Thankful for the Apex!!! What are your Temp settings and/or advice for redundacy?!?

[WeBeReefin]

This morning when I woke up, I had notifications the alarm is on. I checked the apex fusion app is on due to temp below my selected range.  The temp was down to 74.2 when I woke up, Look like somewhere before 3am my heater took a crap and dropped below my  low temp alarm value of 75 degrees.  Thankfully I had extra heaters sitting around, so I popped one into place asap and got it rolling. 

I had just yanked my inkbird off of the system because I was getting readings from my apex that the temp was getting high at 80 degrees and the inkbird display was only reading 77. I'm not sure why I was getting such a difference of reading when one of the sensors was in the same chamber of the sump and as the apex probe.  

What are the best recommendations for apex probe location?? I always feel like the tank is cooler than the sump. I was thinking of putting it in the overflow box just to get it a little more accurate. 

I'm thinking for redundacy of allocating another outlet to a 2nd heater....but hate to waste one on just that. Maybe hook 2 up, off of the one outlet, by using the inkbird and just make teh ranges on it really wide so I don't get alarms from it and only from the apex, since the inkbird temp sensor doesn't seem to be accurate. 

 

I'm open to the wisdom of the Aquarist elders that have thought through this whole process with redundacies for failure. 

 

Thank you!!

[Jeff.Tichenor]

I use the Inkbird 306a. It has two temp probes for redundancy. I have two titanium heaters plugged into it. One of those heaters is barely enough to maintain the temp with the home being 10 degrees cooler than the tank.

The inkbird is plugged into my tank controller (Hydros). I have two temp probes on the Hydros for redundancy. The Hydros will cut power to the Inkbird if the temp gets too high or if the return pump is off for any reason. I periodically check the wattage of the inkbird in the Hydros to confirm both heaters are functional. 

All four temp probes are mounted in the first section of the sump.

[Jeff.Tichenor]

You probably already know this but the inkbird settings has a calibration value which allows you to offset what it thinks your temp is and what it should be. I use a certified external temp probe to set this and the similar setting on the Hydros. I use this probe to confirm temps about monthly. (And on my brisket on the smoker)

[SuncrestReef]

I’ve written several posts about this topic over at Reef2Reef.  See:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/just-updated-my-apex-issue-with-heater-afterwards.850833/#post-9253161
 

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/inkbird-control-apex.810503/#post-8677429

 

 

 

[obrien.david.j]

I use option 3 from John's article.

3. Apex controls the temperature range, and the heater's thermostat or external controller acts as a safeguard:

But I do it with two different inkbirds, and three different heaters.   One heater plugged into Primary, Two heaters plugged into secondary.   I call it two stage heating.  if first tiier heater isn't enough (on cold days), second tier kicks in.    BTW, my sump and frag tanks are in a room in the garage - not heated by the rest of the house.   I'm adding my chiller programming too, for completeness of temp control.

Heat_Tank:

• If T-Tank < 77.8 Then ON
• If T-Tank > 78.0 Then OFF

Heat_Tank2nd:

• If T-Tank < 77.5 Then ON
• If T-Tank > 77.9 Then OFF

Chiller:

• If T-Tank > 78.7 Then ON
• If T-Tank < 78.0 Then OFF

 

Did I mention that I also run multiple APEX temp sensors to make debugging problems easier.   For example, I've got a 2nd sensor just in the "Air" inside the garage sump room.   I also have extra sensors in remote frag tanks, air inside the light hood, and most interestingly in the RO water makeup tank.  To make sure my nightly ATO is with water approximately the same temp as the tank.