Starting Over - Low Tech or Spring For a New Controller?

[Grumblecakes]

So I went home for Christmas and my reef keeper decided to stop working, wouldn't read the temp or the water level. So the Heater and ATO never came on. I had turned my apartment heat down to 60. I came home to the smell of death, my tank was 60 degrees and missing 5 gallons of water. Lost all of my livestock, even macro algae.

 

So I cleaned and cooked my rock for a few months while i was in the hospital for 28 and recovering for the next 28 or so. Got new live stock and going to do a softies tank this time. Got the reefkeeper all setup and some livestock. Guess what the reefkeeper started crashing on its own. Tank got down to 70 but thankfully nothing died. I decided not to trust it with anything but the lights. I add water on my own and the heater is plugged into the wall. I have 2 thermometers to check.

 

Should I just got low tech or save my pennies and buy an apex? I dumped atleast 750 into the reefkeeper and am ready to give up on it. But 550 for the base model is alot to spend. Low tech doesnt seem to bad. I might be able to sell some of the modules and get some of that back.

[Ryan_E]

I would say it depends on what you are wanting to keep in the tank and how much value you place on your time and effort. If your livestock costs approach near the cost of a controller, buy a controller. Not only would it essentially pay for itself/the cost to replace all the livestock in the event of another crash, but it would also save you the heartache of starting over again.

 

I personally do not own a controller. If something went wrong and everything died, the initial cost of my livestock and the cost to replace would still be less than a controller like the Apex. Would it make me consider quitting the hobby because it sucks to watch all of your animals die? Yeah, probably.

[Exodus]

Either go low Tech or go with Apex. The ATO is certainly something I don't trust with any controller whatsoever, so just use something like an AutoTopOff.Com dual switch,but the nice thing about Apex is that no matter where you go you can see the status via the app on your phone, tap on the widget on the front screen if there is an issue you will know, or better yet get alerts. (Not just Issues with your tank but the Controller itself)

[Matteo]

You could always go Reef Angel. I love mine!

[Halo_003]

Alex or bust.

[Cencalfishguy56]

So I went home for Christmas and my reef keeper decided to stop working, wouldn't read the temp or the water level. So the Heater and ATO never came on. I had turned my apartment heat down to 60. I came home to the smell of death, my tank was 60 degrees and missing 5 gallons of water. Lost all of my livestock, even macro algae.

 

So I cleaned and cooked my rock for a few months while i was in the hospital for 28 and recovering for the next 28 or so. Got new live stock and going to do a softies tank this time. Got the reefkeeper all setup and some livestock. Guess what the reefkeeper started crashing on its own. Tank got down to 70 but thankfully nothing died. I decided not to trust it with anything but the lights. I add water on my own and the heater is plugged into the wall. I have 2 thermometers to check.

 

Should I just got low tech or save my pennies and buy an apex? I dumped atleast 750 into the reefkeeper and am ready to give up on it. But 550 for the base model is alot to spend. Low tech doesnt seem to bad. I might be able to sell some of the modules and get some of that back.

low tech, save your money for real goodies to stock the tank, get a temp controller and reliable ATO and bam done

[CronicReefer]

Less components to your system equals less potential failures. I don't see any benefits of having a $500+ controller for basically a timer, and a fancy graph on your computer. Most light systems, ATO, and heaters have there own controllers so why have a second one?

[markalot]

APEX.

 

Do you plan to have a reef for the long term and slowly upgrade, or might you have to take a break for life, job, school, etc?

 

If no break I think the Apex is a good investment, but then mine has never failed. It controls both my tanks and I could not live without it.

[Clown79]

First, I hope all is well with your health:)

 

Low tech. For me its better but it really depends on the person and if they can do everything manually. Some ppls lives are pretty hectic and equipment is a necessary aspect to make it a easier.

 

I myself have never had all the gadgets and it makes my life easier. I don't have to rely on equipment which can fail. If I fail its a screw up I did but I'd be royally peeved to pay $$$ for equipment that failed me. Peeved is putting it nicely.