Apex vs Apex PRo and a light question. (4 Viewers)

[guy9smiley2]

I am finally getting my 120 fatboy back up and running after only running a biocube fo the last 10 years while i remodeled and took a little break. A LOT has changed so bear with me if my questions seem a little basic.

Controller - ive always ran a RKL. had a temp probe, controlled 2 lights, and ato pump. i want to upgrade to this century and get an apex. The apex Pro is on sale for $750 right now. is it worth it to get the PRO? will it be too complicated to set things up with having somany different things or should i just get the apex model. I see the pro can have a salinity monitor which would be nice to not manually check ( all the time ) obv still would often.
So to sum up my quesiton which would work "better" for me. i only "need" to have 8 outlets, control lights, temp, and wifi. anything else is a bonus. is it worth the extra $120 for just a salinity probe as im not dosing etc. or are there other benfits im missing? will be mainly softy and fish tank.

lighting. i still have my tek 8 bulb light. obv need new bulbs at $24 a piece. is it worth the $200 to repalce the bulbs and keep rocking or should i look into led setups. i know very little about led reef lights so when i try to search its a little confusing whats good etc. assuming id need 2 for a 4' tank but no idea what to even look into or do they have to have parameters set etc?

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[spsick]

The Pro has a lot of bells and whistles for more complicated setups. Flow monitors, depth monitors, etc and stuff I’ll never use. That said, at $100 more than the base model, it has that stuff for later if you want it and would cost way more to add those modules after the fact on the base model.

For your Tek light, rock it! Those things are tried and true. Upgrade later if you want to LED once you have a better idea of what you want. You’re not going to light a 120 very well for under $750 or so with LED even if you go with a few Quanta or Orphek strips.

ATI T5 bulbs ALWAYS go on sale for Black Friday (only that day) so you can save a few bucks a bulb. Otherwise Coralvue is doing a close out on Giesemann bulbs which is an incredible deal.

Giesemann PowerChrome T5 Bulbs - Mix and Match 10 Pack (CLOSEOUT)

Mix and match your favorite Giesemann PowerChrome T5 Bulbs.

store.coralvue.com

 

[guy9smiley2]

The Pro has a lot of bells and whistles for more complicated setups. Flow monitors, depth monitors, etc and stuff I’ll never use. That said, at $100 more than the base model, it has that stuff for later if you want it and would cost way more to add those modules after the fact on the base model.

For your Tek light, rock it! Those things are tried and true. Upgrade later if you want to LED once you have a better idea of what you want. You’re not going to light a 120 very well for under $750 or so with LED even if you go with a few Quanta or Orphek strips.

ATI T5 bulbs ALWAYS go on sale for Black Friday (only that day) so you can save a few bucks a bulb. Otherwise Coralvue is doing a close out on Giesemann bulbs which is an incredible deal.

Giesemann PowerChrome T5 Bulbs - Mix and Match 10 Pack (CLOSEOUT)

Mix and match your favorite Giesemann PowerChrome T5 Bulbs.

store.coralvue.com

Nice to see a familiar old name on here! Very good point that for the small amount of money it can always be something i might use later. and ill order all my bulbs black friday then! I've always used ati so i think im going to just re order my original colors and rock those to keep it simple!

Appreciate your time. This helped a ton!!

 

[asifiqbal2]

I would go with the pro, you can add all the bells and whistles to the base model later but for a lot higher cost.

The main functionality that was a deal breaker for me was having 0-10v control. Used to be standard on the classic model (A1) but not anymore. I use that to control my return pump for feed mode etc.

 

[Jposch]

Probably stick with the t5. The only actually good, and affordable option would be if @Nick still has the barely used Reefi lights for sale. One of the best dollar per watt/PAR lights that dont crap out like black boxes do, and you could save a few bucks getting them hardly used. They do actually run 300 watts, and are designed ro handle running at full power, all channels longterm, if desired. The only gripe I have with mine is the light's small size. It has the power to light a tank for sps upto 36x36 footprint, but the beam angle feom such a small light source can give some shadowing. The color blending is fantastic. I've only ever seen t5 beat the color blending. No "disco ball" effect whatsoever.