Reef Angel Forum

hello all, hopefully I'm posting this in the right section. I am in the process of researching controllers and trying to decide on which one to go with. So far, I've narrowed it down to RA and Apex. Other than price, why should I choose RA over Apex? There are some things that come basic with the RA that you'd have to purchase seperately with the Apex, like ATO, but what other reasons make the RA a better fit for my needs?

What I would like to do with my controller:
1. Continuous monitoring of pH, temperature, and salinity. (Possibly Orp in the future but not necessary)
2. Controlling my DIY LED light fixture. I currently use a Typhoon controller from BoostLED.
3. Ability to have my Vortech MP40 change to different modes throughout the day and night.
4. Control my heater (obviously)
5. ATO
6. Wifi (so far RA is the only controller with this capability but I think Apex is debuing this capability at MACNA)
7. Control the skimmer, powerheads, and return pump for "feed mode"
8. Possibly leak detection
9. Dosing in the future (I'm leaning more towards Kalk than a Ca reactor)

Both will do the job. My question for you is that is what you would like to do now... what would you like to do in the future? The RA is C++ based programming and you have the capability (not sure if you have the programming know-how yet..) to do anything you can think of whereas the APEX you are constrained by their programming language.

The RA is open source and you can see how it works inside if you can read some C programming and you can tweak things to meet your nees that the APEX may not. For instance, the APEX can control Jaebo pumps, but they can only ramp the speed, and the wave form is still maintained by the controller on the Jaebo pump. Basically a glorified variable power supply. On the other hand, the RA can allow you to create a unique wave pattern and do all kinds of interesting things.

I'm using Vortech's and I still use the RA wave forms now to do a monthly tidal simulation (ie. stronger tide pattern during full moon and new moon weaker during quarter moon) and I also switch the "sync" channel during the day two simulate ebb / flow of the tide. Try doing that with the APEX.

One thing I would point out beyond complex programming is the leak detector. The RA has a robe based leak detector whereas the APEX uses indidivual sensors. Personally I would go with the rope design

I also like the ingenuity and creativity that Roberto and the Open Source community bring to the table. At one point someone on here asked for a humidity sensor. You will now find that in the store. Currently on Manhattan Reefs there's a whole thread about too much humidity in people's basement causing mold... imagine your RA now controlling an exhaust fan if the humidity goes too high.. applies to a stand as well if you keep electronics in there..

A few other things that I don't see APEX having is the Water Level sensor and coming soon the multi channel water level sensor. Imagine being able to know EXACTLY how much water is in your ATO reservoir. How full your skimmer cup is, your sump, DT, and overflow box.... you get the idea

As far as dosing. The RA can be a basic doser just like an APEX... but I've taken it a step further and written code to program RA to dose by volume and also to calibrate my dosing pumps so that I know it's dosign accurately. It can also log for me how much it has dosed and I can keep track the the dosing pumps are on for the duration that I programmed. Try doing that with a Bubble Magus...

There's so many things that you can do with RA and this forum is full of great resources. We may not have all the fancy tools and the big name that Neptune has, but that doesn't mean we're not as good. Hope this has helped.

It has helped tremendously! The thought of the sky being the limit as what my controller can do is great... that and not paying for a name and a big screen. As far as what I want it to do right now, all but the dosing and leak detection for now. I plan on buying the main controller and then as I go start adding the accessories. The exhaust fan is a great idea, but would it also work with a dehumidifier?

I do have to admit that the coding scares me a little. How complicated is it? And how hard is it to learn?

The coding is intimidating, but there are plenty of people on here to help and plenty of examples to look at and modify.

With the help of the people here I was able to set up my de nitrfication chamber.

It turns on a pump in my sump for 25 min to exchange the old water with the new and then when that is done a dosing pump runs for about 20 min to dose the Nitragone liquid into the chamber.

This happens 4 times a day right now and is controlled by a digital sprinkler timer.

We took it once step further and had the controller disable the ATO, so when the water exchange is going on and the level in the sump drops, the ATO does not sart adding water to the sump.

I've seen people set up coding to do and completely automated water change.

Don't let the coding scare you. There is a simple to use wizard that you can go through to get you started and then you can modify it from there.

I would say that if you can think it up, someone will help you figure out how to do it.

The screen on the RA is a little small, but it can be pretty much controlled by and I-Phone, Andriod or I think even a Windows 7 or 8 app.

Some people have even taken and 7" Andriod tablet and set it up to be the controller for the system.

That would be cool. I know a lot of home automation products use an iPad as the controller.

Wizard is key. Download the software. Run the wizard. Look at the output code.

If you can follow it then your golden. Think of all the sites out there that have c/c++/arduino reference and then think about all the sites you can go learn about apex programming...

Definitely try out the wizard. You'll see you can code all the things you want to do right off the bat. And you'll be ready to go when your controller comes in.

Then you'll start with the dreaming and asking us how to do x before y and z 3 times the w...

I think that's what has me sold on this controller versus the Apex, if I can dream it, it most likely can be done. Thanks for all the help. I'm sure you'll hear from me soon on the "how can I" questions!