.

I want it to be hackable

 

[ByronP]

Don't have any links off-hand, but do remember looking around a while back and noting there were a couple DIY/open source projects out there, just hit Google. There's nothing magic/too proprietary about aquarium controllers, really, just the retail products come plug and play. Get yourself a Pi3/4 or an Arduino/stm32, break out the soldering iron and 3d printer and have fun ; )

G

P.S. I ended up going with a good Neptune loadout and Trident on the way. As a single father/entrepreneur the value of time just didn't make sense to me by the time you consider the Head, EBS, ATO, WXM, Trident, etc.

I am a hardware and software engineer so I have benches in my home office with everything needed already.

 

[ByronP]

See reef-pi. If you helped out with programming the capabilities would expand even faster. That would be awesome!

I thought about using a pie but overall it is more expensive than what is really needed. Maybe today I'll run through some stuff and see what could be better and cheaper. I was leaning towards maybe iot core but did not dig much into it. I did like the way ghl used off the shelf chips and the esp used for wifi seems to be replaceable.

 

[ByronP]

I can even sell you ReefHub.com to get your started - short, marketable, and perfect name for nex-gen controller.

PM me if you really want to sell it

 

[Gerald Anderson]

I thought about using a pie but overall it is more expensive than what is really needed. Maybe today I'll run through some stuff and see what could be better and cheaper. I was leaning towards maybe iot core but did not dig much into it. I did like the way ghl used off the shelf chips and the esp used for wifi seems to be replaceable.

Working on simple robotics stuff I like:



2 for $10 and more than capable enough to do what you're wanting. Could honestly probably even do better. Requirements are minimal from a resources perspective, I just didn't want to deal with all of the interfaces, etc. I'm a software guy that dabbles in hardware, so that played in my decision too.

If you did end up going commercial, decent SoCs are a dime a dozen.

G

 

[User1]

Any other engineers in here want to get together and build our own? I was just looking at the price of what is in a GHL (BOM) vs retail price and the most expensive part is the dang case. Having had to modify APEX stuff for my own needs and repair it also is dirt cheap hardware in fairly nice plastic. So essentially the real cost is in the software which for me is free since I can do that in my spare time.

Why bother? If you want a DIY controller there are plenty of Reef Pi's out there. There is also the reef angel which is an open source controller, been around for a while now, darn reliable, and still has some of the best custom libraries for lighting and power head control on the market today.

Edit 1: To the OP. Not sure what Neptune's plans are. However you can do quick search of their product history. I'll say whatever you invest in today will carry forward. They have a pretty decent foundation so all the hobbyist has to do is make a list of what their requirements are, then look at Neptune, GHL, or any other product, and decide what works for them. Some requirements may narrow down your choices such as automated water testing.

 

[TheHarold]

Working on simple robotics stuff I like:



2 for $10 and more than capable enough to do what you're wanting. Could honestly probably even do better. Requirements are minimal from a resources perspective, I just didn't want to deal with all of the interfaces, etc. I'm a software guy that dabbles in hardware, so that played in my decision too.

If you did end up going commercial, decent SoCs are a dime a dozen.

G

This thread has gotten pretty off topic, but I don’t think the arduino you linked would be adequate. Especially if you want any sort of online interface. A Pi Zero W would be a better starting point IMO, if you don’t want to get the 3.

 

[ca1ore]

Ahh, the poor newbie who buys that will be buying an Apex twice once he realizes he can't do much with that.

Former Apex Jr. Owner.

The EL is equivalent to the Lite more than the Jr. I agree that buying the Jr meant buying twice. I originally bought the lite, then proceeded to buy all the separate modules to get to full apex .... just cost more

 

[ca1ore]

It is a limited test run. They sold around 150 total units. The people who purchased them are basically part of a test to see how much of a demand there is for a monitoring system at a lower price point than for a full blown controller. It would actually help out the LFS by allowing them to be able to carry a lower priced monitoring system. If it is successful and the buyers respond positively, it could become available everywhere next summer.

I think it's pretty smart actually and a good way to potentially expand the addressable market for Neptune. I figure revenue growth broadly in 2016 and 2017 was driven by people replacing classic with the 2016 model; 2018 was FFM, DoS (maybe that was 2017 too) and a few other things; 2019 and 2020 was/will be Trident …… then what? As I and others have noted, a new controller platform seems unlikely for a while still; what other new stuff is Neptune working on for 2020 and 2021? Perhaps there's stuff coming but they've learned their lesson about announcing too soon and then not being able to deliver.