Apex killed sps on vacation

[Speed]

To the OP, very sorry for your loss. I can only imagine your frustration and disappointment.
Threads like this are the exact reason I looked past Apex when choosing a controller.

[dotcommer]

Sorry to hear about your loss. I have had problems with connecting to my APEX remotely at times, and I would just power it off and it was fine afterwards. Not sure if it is the APEX or my home network.
I was just on a cruise and I couldn't connect to one of my APEX units. However, before leaving town, I put all my tanks on wireless webcams, so I can check on things every day, especially when I can't connect to my APEX. Plus its nice to check in on things and to make sure your fish are swimming instead of floating. For $100 you can check in on your tank from anywhere in the world to make sure things are still working properly.

[clownfish06]

What wireless webcam system do you use?

[UTCReefer]

I just logged into my APEX, yup still working.

I also have a cam on my tank and I recommend having one too. Luckily my tank is at work so people can call me if things start looking weird when Im on vacation. I have yet to go on a single vacation where something doesnt act up. It will run on autopilot for months and months on end and then about 3 days into a vacation I get a panic call from a coworker.

[tkeracer619]

Dang, sucks. Sorry for your losses m8. I hope some of it pulls through.

[DasCamel]

Webcam is a must. Finding a friend to housesit, priceless.

[ReeferJohn408]

- Same thing happened to me this last christmas when we went for a mexican riviera cruise. It stopped sending me emails on Dec 24, FROZED.

Lights were ON / Heater didn't turn on at all / Temp was 72F.

SPS perished , ALGAE everywhere. HORROR.

oh well, leaving for another vacation next week, Caribbean this time. Hopefully, I don't encounter a sequel with my Apex.

[kevin_austin]

I'm sorry to hear that. If the heater is still working and it was the T5s that killed your SPS, I would suggest trying LEDs in your next build instead of T5s or MH. Mine throw off no noticeable heat and I can place them directly on top of the tank.

If it was the heat that killed your SPS (rather than too much light), then LEDs would have saved them.

[venomcc]

Interested to hear on neptune's response. I've had my unit for 3 years and never failed on me. What is the warranty period?

[miktrav2]

Why should he have to purchase new lights if he already has lights he likes? He paid over $500 for the Apex unit to prevent exactly the problem that it caused. It just seems like a waste to have to go ahead and purchase new lights and corals to fix a problem that could very likely happen again. What if his heater gets stuck in the on position next time or if it gets stuck with his top off in the on position? It just seems like Neptune should do something to compensate him. This thread has me rethinking the purchase of this controller.

Originally Posted by kevin_austin

I'm sorry to hear that. If the heater is still working and it was the T5s that killed your SPS, I would suggest trying LEDs in your next build instead of T5s or MH. Mine throw off no noticeable heat and I can place them directly on top of the tank.

If it was the heat that killed your SPS (rather than too much light), then LEDs would have saved them.

[jam583]

I am running an Apex and have this concern as well. I've setup a Panasonic Webcam ($80) and using some home automation to also monitor temp and email. You can get a setup from SmartHome with a wireless submersible thermostat (modified) for about $100. Using it on my 16G nano and building one for my big tank. I never would trust any technology, 100%.

[temple2101]

Very sorry to hear of this issue. What about plugging in our Apex or any controller for that matter to a Belkin WeMo outlet or similar? If configured properly, that would allow one to remotely power cycle the Apex and you could even schedule a power cycle each day if you really wanted as another safety.

Also, I use Monitor.us to monitor my Apex web address (DDNS). If the Apex becomes unreachable at any time I get an email. Saved me once already as the GFCI my tank is plugged into tripped and I got an email. Checked the tank and power was off. Since the Apex can't email us until it powers back on this was very helpful. The free version of Monitor.us checks every 30 minutes which is enough for me. I would assume if the Apex was froze that it would be unreachable as well and would have kicked off an email.

[zoomonster]

Sorry to hear about the disaster. Been there, done that for other reasons than Apex.

