Help Me.... Aquarium Controllers; which ones do I need

[leepink23]

That's a lotta replies since I posted it.
Anyways, so the trident tests stuff like alk, cal and the Dos adds stuff to adjust them right? well I guess i won't be needing them just a regualar apex controller with 2 energy bar 832s for all the outlets. (just to clarify, 2 energy bars only require 1 brain right?) As for automctic feeders, i have a bunch its just that theyre from eheim not apex. And also a silver display with the 4 probes wll do too
thx for all the help

Yeap 1 brain will control multiple energy bars, eheim feeders are great!

 

[|Tom the Bomb|]

I’m done hijacking this thread I swear. I started off with the bare minimum like many here and I made it work. But over time I got tired of doing things like adding ro/di by hand to make up for evaporation. So I got an ATO. Awesome, love it. I still have to lug five gallon buckets from the garage to the topoff container, but it’s only once a week. I can live with that. I used to switch off a bunch of power strips to turn off my pumps at feeding time. Now I use a reefkeeper which has a “feed mode”. I used to do water changes on the weekend which I despise. I’m going to be installing an automatic water changer this week to do it every day. Are all of these things necessary? No. But they do make things more convenient. Everything has a learning curve to it though. I’ve had issues with my ato, dosers, calcium reactors, all manner of pumps and loads of other things that were meant to make my life easier until I figured out their quirks. Few things in this hobby are immune to that no matter how high-end accessories may be. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are at least a dozen ecotech/apex/gyre topics based around some quirk in this forum in the last six months alone. I ended up selling a pair of maxspect xf250 gyres because of their quirks and they were NOT cheap, lol. Finally to your question. If you’re running a FOWLR tank, a controller will help by giving your tank an added layer of security, mainly in keeping temperature stable if a heater fails or if the tank gets too hot and you want a fan to turn on. Aside from that, I wouldn’t go crazy and get anything more than a basic controller regardless of brand. I don’t see you needing automated dosing or testing if you’re keeping softies. Water changes will probably give them what they need. If you want remote controllability of pumps and whatnot, the apex is the direction you want to go. Again, everything has its quirks, so don’t expect anything, especially a controller to be plug-and-play. There’s a little setup involved, especially with the more high-end controllers since they can control a lot of different things.

lol I try to keep all my tanks near a sink especially this one otherwise i gotta get a python 100ft!

Plus filling the RO reservoir is easier, (its ~18 gallons i bet that'll take long to empty.) Why do u have to use the garage?

 

[Crustaceon]

lol I try to keep all my tanks near a sink especially this one otherwise i gotta get a python 100ft!

Plus filling the RO reservoir is easier, (its ~18 gallons i bet that'll take long to empty.) Why do u have to use the garage?

My options are either the garage or the back patio, which may actually be better simply due to how crowded our household is and how little flexibility I have in running hoses around the house. The tank is just across from the kitchen and I’ve seriously considered drilling a hole in the floorboards to run an ro/di line one way and a drain hose for awc the other.

 

[SDK]

That's a lotta replies since I posted it.
Anyways, so the trident tests stuff like alk, cal and the Dos adds stuff to adjust them right? well I guess i won't be needing them just a regualar apex controller with 2 energy bar 832s for all the outlets. (just to clarify, 2 energy bars only require 1 brain right?) As for automctic feeders, i have a bunch its just that theyre from eheim not apex. And also a silver display with the 4 probes wll do too
thx for all the help

You only have to plug the things you want to control or monitor into the energy bar, so depending on your equipment you may only need one. It depends on what you want to do.

I went with the $499 Apex EL to start and added a PM1 for ORP. It saved me a few hundred bucks that I did not want to waste on salinity testing.

My lights and wave makers have thier own apps/controllers, so i have them plugged into a WIFI power strip. One EB8 is more than enough for my needs.

You can expand as your needs grow or change. Most of those big, complicated looking controller boards you mentioned grew that way over time.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

You only have to plug the things you want to control or monitor into the energy bar, so depending on your equipment you may only need one. It depends on what you want to do.

I went with the $499 Apex EL to start and added a PM1 for ORP. It saved me a few hundred bucks that I did not want to waste on salinity testing.

