fishmanmike01 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 (edited) Why is it ?,That when we have tank issues, it's always when you leave town, sleep, work, or any situation that ensures you are not around to quickly resolve the situation. My system has been up for just over 6 months now with no issues. And the one weekend I plan a camping trip, the circuit breaker trips. What's worse, is even joking with my brother that the only time stuff like this happens is when you leave town just prior to leaving. Well as I said.... Go figure. I come home after an awesome weekend of camping, to a dark tank, no flow, and and a what the heck moment. Apex log shows the tank was down for nearly 24 hours. Luckly looking at things, everything looks like it hasn't suffered too much. Nem was on a walkabout, all fish were still alive and temp was surprisingly still stable. Fingers crossed. Those of you with apex, how do you handle such an event? Obviously I get no alarm until power is restored. What's the trick around this? Also lets hear some other stories of not so great tank problem timing so we all may learn how to avoid some of these issues Edited July 7, 2015 by fishmanmike01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 That's no good! At least everything seems to of made it through! I went to black butte a week ago. Topped off my ato jug, did a water change, fed the only fish I have and went on my marry way. Came home to one of my heads of my frogspawn totally dead because a Yuma decided to move and plant it's [language filter] right on the frogspawn :( I think we are just destined to have something go wrong if we are on vacation lol. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Let me know if you need any help Mike I'm no expert at Apex, but there is a number of ways to set the mobile alarm to let you know when things are out of wack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 Let me know if you need any help Mike I'm no expert at Apex, but there is a number of ways to set the mobile alarm to let you know when things are out of wack. Thanks Isaac. I have it set to send all kinds of alarms/texts/emails. My issue is that if power goes out it then can't send those alarms. Especially a power failure alarm. I'm not sure if there is a circuit breaker that will reset itself after a certain period of time or not. However this seems like it's the only solution to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spilo Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 I have the apex app on my phone... basically if it isn't updating I know powers out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bevo5 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 I don't know how this happened but I get a power off email/text sent my way whenever there is a problem. Not sure how. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 I don't know how this happened but I get a power off email/text sent my way whenever there is a problem. Not sure how. As do I, but only when power is restored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Doesn't apex have a battery back up of any sort? I would check out their forum on reef central. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Mike, did the whole house lose power? oR Just the Apex down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Reeftronics is free and will text you if apex loses power [emoji106] 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 Mike, did the whole house lose power? oR Just the Apex down? Just the circuit the tank is on. I suspect the chiller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 Reeftronics is free and will text you if apex loses power [emoji106] Tell me more..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Check out reeftronics.com. It has all the info! Sorry for late reply on vacation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Just the circuit the tank is on. I suspect the chiller Mike, Why the chiller? Monster pump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexinverts Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 A partial fix would be to put either your Apex or chiller on a different circuit. I put my chiller on a different circuit than the rest of the tank stuff to avoid this kind of problem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltwater newbie Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 You should run a couple dedicated 20 amp circuits to your tank. I wired 4 dedicated to my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The ReefBox Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 Battery back up is the most reliable way to ho mike. You want to back up the router so it can send you message that apex is down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted July 10, 2015 Author Share Posted July 10, 2015 Mike, Why the chiller? Monster pump? It's an iwaki MD100. I thought I was golden but as soon as the heat hit the tank continued to climb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted July 10, 2015 Author Share Posted July 10, 2015 A partial fix would be to put either your Apex or chiller on a different circuit. I put my chiller on a different circuit than the rest of the tank stuff to avoid this kind of problem.[/quote I plan on running a separate circuit for the chiller eventually , but how would the apex send an alarm if the power to it was down anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 Reeftronics is free and will text you if apex loses power [emoji106] Thanks for the heads up, though after searching I found its http://www.reeftronics.net/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 Awesome glad you found it and posted back. Mike, I have moved to this config to limit the damage of a gfci trip . Maybe a bit overboard but makes me feel better. http://www.pnwmas.org/topic/33163-simple-way-to-reduce-likelihood-of-tank-crash/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexinverts Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 A partial fix would be to put either your Apex or chiller on a different circuit. I put my chiller on a different circuit than the rest of the tank stuff to avoid this kind of problem.[/quote I plan on running a separate circuit for the chiller eventually , but how would the apex send an alarm if the power to it was down anyway. Running your chiller on a separate circuit will prevent the chiller from overloading and tripping the circuit that your Apex is on. It will not, however, prevent a ground fault in something running on the Apex circuit from tripping it. I think Jeremy's solution is a good one for that issue. I might do something similar myself. A battery backup for the router is a great idea too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.