The Big Conversion - Apex Classic Lite (A1) to Apex A3 Pro

CreatiVe2

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Hello! First off, thank you for venturing into this thread. My main goal is to gather information/tips/tricks/experiences from the community, and hopefully help some users in the future that may be in my situation. I do know what a large undertaking this will be, and please keep your criticisms to a low, I really want to keep this thread for information purposes only.

Pictures attached: New Gear / Tank before it Crashed / Current System Setup

To Give a little bit of back story - I am an IT systems engineer with 20+ years experience, I know my way in and out of programming with the apex language. Over the past 15 years My apex classic lite has been through 4 tanks, and has seen multiple program rewrites. I have actually hit memory limits at this point and can no longer rename a lot of my inputs and switches. I know this will be a very difficult hurdle to overcome in the conversion process, but there are only ~15 that have the SW_#_# labels. All Outlets/Profiles/Sensors are renamed appropriately. The main reason I am doing this conversion now is
1- The apex froze/locked for a week when I was on travel and the tank crashed because of it.
I am absolutely devastated as this is the first major tank crash I have had in my 18+ years of reefing.
2 - I finally have enough money to afford the new A3 Pro, Trident, 2x EB832, 3x Optical Leak Sensors
3 - I want to streamline my setup / Gather information from the community / Possibly help some people in the process.

I have read This Thread many times throughout, and have it as a baseline to follow.
Question: Is this the BEST way to upgrade from Classic Lite to A3 Pro?
I understand the importance of having the outlets/profiles/sensor names match perfect to the new setup.
So that will be my main concern/focus when i Initially set the new unit up. I do have my label maker ready as well

So that is all I have (for now) I would really appreciate any pointers during the conversion for those who have done it, and for anything I should plan in the near future.
I am very excited to finally have a modern Apex, and to consolidate my modules / wiring, so anything I can do to streamline the setup would be beneficial. If you would like to see my xml code please reach out via PM. I plan on doing this upgrade over the next few days, with prep starting today, house panel upgrades tomorrow (Installing more reliable GFI Breaker), and then getting the tank on temporary power. After that I will be diving in deep. ‍♂️

I would like to thank you for 1- Reading this far, and 2- all of your help in advance!

ApexA3Pro.png PXL_20230306_233705140.jpg PXL_20240107_200924181.jpg
 
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TamaraC

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Your tank was beautiful. I love that you didn’t crowd your corals. I’m so sorry it crashed. I am in my first year of reefing and will be following this thread as I’d like to get an apex system soon.
 

HAVE YOU EVER KEPT A RARE/UNCOMMON FISH, CORAL, OR INVERT? SHOW IT OFF IN THE THREAD!

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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