My lights and wave makers have thier own apps/controllers, so i have them plugged into a WIFI power strip. One EB8 is more than enough for my needs.

You can expand as your needs grow or change. Most of those big, complicated looking controller boards you mentioned grew that way over time.

Yup. You only need one brain. You might not need two eb832’s. The normal energy bars are essentially the same thing and much cheaper. The eb832 allows you to watch energy consumption of each outlet while the normal energy bars monitor energy consumption of the entire 4,6, or 8 outlets total.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

The apex afs might be a good investment though. You can program it to turn off all the pumps, skimmer etc during feeding and a set amount t of time after. You can also program it to lower powerhead speed if you have an apex compatible dc powerhead. I have it turn off my returns, skimmer, reactors, and lower the vortechs to 10%

 

[|Tom the Bomb|]

Also u know how the water box as 4 LEDs but is it combined into 1 plug or is it still 4 separate plugs

 

[|Tom the Bomb|]

The apex afs might be a good investment though. You can program it to turn off all the pumps, skimmer etc during feeding and a set amount t of time after. You can also program it to lower powerhead speed if you have an apex compatible dc powerhead. I have it turn off my returns, skimmer, reactors, and lower the vortechs to 10%

Also... i read on their web that its called an apex-ready equipment...
I have the vectra L2 return pump (ecotech marine) and 2 hydor evolution wavemakers, Nyos Quantum protein skimmer and a Nyos Torq dock 2.0
are they apex ready?

 

[BullyBee]

I’m doing a FOWLR, all you need is a controller for your heater and for Wavemakers. If you are able to, instead of buying extra controllers try to get aqamai or AI products. That way everything is controlled via an app on your phone. For a FOWLR you can’t go wrong doing that. It’s expensive though depending on the size of your tank

 

[45ZoaGarden]

So for the ecotech return pump you will need the WXM module to connect the return to Apex if you wanted to tinker with pump speed etc. for the wave makers, skimmer, and media reactors, you will only be able to turn them on and off. If you got gyres, the Neptune powerheads, or vortechs, you would be able to control them from apex like the return pump.

Also... i read on their web that its called an apex-ready equipment...
I have the vectra L2 return pump (ecotech marine) and 2 hydor evolution wavemakers, Nyos Quantum protein skimmer and a Nyos Torq dock 2.0
are they apex ready?

 

[leepink23]

So for the ecotech return pump you will need the WXM module to connect the return to Apex if you wanted to tinker with pump speed etc. for the wave makers, skimmer, and media reactors, you will only be able to turn them on and off. If you got gyres, the Neptune powerheads, or vortechs, you would be able to control them from apex like the return pump.

The wxm doesn’t work with the return pump, just the mp’s and radions

 

[45ZoaGarden]

I thought it was for all ecotech...

The wxm doesn’t work with the return pump, just the mp’s and radions

 

[leepink23]

I thought it was for all ecotech...

Originally it was supposed to be, but never happened.

 

[|Tom the Bomb|]

Okie

 

[Firstreef20]

So for the ecotech return pump you will need the WXM module to connect the return to Apex if you wanted to tinker with pump speed etc. for the wave makers, skimmer, and media reactors, you will only be able to turn them on and off. If you got gyres, the Neptune powerheads, or vortechs, you would be able to control them from apex like the return pump.

Do you? Or anybody on this thread have gyres connected to an apex? How did you connect it? Can you share the code you have them running?

 

[Firstreef20]

So for the ecotech return pump you will need the WXM module to connect the return to Apex if you wanted to tinker with pump speed etc. for the wave makers, skimmer, and media reactors, you will only be able to turn them on and off. If you got gyres, the Neptune powerheads, or vortechs, you would be able to control them from apex like the return pump.

Do you? Or anybody on this thread have gyres connected to an apex? How did you connect it? Can you share the code you have them running?

 

[leepink23]

Do you? Or anybody on this thread have gyres connected to an apex? How did you connect it? Can you share the code you have them running?

I have gyres xf 350 and apex, I don’t think the new ones connect. Also I don’t really have a need for it to be used with apex, I feel like the controller for the gyres are sufficient