Reef keeper VS Apex
- Thread starter bruby
- Start date
Brian are you bored?
$5 says you only get responses from $500 APEX lovers
However I have a $150 Reef Keeper Lite and I love it and believe it or not things grow in my tank just the same as they grow in others running APEXs
No really it all depends on what all you want it to do. The APEX is by far superior and has a ton more as far as capability and functions. Certainly worth the money if you are wanting lots of automated control and remote capability.
$5 says you only get responses from $500 APEX lovers
However I have a $150 Reef Keeper Lite and I love it and believe it or not things grow in my tank just the same as they grow in others running APEXs
No really it all depends on what all you want it to do. The APEX is by far superior and has a ton more as far as capability and functions. Certainly worth the money if you are wanting lots of automated control and remote capability.
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Rk is a cheaper alternative to apex. It has poor support and is very basic. Pretty much early 2000s is what it seems to be. Apex is very expandable and supports a lot of different companies products from pumps to lights. Has a very easy to use platform if you are not all that computer savy. However the support and community is very big and post anything on the forum and you will get a response. If you just want to monitor your pH and Temp and turn off some outlets a Rk will work. If you want the ultimate control, fail safes and monitoring when you're away then choose apex.
I have an Reef Keeper Elite with over $800 in addons so pretty much everything they offer and SOOO wish I had gone with an Apex. Dont get me wrong the RK can get the job done but it can be a huge PITA some times, a lot of functionality I feel like it should have with the net controller is lacking and forget about customer service. Do yourself a huge favor and get the Apex.
I have had both, an RKL for a couple years and now just upgraded a few months ago. so whats better? hands down the apex. But that should be expected from a system that costs 3 times as much as the ReefKeeper. Which has better customer service? Apex hands down. The reef keeper customer service was horrible the few times I had to deal with them. For expandability again the apex wins as they have many different moduals that are all plug and play. Now for the down side, the apex is not very easy to program the first time, however there are hundreds of people on here who can help out.
So what would I recommend? it depends. If you don't mind the cost and you want to have as much control and automation as possible then the only way to go is with the apex. But if you just want something to turn your lights on and off and control your heater then the ReefKeeper is the way to go. You can also start with the reef keeper and upgrade in a year or two if it is not what you want (like I did).
Like many others here the apex is one of the best investments I have made in the hobby.
So what would I recommend? it depends. If you don't mind the cost and you want to have as much control and automation as possible then the only way to go is with the apex. But if you just want something to turn your lights on and off and control your heater then the ReefKeeper is the way to go. You can also start with the reef keeper and upgrade in a year or two if it is not what you want (like I did).
Like many others here the apex is one of the best investments I have made in the hobby.
Can you program fail safes on your Rk? Ie. A leak detector that turns off your return pump. Can you program that if your pH gets too high/low you can turn off your dosing pump? Can you program it that it emails/text you if a pump, a fan or anything turns on/off? Set Defer statements for your skimmer so if the sump is low or high the skimmer won't run dry or extra wet?
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Here is a look at my APEX Fusion. And Peyton in the QT tank via a live web stream. lol
Programing is not that bad. lost of info out there to do it. If you need help with a particular item there are plenty of us here that will gladly help. Zombie is truly a wiz at programing the apex.
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I have both, truly like the apex better, and bla, bla, bla. We have this same post about every month or two, and it usually end up the same. The apex is better, it really is, but you may not need it. I wouldn't pay apex money to put one on my bio cube, but for $120, my rkl works fine. I have my Apex running two tanks in the basement, and wouldn't put anything digital aquatics makes on either of them, I "have" come across things that I want a controller to do that the rkl just wont do. DA is getting ready to release their archon system, the same modules for the most part, but when talking to them at MACNA there may be some compatibility issues from the old to new system that they kept trying to steer the conversation away from. You can find a little more info here http://reefbuilders.com/2014/09/03/archon-cloud-based-aquarium-controller-digital-aquatics/
