Why An Apex?

[OrangeFaucett10]

I’ve been battling the idea of getting an Apex for some time. Most of the modules are expensive and have reviews where people are complaining about their accuracy.

I have Radions that I’ll be running through Mobius. I have a return pump and power heads that all run on their own controllers and I can’t see a need to put them on a WiFi controller.

Does thePh probe help you track Alk at all? I’m really trying to talk myself into this device but having trouble lol

 

[GabeM]

It's not necessary, but the more things you automate the more grateful you will be with a dependable controller. My tank is at the office and I only see it once a week for maintenance right now so I broke down and bought one.

I was using a KASA strip to control but it froze up and dumped 1L of all for reef in the tank before this happened.

 

[LDog74]

I like it because I travel often. I like the fact I can check in on my tank anywhere or anytime and check temp, PH, salinity, flow, water parameters ( I have a Trident) feed my fish, etc... I can also make adjustments if needed to CA or KH remotely with the DOS. I am also in the process of setting up an automatic water change with another DOS.

The negative with Apex... It’s expensive and you keep adding more gadgets to get the most out of it.
Its like Apple, very user friendly but it sucks you in and puts all your eggs in their basket so to speak.
But if you have a lot invested in your tank what’s another $2K + lol...

 

[dohc97]

I am the most basic of apex users and i can tell you the number one thing for me is being able to check temp on my tank and turn things on and off from anywhere in the world.

 

[Cjud7982]

I as well am a very beginner user of Apex. I got a second hand classic setup. I more or less use it as a temp controller for my heaters, timers for my t5 lights, and delay features for my ato and skimmer for when. I do water changes or have power outages. It ensures that when the return pump turns back on, the skimmer doesn't overflow or ato dump a ton of water in. Also allows easy control to turn on or off equipment without unplugging stuff.

I'm slowly integrating more things into it to justify it's capability. But I like to manually feed, don't care about flow measurements (it's about tank health, not s targeted number, and I get the safety aspect of it in case a pump starts to die). I do my own manual water changes so I can suck up stuff, rather than just change water through a dos.

It's a fantastic piece of equipment, but very expensive and adds a lot of complication to the mix. It's convenient for some things, but you can only make the tank so automated. Plus I like the interaction and work that's required maintaining my tank. Some people want a hands off approach to their tanks, but not me.

If you like to program and dabble with toys, then there's value in that, if you want endless automated features then go for it.

But it is certainly not needed if,like you said, all of your other equipment is already being controlled by something.

 

[Tastee]

Does thePh probe help you track Alk at all? I’m really trying to talk myself into this device but having trouble lol

No, there is not really a strong correlation between pH and Alk. You need the Trident if you want to monitor Alk.

Once your system is stable then unless you add or lose corals your Alk demand should be quite consistent. As an example I add 34 ml of Aquaforest 3 part to my 65g mixed reef tank 24x7 and have not changed that level in 6 months as nothing has been added or removed to change the demand, and growth has not been high enough to drive up Alk demand.

 

[Plecosam]

Bro, just get one, stop messing round!

 

[Thetankdoctor]

You will get sucked in...just another module or probe...I use it to top off my top off containers now. It's the ultimate lazy creator. I use the controlable valves, flow meters, probes, vlp, fmm, ldk, pump adapters. You name it. It sucks you in totally. I have my small tank on it too. It's like an addiction. I literally sit there and think of more ways to use it. Heck I have 3 break out boxes on my big tank.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Honestly, it depends. If you’re home all the time you don’t really need it. I bought mine for when I’m fishing, on vacation, or generally out and about. I went fishing one morning and had to cut my trip short when the wifey woke up and found my skimmer making noises. She didn’t know what to do and unplugged the whole tank. Now I can remotely monitor the tank and when the leak detection goes off, turn off whatever is causing the leak. When I’m away or busy the trident keeps on top of testing ( when I can find it reagents LOL). I also have a few dos units, the wxm, afs, atk, mpr’s, etc. the temperature probe adds a security blanket with heaters. The ph probe is nice for monitoring swings. If you’re home most of the time you definitely don’t need it. But if you’re always up to something like I am, it’s worth the cost.

 

[mike550]

I’ve been battling the idea of getting an Apex for some time. Most of the modules are expensive and have reviews where people are complaining about their accuracy.

I have Radions that I’ll be running through Mobius. I have a return pump and power heads that all run on their own controllers and I can’t see a need to put them on a WiFi controller.

Does thePh probe help you track Alk at all? I’m really trying to talk myself into this device but having trouble lol

I’m in a similar situation. My AI lights are programmed, my Versa is programmed, and for the most part my tank is “automated” for what I need. Where I can see the Apex or maybe the Hydros making things better is actively monitoring temp and a few other parameters along with telling me if my return pump is not running. It would be great to get warnings when things are out of a range. I also worry about “all eggs in one basket” in case the Apex brain or powerbar fails.

At some point I’ll probably get an Apex but hard to justify right now.