Controllers

[alton]

Let me start by saying it doesn’t matter who makes it, but a controller is mandatory if you are going to keep a saltwater tank!

RKL cost $130 and controls your heater to a specified degree, we have all heard the horror stories of heaters getting stuck on (I had two) If your AC goes out in your home it shuts equipment down to help keep your tank from cooking. This weekend was a perfect example: I had already setup my tank for winter. Things like cutting back to one external fan, running my metal halide lamps two hours longer to help heat my home and keeping my aquarium above 74 degrees. And low and behold being out of town Saturday temperature gets up to 85 degrees +. And with my home AC being off my 300 got to 79 and controller shut off the MH fixtures keeping tank at 79.

If you want to get fancy you can dim LED, T5 (with the right ballast) you can get moon light lighting utilizing 28 days from new moon to full. You can also set up a feeding mode to where you can shut off pumps, feed and after a desired/set time everything comes back on so you don’t have to worry about leaving things off. You can use them for dosing, auto top off, and tie them into the almighty web so you can check on your tank from anywhere.

For me I just keep it simple for safety sake, but if you do not have one please save up and get one, sooner than later it will save your tank.

[Zack]

If you're going to invest in a controller, I'd recommend apex. Ive had a few da rkls go out on me in thr past three years and their customer service is shady at best.

[350gt]

Ive had the same RKE for a few years now with not one hiccup..

Might try apex next time around, just cause..

But yes, a controller is a must have....

[alton]

If you're going to invest in a controller, I'd recommend apex. Ive had a few da rkls go out on me in thr past three years and their customer service is shady at best.

That's why I like buying local, anything goes wrong I take it back to Louis. Except for a couple of used PC4's that I purchased from someone that went bad, I have been lucky. I have heard DA's customer service is not the greatest

[Dingo]

I also have a RKL and love it. I had a problem trying to maintain temps with a cheap thermometer. My heater also wasn't accurate and would would heat the tank 5 degrees one day and nothing the next. I now keep my tank within .5 degrees all day now. ATO is another feature that I use on mine as well as fan controls. I am slowly building another tank and am thinking of trying out the apex as well.

[SABOB]

Bought a RKL from Louis also, emailed DA a couple times with questions.Got response by email within 24 hours, no complaints from me


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[Big_Pun]

If you're going to invest in a controller, I'd recommend apex. Ive had a few da rkls go out on me in thr past three years and their customer service is shady at best.

every one of tanks has had a rkl or rke, not one problem. very easy to program, they came out with a application instruction manual that is a breeze. apex is great product but not very user friendly to program. ive called da directly during business hours and got help right away, emails answered quickly also. but hey no product is perfect things can go wrong.

[Zack]

It's a good product when it works, but more often than not, DA's CS is terrible. I've had two brand new units go out on me after about 8 months each. Both were used completely away from water and never handled the display with wet hands. Their customer service took two weeks to get back to me the first time, and a week and a half the second time, and both answers were they could sell me a new display for 90 dollars. The third unit I'm on is working fine, and it's nice, but I've heard many amazing things about Apex. The fact that apex includes internet connectivity right out of the box is pretty solid and there new package is pretty well priced.

DA= 120$ Base unit+ 115 for net module= 235

Apex= 220 Base unit, includes internet and display module

I've used DA on every tank build I've ever done, but I'm buying an Apex next month for my new tank.

Edit: I remember twice needing some basic CS questions answered by DA, and after phoning in and not getting a response, I sent an email to the hotline, and after a a few days I got a janky, short worded explanation that didn't answer my question, and when I inquired futher, I got no response. The second time was when I had to call about my 4th module not working correctly, and they said if it didn't clear there was nothing really I could do except send them the display so they could look at it. It would have been fine if they could just swap me out one, or if the controller could function without it, but it's not able to and they wouldn't compromise on any of that.

[Amuzed01]

I use the reef angel, and I really like it. If you can imagine it, you can make it do what you want. If you can't code it, there are a bunch of individuals on the forums that will write the code for you in a short period. CS is spot on. I had an issue with mine, Roberto (the owner) shipped me a new unit the next day.

The price is very nice as well...$269 for the controller, 8 ports, temp probe, Ph probe, ATO floats, and two dimmable ports for leds or other 5/10 volt toys.

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[Bill S]

I have an Apex. Have had it for many years. As I recall, their CS kinda sucks too. And the internet connectivity - when I tried it a couple of years ago - didn't work well at all.

[Big_Pun]

you really cant go wrong with any controller, apex,reef keeper, profiulux($$$) are all great. comes down to what you want to accomplish with it and budget, they all take some of the work and worries out reef keeping.

[ramsey]

I've been really happy with my Apex. They've been releasing new stuff for it like crazy so it's getting even better. They just released the leak detector stuff a few months ago, the autofeeder this week along with the AI wireless control module. Any day now, they're going to release a completely new interface for the controller that's cloud based. This means you'll be able to go to their site and control your Apex. It's supposedly going to offer wizards and make configuring it much easier. Oh yeah, they're also updating the WMX module to support wireless control for Radion lights (already controls vortech pumps). I'll be able to control practically everything in my tank on a crazy level (already do to an extent). Because of all this, I think it blows the RKE/RKL away. DA isn't keeping up. I'd get a DA controller if I found one really cheap and just needed a more flexible power strip. Honestly, if anyone's looking to buy a new controller, I'm not sure why DA would even be a consideration.

[ramsey]

I have an Apex. Have had it for many years. As I recall, their CS kinda sucks too. And the internet connectivity - when I tried it a couple of years ago - didn't work well at all.

Are you sure it wasn't just your home router? Mine works perfectly but I did have to setup port forwarding on my home router. Either way, it should be a moot point once Fusion rolls out.

[kkiel02]

Yeah I'm pumped to try out fusion. I had rrasco and Louis hook me up with the networking/coding of my apex. Thanks again guys!

[Zack]

Are you sure it wasn't just your home router? Mine works perfectly but I did have to setup port forwarding on my home router. Either way, it should be a moot point once Fusion rolls out.

Dude, I'm going to have to plug your brain in a bit for how to make the port forwarding work

[JerryD120]

Dude, I'm going to have to plug your brain in a bit for how to make the port forwarding work

+1... I never could get port forwarding to work for me either.


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[ramsey]

It varies from router to router but the premise is the same. You might be able to find info in the documentation for your router or by googling it. Since it's different for every router, I'd have to look at it or walk you through it.

[jrossjr79]

Some routers dont have port forwarding feature, or only available to your ISP. However, if you buy it directly from the store, or from another source that isnt related to your ISP, then you should have a function in your router to do so. Ramsey is right when it comes to it is different for every router though. :)