Speaking as a software developer of close to 30 years technology is no more fool proof than humans and Murphy's law will always rear its ugly head. I spent about 15yrs writing brokerage software including trading systems and even with pretty much a blank check for development, testing, QA, regulation compliance **** still happens occasionally whether unforeseen flaws in software or hardware glitches/failures. That risk rises exponentially with small limited market companies with limited staff and budgets. To put it in perspective I saw three people from Neptune at reef-a-palooza and they closed the office. The typical smartphone hardware/software is more advanced than Apex and I can't tell you how many times my Nokia 920 Windows phone locked up. Even my new Samsung Galaxy S5 is already having its moments.

On the other hand I was a fairly early adopter of Neptune with the Aquacontroller II Pro which I used for quite a few years w/o ever a fault though it was significantly less complex than the Apex of today. That was enough for me to spring for a new Apex gold + extras for my new build. I'll definitely keep an eye on mine... I suspect Apex was at some point pretty stable but the rush to get Fusion going resulted in some ill thought out firmware hacks (being Fusion seems to be an afterthought). I was going to do the open beta of Fusion but decided to wait because I can only assume the required firmware updates are also really beta.

[TRK]

Originally Posted by Hudzon

The problem is you ignored the fact that you could not reach the device and blamed it on the ships wifi. At the point you can not reach the device you contact someone else and ask them.

If you leave a reef tank without a backup to call in an emergency that is a risk you know you are taking.

Could you of had a power fluctuation of some kind that could of caused it?

Think the problem was if failing. There was no alert of the freeze and obviously a software hickup. There should have been no reason to have to check it assuming it was working as intended.

[Amoore311]

No solution is fool proof. Far from it. My Apex has faithfully kept my tanks A-Ok since I purchased it in 2009. Hell I haven't had to even change the temperature probe the entire time, still dead on accurate as the day it came out of the box.

That being said, very sorry for your loss just the same OP. This is the exact reason I have someone check on my house every other day or so when I am away.

Putting 100% trust in a $500 piece of equipment is not a smart thing to do IMO. Always have a back up plan, and sometimes a back up to that back up plan.

[EllisJuan]

Originally Posted by temple2101

Also, I use Monitor.us to monitor my Apex web address (DDNS). If the Apex becomes unreachable at any time I get an email. Saved me once already as the GFCI my tank is plugged into tripped and I got an email. Checked the tank and power was off. Since the Apex can't email us until it powers back on this was very helpful. The free version of Monitor.us checks every 30 minutes which is enough for me. I would assume if the Apex was froze that it would be unreachable as well and would have kicked off an email.

This is a REALLY good idea. I just set it up.

[tkeracer619]

My reef angel does the same thing. Its built into the android app. It will retry a few times and if it doesn't communicate it my phone will become rather annoying.

[hkgar]

Originally Posted by temple2101

lso, I use Monitor.us to monitor my Apex web address (DDNS). If the Apex becomes unreachable at any time I get an email. Saved me once already as the GFCI my tank is plugged into tripped and I got an email. Checked the tank and power was off. Since the Apex can't email us until it powers back on this was very helpful. The free version of Monitor.us checks every 30 minutes which is enough for me. I would assume if the Apex was froze that it would be unreachable as well and would have kicked off an email.

I use reeftronics.net. If they cannot communicate with my Apex for an hour they send me an email. I also like that they store my pertinent graphs and show results for the last 30 days.

[Decadence]

I don't know how a reefer can go on vacation for any length of time and feel anything but anxiety and stress. I have yet to find a place in the world more relaxing than the recliner facing my reef tank.

I'm using a Reefkeeper elite. None of my modules are up to date but that is because they are all working and I do not wish to update them as things can only get worse. I know the RKE is a rather dated controller but I look at it like I do my first cell phone. I could have put that thing in the microwave for thirty minutes and then made a call to anywhere. My iPhone is more likely to crash than it is to function correctly. My old Nokia also did not have the Facebook app.. but then again, Facebook didn't exist and I didn't have to worry about it always defaulting my news feed to "top stories".

The more advanced a piece of equipment gets, the more parts there are to fail.

[vitodog]

To the OP, did you ever contact Neptune Systems about the malfunction and if so, what was the outcome?

[Bigfish246]

Originally Posted by hkgar

Significant diference in hits
Neptune 1.1M
Apex 5.9M
Profilux

And how many Apex units are there compared to Piroux are there in circulation? You would have to do a percentage calculation to determine the final outcome.