Looking for Controller advise

[rjdennis]

I will be setting up my 75g Aquarium in the next month I hope. I am still in the purchasing stage!!
I have everything needed to start my tank and get it up and cycling except a skimmer and my lighting.
My question is about controllers.
I would like my tank to be hands off as much as possible minus the required water changesand water testing, so I have been looking into getting a controller. That being said, what contoller should I go with, money not being an issue? I have looked at the Neptune Apex and The Digital Aquatics Reef Keepers but cant decide between the 2.
I will be purchasing AI Vegas for my lighting so they wont need to be ran off the controller since they have their own programming built in,
Basicaly I will need to control my 2 Koralia's and 2 heaters and an ATO.
I would like a contoller that has the capabilties to send messages to my phone and make adjusments as needed if thats even possible.

Thanks for the help

[AZDesertRat]

I on the other hand have been extremely pleased with my Reefkeeper Lite. It controls powerheads down to seconds if you choose that option, I switch powerheads every 30 seconds using Evolutions 1400's which had over 2.6 Million starts and stops on them before I replaced them a couple months ago after normal impeller wear was observed.

[pinhigh1886]

I have the APEX. It took a while to get it all working right and can be a little frustrating but I can now control it from my phone and IPAD. It send me (1) Email update daily and emails me if anything goes wrong. I am not sure you can do that with RKE and others? I control:

(2) Heaters
Hydor Smart Wave just for Feeding
BRS Dosers Alk - Cal
Main Return
Skimmer
Refugium Lighting
PH
TEMP

I also have AI Vega Lighting not plugged into APEX!

[Tom@HaslettMI]

I have a ReefKeeper Lite and like it. The controller is easy to program and do simple automation. It does not connect to the internet without the NET module, which I don't have. I think the Apex products will do internet stuff straight out of the box, but are more complicated to program. For me the price on the RKL was the deciding factor.

I currently run the following with the basic unit (four outlets):

Outlet 1: white LEDs
Outlet 2: empty
Outlet 3: 2 heaters
Outlet 4: Blue LEDs and cooling fans

Tom

[RedfordReefer]

I wish that these "reef controller" manufacturers would get on the PWM outputs. If any of them supported PWM, I'd be all over them.

For me, I built my own. But if I had to choose, I would pick up a neptune systems APEX. The complicated programming makes for a completely controllable environment. You can write scripts and such to truly automate the tank,

[RedfordReefer]

I despise the Arduino IDE. There are much better alternatives that run on much faster hardware for the same price. The Reef Angel is a 16Mhz processor. I use a 240mhz processor that multi-threads natively.

What I meant was the larger-name brands (Neptune systems, Digital Aquatics).

I need 16 pwm outputs at a minimum. Nothing "off-the-shelf" will accomplish what I want. It was easier for me to develop my own.

[SaltyDog]

I've been using a pca9685 i think for 16 channels run via i2c.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2

[binford4000]

Ok,without useing brand names or favorites I would recommend you first seriously consider what your long term goals are. If your looking at this 75 as test tank to see if you enjoy reef keeping but are open to or looking ahead to bigger and better tank then I would suggest the higher end controllers. So with that said you need to be honest and ask yourself "do I like programming" if the answer is yes then the reef angle or Apex is your choice. Both have Internet and phone controllability . Both have pretty much the ability to run yours and a couple neighbers tanks.If your not into programming and believe simplicity is the answer then go with the RKE i believe it comes with the Internet modular so you will be cool like most of us and have a panic attack every time you get a text away from home.lol if you plan to keep this tank for a very long time but like programming get the AC jr,if ya want simple get the RK lite. Controllers are nice tools but not a must honestly. I personally would recommend if your just starting get the reef keeper lite and use the extra money to upgrade the korila power heads to some vortech mp10's or 40's. the RK lite will monitor your Ph and control temp and if you have to have Internet they sell a simple plug and play module for a very fair price. Well that's my .02.