Do any of you have more than one Apex running at once?... (1 Viewer)

[capman]

... and if so, or even if you don't, do you know whether you can bring up data for two different Apex units on the same web page at the same time via Fusion?

If not, then I wonder whether a better way to monitor two systems at once would be to get a long Aquabus cable (apparently you can go as far as 200 feet with these cables) and extra hardware for the second system.

A support guy at Neptune was telling me how this would be done. I'm forgetting what all the pieces of hardware would be, but I guess it would be another power bar thing, and some sort of module to allow a second set of probes (pH and temperature) to be plugged in). The cost would be about $300, getting darn close to the cost of a second Apex. But if it would facilitate easier monitoring of two systems at once maybe it would be a good idea?

Thoughts?

 

[Riley]

That sounds correct, and is how a representative explained it to me as well. You will need a power bar and modules for what you'd want to monitor/control. Depending on how many things you want to control, you may be able so save some money and get the power bar 4 instead of the 8. I am under the impression that it can either be setup as one system or on separate systems on the web page.

Here's one place to get long apex cables:
http://www.usbfirewire.com/parts/rr-apex-xxg.html

I don't currently do this, but I will be very shortly. I have the main apex upstairs to monitor/control a 180, but will be adding a second power bar to control topoff pumps and a mixing station located below in the basement, as well as adding a leak detector module.

I'm sure someone actually doing this will chime in.

 

[marty9876]

I've got multiple powerbars and modules on one apex. Jonty has likely the most complex apex setup around but he's been pretty quiet lately.

Big difference between the powerbars 4 and 8 models is the mechanical vs. electrical relay outlets. Must use mechanical relays on really low wattage components- dosing pumps or ATO pumps and alike. Things under 5 watts or so need to be on mechanical. 8 powerbars only has 2 mechanical, the 4 powerbars has all 4 as mechanical.

Regarding modules it's really just places to plug in probes. Need more than one temp probe, need another module. Need more than one pH probe, need another module (those two happen to come as in the same module). Breakout box is for float switched and alike, all the modules serve their purpose.

Regarding USB cable, any A-A (I think) USB cable will work. I've got one I made out of networking cable going half way across my house.

Using more than one Apex base stations (brains when you originally buy it) would likely be more difficult than it's worth. Certainly figure out how to run dual power sources to be, with one on a small UPS which emails or txt you when the powerbars loose power, but running two for 'high availability' reasons isn't something an Apex system does. If you had two brains I'm pretty sure your have two completely separate systems, two Fusion webpages and such. You can run many systems off one Apex brain unit.

 

[Jonty]

I run three tanks on one Apex, I have them connected via 30 ft Aquabus cables ( got to apex forum to get source) that goes to a module and the daisy chains off. I have never been successful having two controllers on one bus. that said I have 8 powerbars 10 different probes 4 wireless lighting modules running 12 hydra 52's 3 different vortec modules driving 8 vortech pumps. If you look on my fusion pay you can see what I have up there for each tank.

 

[infinityends]

I have an apex for my Reef and one on my FOWLR.

To avoid the necessity of ethernet cable running everywhere I use TP-Link wireless adapters - Technically a travel router, i just put them into wifi adapter mode.
TP-LINK TL-WR702N Wireless N150 Travel Router, Nano Size, Router/AP/Client/Bridge/Repeater Modes, 150Mbps, USB...

IMPORTANT NOTE: it is still necessary to directly connect ethernet when updating the firmware, almost bricked an apex attempting to use the wireless once.

Fusion will allow multiple apex's on a single fusion account.

I did open up port forwarding to the apex's on separate firewall ports. This would be done on the router or modem, depending on your setup.
But I can't remember for sure now, I don't think that was necessary for fusion. I think it was just to allow direct access to the built in web interface from outside my home. But it is an easy thing to do either way.

Happy to help if needed

 

[infinityends]

As others have pointed out you can very easily run 2 tanks off of a single apex.

