mling May 15, 2014 Share May 15, 2014 So I fried my 16G nano with a heater as a result of a power failure, etc.... long story... Tank temp was about 97 when I got home, had a dead lobster and my pair of clowns were lying on their sides, all BTAs were dead. Thankfully, when I transferred the two clowns (had for 10years) to my aggressive tank, they recovered. Oh, I could do that since that aggressive tank is no longer aggressive since the Lion died earlier this week and the eel when carpet surfing the day after the lion died. Maybe the eel when to look for the Lion, guess he ended up finding it on the other side of the rainbow bridge. Yes, it has not been a good "fish" week, ran out of burial spots in my back yard fish cemetery. So I do have a 55 and a 156 left. I have finally decided to invest in a controller that would have warned me about the raising temp while I was at work. I have the general idea on what a controller does and how an initial investment of about $200 can turn into $2000 or more. Is it possible to get one controller that can control both on my tanks at simultaneously ? They are next to each other. Appreciate all the controller advice I can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion May 15, 2014 Share May 15, 2014 Sure can with an Apex System, a PM1 Module, and dedicated Energy Bars for each tank. The PM1 module allows for an additional temperature probe and pH probe. Keep in mind the probes are sold separately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob A May 15, 2014 Share May 15, 2014 (edited) I did just what Orion said. Edited May 15, 2014 by Rob A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme May 15, 2014 Share May 15, 2014 Sorry to hear about your bad week, Mike! I'll keep terms generic and simple as all of the big 3 controllers can do this. Like what's said, you just need 2 of all devices that monitor the tank like temperature, ph, etc...Some brands can monitor more than others so its up to you to decide. Then you'll need enough "outlets", which are called different things depending on the brand, that the controller can turn on or off. Think of a controller as a bunch of "if" and "then". If temperature is 77 or below, then turn on heater. If your ph is above X, then turn off doser. If your water line is below this, then turn on ATO, etc...Then besides that, it's a very expensive timer where you can control on/off of your lights or dosers. Then slightly more complex is if you want to do LED dimming of either lights or power heads/pumps....Again...capability of controllers vary and depends on what you want it to do and your own capabilities in setting it up. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling May 15, 2014 Author Share May 15, 2014 Which controller is most common in WAMAS, Apex ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech May 15, 2014 Share May 15, 2014 Before doing this, I would take a close look at what you need to tie them together for. By the time you buy a second EB8 and a PM1, you are pretty close to an apex jr in cost to just put one on each tank. The Apex fusion interface is very friendly for multiple controllers. On the home page it will list all of your controllers and you just pick which one you want to view. So, unless you need to control something on one tank based on something on the other tank, or they are close enough together that you are going to plug things from both into the same EB8, setting this up may be more trouble than its worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime May 16, 2014 Share May 16, 2014 I run two tanks one room, one apex However, both of my tanks are plumbed together, not separate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icsparks May 17, 2014 Share May 17, 2014 All I can say it that my Apex has saved me a few times in the past 4 weeks and is well worth the extra money compared to what home damage and livestock I could have lost. If you count the replacement amount in livestock alone for each tank it may scare you. I have almost enough livestock in my 20 Gal to pay for the Apex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling July 22, 2014 Author Share July 22, 2014 Sure can with an Apex System, a PM1 Module, and dedicated Energy Bars for each tank. The PM1 module allows for an additional temperature probe and pH probe. Keep in mind the probes are sold separately. How far apart can the tanks be to make use of multiple PM1 modules ? Are there WIFI probes ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion July 22, 2014 Share July 22, 2014 How far apart can the tanks be to make use of multiple PM1 modules ? Are there WIFI probes ? I think the longest Aquabus cable Neptune makes is 20ft long. I am sure they also sell male/female adapters to extend the length. Would have to check with them though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apcoleman July 22, 2014 Share July 22, 2014 Steve over at QR told me about this site if you need a long cable for the apex. They even call it the apex cable. Its what they are using in the shop and I will be getting one as well http://www.usbfirewire.com/cgi-bin/site/user.cgi/productsearch/results?term=apex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef July 22, 2014 Share July 22, 2014 i use one apex, 2 tanks. not plumbed together...its easy to keep it all in one place and when I am travelling to be able to just check both tanks with one fast scroll down the app is priceless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling July 23, 2014 Author Share July 23, 2014 Apex does not have a built in WIFi. What do others with an Apex for internet connections if your router is not anywhere near your fish tanks. Is there a rival brand controller that does have Wifi ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnevo July 23, 2014 Share July 23, 2014 Check out ReefAngel. Let me know if you have questions. The RA is the only one with wifi although its an option. There is also a preview of a new wireless addon using zigbee protocols that can connect to remote relay boxes and more in the works. It will come out just below the cost of the apex but can easily do what you need. The stock unit has up to 3 temp probes, ph, two dimming ports, two input/output ports, 8 relays and the head unit with display. Oh and 2 float switches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad908 July 23, 2014 Share July 23, 2014 Steve over at QR told me about this site if you need a long cable for the apex. They even call it the apex cable. Its what they are using in the shop and I will be getting one as well http://www.usbfirewire.com/cgi-bin/site/user.cgi/productsearch/results?term=apex Monoprice is the place to go for cables http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030312&p_id=7533&seq=1&format=2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling July 23, 2014 Author Share July 23, 2014 If I just want to monitor the temp on 3 tanks, I assume a Apex jr would do that if I also buy 2 additional temp probes, correct ? How many other probes can I add to the Apex Jr after that ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy G July 23, 2014 Share July 23, 2014 Monoprice is the place to go for cables http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030312&p_id=7533&seq=1&format=2 I thought you could not use one with a repeater. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now