fpd4308 Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 I know this question is really individual dependant but I have been eyeballing the Apex. I really feel like the benefits for me are the temp, salinity and PH probes and having the ability to auto turn off a runaway heater. I might consider a dosing pump as I am hoping to better automate my dosing with this tank. With my last tank I had a DA Reefkeeper when it was the latest greatest and I loved the peace of mind. I was really disappointed to see they were out of the game. The 800 outlay on the Apex keeps me a little weary. Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 (edited) Everyone has their own opinion of what something is worth, and of course what they are willing to spend. I'm a pretty big fan of home automation and have extended that to my reefing equipment. I'm a big fan of my Apex and use it both for convenience of automation as well as safety of my reef and home. Here are some of the things my Apex does for me: Detect power outages to shut down non-critical devices to prolong power on my battery backup Control dual heaters in my sump, and a heater in my saltwater mixing station Control lighting schedules on my Radions, including moon lighting at night based on actual lunar phase Monitor water level in the refugium if chaeto clogs the drain pipe and turn off the pump to prevent overflows Adjust my Gyre for different flow rates throughout the day and night Control 2-part dosing Monitor water flow rate through my carbon & GFO reactors, as well as return pipe Turn off my UV sterilizer when water flow goes below 250 gallons/hour Shut off the skimmer when the Avast skimmate locker is full and send me an alert Clean the skimmer neck every 6 hours with the Avast Swabbie Control auto feeder when I'm away from home Shut down pumps and send an alert if a leak is detected in my sump cabinet or the carpet below my tank Daily automatic water changes Remote ATO pump in my garage mixing station feeds water to my tank in the living room Alert me when RO/DI tank is low, or too full Alert me when saltwater storage tank is too low, and shut down auto water change until full Turn on a cooling fan when temps are too high in summer Keep track of all water test results and produce graphs over time All alerts are sent to both email and text message I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting. But as you can see, it's a very flexible platform and everything is controlled through a single interface. I can access it on my laptop, iPhone, or tablet, and access it anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. For me, it provides peace of mind that I wouldn't want to live without. Edited April 16, 2019 by SuncrestReef 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fpd4308 Posted April 16, 2019 Author Share Posted April 16, 2019 Wow! That is quite an advancement over the DA Reefkeeper.Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 7 minutes ago, fpd4308 said: Wow! That is quite an advancement over the DA Reefkeeper. Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk Here's a screenshot of my whole Apex Fusion dashboard: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce00 Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 You could get the Apex EL for 600$ you wouldn’t get the ORP probe but I don’t find that one useful. Dustin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 18 minutes ago, fpd4308 said: Wow! That is quite an advancement over the DA Reefkeeper. Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk Keep in mind, many of the features I listed above are the result of extra Apex modules I added beyond the base unit. I have the following modules and add-ons, so I've invested substantially more than the $800 Apex. 3 x FMM modules 2 x DOS WXM PM2 PMK DDR COR-20 2 x PMUP WAV AFS Breakout box IceCap Gyre module 5 optical sensors 3 float switches 1 extra temperature probe 1 extra conductivity probe Swabbie skimmer neck cleaner Avast skimmate locker Auxiliary power adapter for Apex to detect power failures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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