Today on BRStv we are going to show you a laundry list of ways a Neptune controller
can save you some hard earned crispy dollars.
Hi, I'm Ryan host of BRStv where each week we explore a new topic related to reef tanks,
this week we are going to explore the popular Neptune Apex controller with a heavy focus
on how this thing is going to actually save you money.
There are three main ways, first it is going to replace a bunch of generally required equipment
pieces like power bars and timers, second it is going to replace or add redundancy to
your system that is going to save your tank and home in the long run.
third is going to add some nice features that are optional but make reefing easier.
There are a couple of basic things almost every tank out there needs, power bars, timers
or control for your lights and temperature control.
You can use cheap power bars like this one but I think that's a mistake.
We have way too much time, money and passion wrapped up in our tanks to trust the entire
life support system to a $4 piece of equipment.
I don't think you need to go crazy either, there are some pretty good ones out there
for around $20.
A decent digital timer is around the same price.
Temperature control is also critical.
At one point i thought this was somewhat optional but at this point I think it is pretty much
required for anyone who plans on having a multiyear successful tank.
Temperature related issues are easily the single biggest cause of tank crashes out there.
Starting with your heater, really doesn't matter which brand you choose they will all
fail eventually.
Some of the more popular types rely completely on a ten cent single point of contact, some
will fail off and worse some fail on.
Either way it is bad news.
Only real solution is an external temperature controller to add redundancy as well as alert
you when a heater fails.
Since heaters are often hidden down in our sumps it is really easy to not know when something
goes wrong so the alarm is pretty critical.
Beyond that hot summers, cold winters, furnace failures, air conditioners getting turned
off, hot lights , chiller failures and a whole slew of other things are super common issues
and can all also result in tank crashes.
More or less the only real solution is again temperature controllers to prevent issues
as well as notify you that the problem exists.
For example if the tank is overheating, you can use the controller to cut power to the
heater, if it is still rising because it is super hot out and someone forgot to turn on
your air conditioning or worse it breaks, a temp controller can turn on a fan, still
rising turn on a chiller or start turning off sources of heat like lights, unnecessary
pumps, or equipment like UV sterilizers.
This is about where the Neptune Apex Jr steps in.
It honestly doesn't make any sense to buy a couple power bars, bulky timers and slew
of temperature controllers when you can pick up a Apex Jr. for less and it's a platform
you can build off of for additional controls and redundancy.
The next set of functions that can save you money are primarily based around adding additional
redundancies and protections that can save your tank or home from some pretty tragic
events.
Most of us have hundreds to thousands tied up in our tanks and more valuable, an emotional
connection to the fish, corals and how the tank has evolved over the years.
A tank crash and starting over is out of the question so we absolutely should protect it.
Beyond that we all have large glass boxes of corrosive water in our homes, some of them
containing hundreds of gallons of water.
Leaks, top off failures and other issues can cause serious damage your home.
Replacing carpet, hardwood floors, ceilings, walls, furniture, electrical fires ... can
all be ridiculously expensive.
While nothing is fool proof there are a bunch of features on a controller like this that
can help protect your home.
The first of which is pH monitoring and control.
I have seen a lot of successful tanks that range anywhere from 7.8 to 8.3.
Once you get out of that range it's often a sign that something is wrong with the tank
or equipment.
Could be something is wrong with your calcium reactor, auto top off system failed and is
over dosing kalkwasser, a cheap timer running your two part doser failed or something large
died in the tank.
Having a pH monitor which displays the pH is nice but a good one costs $100 and isn't
helpful unless you are actually looking at the tank when something bad happens which
is pretty darn rare.
What we really need is a controller with an alarm.
So "A" it turns off the equipment like the calcium reactor that may be causing the issue
and "B" notifies you of the problem.
A good stand-alone controller with an alarm you can rely on is anywhere from a hundred
and twenty bucks to two hundred.
However a controller like the apex has this feature built in.
Better yet, you can run multiple pH probes on the same controller so you can monitor
and control your calcium reactor and the tank itself.
Better yet you can hook it up to the internet so it can email or text you if there is ever
a problem which in the end makes it much more valuable than a stand-alone controller.
These same features can save your home from damage as well.
Most of us will eventually put an auto top off on our systems at some point if, you are
dosing kalk with your top off and it failed on you could use the pH controller to shut
down the auto top off and notify you before it ruins your carpet, hardwood floors or ceiling.
If you are using fresh water you could utilize their salinity probe to shut down the auto
top off if the salinity were ever to drop below and acceptable level.
And since we are dealing with water basically anything can develop a leak at some point
or various issues could cause the sump to overflow so they have these nice leak detectors
which you can put on a flat surface or slide under your carpet.
This could easily save many people thousands of dollars in damage.
Beyond all that you have the ability to add float switches which can save you $100 to
$200 on a good auto top off.
And while I don't like relying solely on float switches for this because they have moving
parts that fail, coupled with the salinity probe it is a very safe solution.
Beyond all that the Apex is capable of controlling your LED lights like the popular Aqua Illumination
models, sunset and rise effects on your Kessil LED's, controlling ORP if you ever implement
ozone.
control your EcoTech VorTech pumps, add lunar lights to the tank, even operate an automatic
feeder.
At this point it should be pretty easy to see how a controller like this could not only
save you money in equipment purchases but even more valuable it can help you avoid all
the most common issues reefers encounter.
Anyone who has been in this hobby for more than a couple years will tell you that heater
failure isn't an IF it is just a matter of when.
It is hard to believe but our entire tank is resting solely on that ten cent piece of
metal functioning correctly.
And last but not least the Apex is capable of detecting yet another fairly common occurrence,
power outages.
Once it's detected, it can turn on essential equipment like a pump for gas exchange as
well as use web based services to notify you of the issue.
So checkout the comments below and share with other viewers some interesting things you
have done with your controller as well as ask the community any questions you might
have.
If this is your first time with us don't forget to subscribe because we do this every week.
Thank you for watching BRStv.