You can program apex to do auto water change when you are in camp
This is my next project with apex .
Buy apex

Talk me into a Apex!!!
 

I am sitting in Hariot Bay on Quadra Island tuning my Ca Reactor and DIY LEDs in Nanaimo via my Apex app (no cell reception here, just wireless Internet). I just set my 2nd unit up on my DT and love them. Setup can be a challenge but the community is incredible with support and once setup is done it is great. I travel extensively for work during the summer and am really happy with my Apex units particularly while I am away.


Dan

a tank controller is the ultimate in piece of mind technology. If you travel allot or even just want to check in when at work locally, it's a perfect tool to get a quick update. You can monitor pretty much anything you want, ph, temp, lighting, dosing and flooding events. It will send you emails and txt when things happen. Combine that with a decent IP wireless camera and not only can you just monitor but you can view as well!

The other part to consider is this..your away out of town working and you DO get an alert...you should always have someone reef tank aware and semi familiar with your system that you can call upon to go and investigate. I can't image what would be worse...not knowing about something catastrophic until you walk through your front door OR knowing its happening RIGHT NOW but not able to do anything about it!

haha, yes so crazy...

499$ - The Apex System comes complete with:

Apex Base Unit
Energy Bar 8 (or Energy Bar 6)
Apex Display Module
Long-life Temperature Probe
Standard or Lab pH Probe

no ATO for that price???!! (more money) and not wifi so you still have to buy a game adapter (another 50$) if you don't want a cable running through your house up to your router...


329$ - Reef angel:

Power bar with 8 controllable outlets
Display module and base unit
temperatur probe
PH probe
ATO with 2 float switch
Wifi module, so no need for a cable

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquattro (Post 810080) Don't listen to her ^ , she's crazy!! :) Get the Apex already, you know you want it.

I have an old Apex III controller and it's saved my butt a few times... the alarm is setup so it emails me, which in itself is good... but the kicker was when I was out of town and one of the halides burnt out and the ballast was humming... my wife calls me in a panic and I was able to login to the controller and shut off the power to the ballast and fix it when I got home a few days later!

isn't there a wireless module for the Apex now?

I have 2 Apex systems, full system with 2 powerbar 8, temp, orb, ph, salanity, module for powerheards, and a basic Apex Jr, with 2 powerbar 4

3rd system is a Digital Aquatics Lite.

I prefer the Apex system.

The reef angel may or may not be a decent piece of equipment, but I like the Apex support. The company itself is great, and there are hundreds of users ready and willing to help with any config question you have, and you'll have many. It's not always about saving a few bucks. It's about saving grief trying to get it all figured out.

An apex once saved my baby

support? There is no best support than the Reef Angel support.

I ask in the RA forum about a program to trigger the feed mode so that my neighbourg would be able to trigger it from just one click on my small notebook when I leave for vacations. Problem is that my notebook is just a small thing with bearely any power or memory, so I needed a small application that would run without too much ressources. They suggested me a small Java application but it was lacking the feed mode.

So I go ahead and ask in the forum if it was possible to have one with the feed more and water change mode, and the programmer did it the same day and in the evening I had my program ready to download and to use with all the features I wanted. Now that some serious support!!

I now have a very small application in java that control my tank, show me the stats and send me email and text message alerts. The beauty of the RA is that anything can be done. It is not limited to what the company's programmers decided to do, you're in full control. I have absolutely zero knowledge in programmation either.

Apex is great but so much more expensive and even if you buy the full thing at full price (499$) you still are lacking the wifi connectivity and the ATO, you need to pay even more for those.

The RA is supported by a large community that is not so much aimed at profit (many are doing it for free) and the cost of development for the product and software is much lower than with a company that MUST hire programmers to produce their software for a lot of $$$$. So probably Apex must charge so much to compensate the cost of development which is pretty much free with the RA and its community.

But above all, the RA is FUN! :) I am always on the look out for some new things to make it do.