apex

alindell21

alindell21

Goby
#1
#1
I a unsure as what to get from aquarium controllers. I want to primarily control a few things though, but I dont know if the apex jr or the apex standard controller or even dabble with Reef keepers.Basically I want to be able to control my lights through the axm or some module that allows me to customize individuals lighting programs, control the temp (shut off if it gets too hot, turn on if too cold), control a doser ( to control PH), control the ph with a nice reliable probe, and have it send messages to my phone. Can the apex jr or another lesser controller do all that at an affordable cost as I dont want to buy too many modules. For what I want, which would be the best choice? I dont know if it would be cheaper in the long run to buy the full controller or use the lite or jr?
 
alindell21

alindell21

Goby
#3
#3
The aquarium I am looking at setting up is either going to be a red sea reefer 425xl or 525xl. already bought some equipment .AI hydra 52 non hd,looking at doing the jaboa dp 4 for a doser, bought two mp40's, plan on dosing kalkwasser, bought a sicce syncra 5.0 return pump with adjustable flow rate and will try to get the flow around I think is around 1040GPH is what red sea recommends. I have an android phone to run the apex app. I really just want to customize my lights and control the ph and temp to maintain stability. no need to worry about the mp40s as they have a driver with them.
 
TheRealChrisBrown

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#5
#5
I have the regular Apex, and I struggled with the same questions (Jr., Lite, regular, Etc.) and I think they have discontinued the lite. You may be able to find it used but not new anymore. So with the regular version you can monitor your temp, and pH with probes. You can control your lights (I have the Hydra52's but I use the AI Director, just because I had the lights before I had the Apex). You can program it to notify you if your temp hits X or shut off doser if pH hits X. I bought a breakout box for like $30 and connected my ATO, so I can control that with the Apex with added double and triple redundency to prevent overfilling. I feel like I have just scratched the surface with the programming, but I also feel like if I wanted to add anything it would be easy. I did add the Dos unit and find it to be AWESOME for dosing. No complaints with it, I think the regular version will do everything you want it to do. Might want to check on the Jr. and see how many outlets the power strip has....I sort of remember it having only 4. Look at how many components you are going to want to add to the power bar and start there.

With it's ability to notify you of various problems I feel like it is an indespensable piece of aquarium hardware.
 
alindell21

alindell21

Goby
#6
#6
Yeh ive read reviews and apex seems like the way to go. I just want to the best quality for the money and what ill be using it for. Im looking at getting awm module, a ph probe if need to and hooking up a doser to it and then use the website and mobile to control them. I dont think I need the standard to do all this, but I also might want to hook up other equipment in the future. If I buy this awm i have to go with apex and im not sure how good RKE is with what i want for a cheaper price as some reviews said that they were horrible, but I take it with a grain of salt. I dont want to commit to something this expensive unless I really need to which seems like everyone does. Do I need to buy separate modules to communicate wireless with my tank, for example does the jr come standard with net or some wireless access without the need to buy another module so I can program on my computer, look at stats or graphs, and have it send me messages when Im not home. also how are the hydra 52s?
 
TheRealChrisBrown

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#7
#7
From your posts it looks like you want to connect a skimmer, doser, lights, return pump.....so that's all your outlets on the Apex Jr. Buying another 4 outlets would run you $120, or $160 for an EB8.

I use this: http://smile.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Uni...8&qid=1455053751&sr=8-2&keywords=netgear+2001 to connect the Apex to my house WiFi. It works really well. You'll need something similar to get it up on the net.

I like the Hydra52's, seem to grow LPS and Zoas really well. I have had limited success with SPS though. I added 2 VHO T-5's to supplement things and it may have helped a bit. If you really want to go SPS, I'd give MH some serious consideration.
 
T

that0neguy1126

Registered Users
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
#8
The Apex Jr. wont meet your needs. It only has 4 outlets with on/off capabilities and a temp probe. It will allow you to add modules but for all the modules you want it would be cheaper to go with the regular Apex.

Regular Apex will allow you to monitor Temp and PH. It has 4 variable 0-10v ports that will control most lighting system intensities. It also has a 2nd PH or ORB probe input which would allow you to get a 2nd PH reading from a reactor or something.

Both Apex Jr and Apex will allow you to do the basic programing you are talking about as well as support email/sms alerts.
 
T

that0neguy1126

Registered Users
M.A.S.C Club Member
#12
#12
RKE as well as a reef angels setup would work as well. I haven't seen much from RKE lately. Price wise I would figure in the end they are going to be pretty close.
 
Legonch

Legonch

Butterfly Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#13
#13
I was in the same place as you. I bought the apex, not the apex jr. Totally happy with it. I saw someplace yesterday where they were on sale. Great units! Also, the netgear wireless connector is a must if you want wireless. I found mine on ebay for 15 bucks. Tried a couple others from best buy but wouldnt connect.

Good luck!
 
MBX5

MBX5

Turbo Snail
#14
#14
Just ordered mine with our group buy. Using it on a 20 gallon nano but I know I'll upgrade one day so went with the standard apex over the Jr. Anyone ever run one wireless with the apple express?
 
T

that0neguy1126

Registered Users
M.A.S.C Club Member
#15
#15
In general wireless is not recomended for the apex. I ran a long ethernet cord instead.

It does work with an airport express. just have to plug it into the router to configure it first. make sure to configure it to join the network instead of extend. Then plug the apex into the express. I saw a few other mentions to make sure your security settings are correct and that airport express does not support WEP but only WPA (which you should be using anyway).
 
TheRealChrisBrown

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#16
#16
that0neguy1126;n637449 said:
In general wireless is not recomended for the apex. I ran a long ethernet cord instead..
Click to expand...
I've been running it with the Netgear wireless gaming card mentioned above since day one. The only thing I ever read was that it needed to be connected to ethernet for initial setup and firmware updates. I'm going on 3 years with it on wireless, never had a problem.
 
Legonch

Legonch

Butterfly Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#17
#17
Ive never had a problem in 6 months with the netgear wireless setup. Always works great. I cant imagine having a tank without an apex!
 
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