Advantages to running 2 tanks from 1 Apex
- Cost Savings
- Less extra network setup
- Everything at a glance (not the 2 apex systems on fusion are hard to switch between)

If you are able to hide the cable so it doesn't look bad running everywhere, as well as keeping it from getting snagged and disconnected. This is the route most of us would probably choose to go.

The main reason I have 2, is because I won one a a raffle.

Advantages to having separate units are:
- Redundancy, 1 controller is not a single point of failure for multiple tanks.
- Segregation, you can not accidentally scroll down and turn on/off the wrong piece of equipment on the other tank.
- Less piecemeal, to monitor ph, control variable pumps/lighting you would need to buy the additional modules for the other tank, might almost equal out to the cost of the apex in the first place depending what you want to monitor and control.

 

[Nickz]

Jonty, I would love to be able to see what you have going on with your apex since I am planning on doing similar when the cash shortly. Could I get view access please?

 

[marty9876]

Don't forget that controller failure is mostly mitigated with proper use of fallback configuration option on the outlets

 

[Pumbooris]

Don't forget that controller failure is mostly mitigated with proper use of fallback configuration option on the outlets

Also power surges have been known to kill controllers

 

[capman]

Lots of information here to process.

The cost of the extra stuff needed to monitor pH and temperature on a second system using just one Apex seems to be in the neighborhood of $300. Kind of close to the cost of a full Apex, and right in the ballpark for an Apex Junior if I recall.

The guy at Neptune seemed to think it made more sense to just get a second Apex (which would give a backup in case one broke down, for example), but if two Apex units can't display on the same Fusion page at once then I can see a possible advantage to running the two systems off of just one Apex. I didn't think to ask about this.

Most of the responses above don't actually address this (though they are very useful, helpful responses otherwise), but it sounds like with two Apex units one would have to switch between the two rather than displaying everything on the same page.

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I just got an Apex the other day. Our IT people have it at the moment to get things up on the college's network (and they have the AquaController III Pro too to try to troubleshoot why I'm having connection problems with it). If they can get the AquaController III to be reliably accessible over the web, then maybe I'm fine and I don't have to worry about the one vs. two Apex question, since I simply won't be buying anything new.

Regardless of all this, I see I have a fair bit of reading to do to figure out the ins and outs of the Apex (well, I guess I need to sit down and read the users manual at least). It seems a bit more complex maybe than the older units I have used (I used an original AquaController for many years, and then this AquaController III). It looks like the programming language has maybe changed too (I don't imagine it is complicated to learn, but the programs I've seen people post look different).

Even without using it yet, I'm impressed by some of the improvements. For example, the power cords on the older models were not very good, secure connections. The connections with the Apex seem much more solid.

 

[infinityends]

If two Apex units can't display on the same Fusion page at once then I can see a possible advantage to running the two systems off of just one Apex. I didn't think to ask about this.

Most of the responses above don't actually address this (though they are very useful, helpful responses otherwise), but it sounds like with two Apex units one would have to switch between the two rather than displaying everything on the same page.

Guess I'm not 100% sure what you are looking for exactly.

You can tie both apex units to a single fusion account

Then you select an apex, and can view its details.

Were you looking for it to show you both of the units at once? Not a way to do that without just using 2 browser windows to my knowledge. Makes sense that they would be segregated to me. Plus that would be a ton of information to try and display on a single page.

 

[capman]

Thanks, this is very useful.

Yes, I was wondering whether it was possible to bring up a snapshot of both systems (monitored by two separate Apex units) at once on one page. That way if I were to have two Aped units I could, perhaps, have that page come up by default each time I open up a browser and quickly and easily see what is going on without having to actively do too many clicks each day.

If I could simply have each sitting in separate adjacent tabs in my browser that would be about as convenient though too.

And maybe what I would really need to do is to just set up alarms notifications.