The problem with having your controller control everything

[sphelps]

Can you not set initial state for the Apex power bars? I don't know much about the Apex just that it can be done with Profilux so something to check into. Seems like it would solve the problem. I also run one slave powerhead on completely separate circuit as a last resort back up.

2.3.2.2 Set inital states
If the Powerbar-PAB doesn’t receive commands anymore over a minute (e.g. since the bus has been interrupted, ProfiLux is switched off or is defective, …), the sockets of the Powerbar-PAB can be switched due to safety reasons into a predefined state (on or off). The initial state can be programmed separately for each socket. For example it can make sense to keep the filter switched on. On the other side it is better to switch off the heating in case of an error so that the aquarium is not overheated.