Anyone else see the large discounts on Neptune

[Rjmul]

I am all for the latest and greatest but the latest offerings from Neptune are way too much for what they do. I have an apex jr + 2 BRS dosers costing me less than the cost of one DOS and does basically the same thing. I don't see the need to daily monitor ALK and especially not CALC and MAG levels. Why would it change everyday anyway? For me all I need from Apex is temp control. I have remotely run my tank for up to 3 months with some WiFi plugs costing almost nothing.

I'm not a fan as I don't want all of my eggs in one basket, hanging on the hinge of one device that is way overcharged for what you get. I'm not even a software guy yet I can tell that stuff is wayyyy out dated. I have a quite a few stop gaps for errors that don't cost hundreds and up to thousands of dollars just to get my foot in the door. Inkbirds are
30-40 dollars. Kamoer x1s are 50 dollars. Christmas light timers are 5 dollars. My wife calling me if the tank makes a weird sound ? Priceless.

I mentioned people buy this stuff for clout and I'm only half joking. I like spyderco knives. Do I NEED a knife that can whittle brass with a Rockwell hardness of 65 for day to day ? Definitely not. Do I have one in my pocket ? Yes.
Think of all the trucks you see with snorkels, what percentage of those guys need that ?
It's your money. If it makes you happy then spend the money. Personally I've seen Neptune products taken apart, and they're junk

I don't even own a computer. If I bought an apex I'd end up throwing it out the window setting it up, let ALONE trouble shooting (when) something goes wrong. Neptune is not marketing for guys like me.

 

[mwil79]

I'm not a fan as I don't want all of my eggs in one basket, hanging on the hinge of one device that is way overcharged for what you get. I'm not even a software guy yet I can tell that stuff is wayyyy out dated. I have a quite a few stop gaps for errors that don't cost hundreds and up to thousands of dollars just to get my foot in the door. Inkbirds are
30-40 dollars. Kamoer x1s are 50 dollars. Christmas light timers are 5 dollars. My wife calling me if the tank makes a weird sound ? Priceless.

I mentioned people buy this stuff for clout and I'm only half joking. I like spyderco knives. Do I NEED a knife that can whittle brass with a Rockwell hardness of 65 for day to day ? Definitely not. Do I have one in my pocket ? Yes.
Think of all the trucks you see with snorkels, what percentage of those guys need that ?
It's your money. If it makes you happy then spend the money. Personally I've seen Neptune products taken apart, and they're junk

I don't even own a computer. If I bought an apex I'd end up throwing it out the window setting it up, let ALONE trouble shooting (when) something goes wrong. Neptune is not marketing for guys like me.

I still use am inkbird ontop of the apex temp sensor along with a heater that uses a a temp sensor. It's all for redundancy as we want to make sure that everything stays safe and while apex may not be for everyone it sure does offer peace of mind. Wife calling you? No need apex texts you to let you know when things go wrong. I have been running one for a good maybe 2 years with not a single issue. To each his own but it's not for clout it's for complete control of your system no matter where you are.

I have a fire alarm in my house that sends me a text if I'm not home to alert me if anything is detected, does that means it's for clout? Nope it's to keep my property and pets safe just like my expensive coral and fish in my tank.

 

[DEL]

I use my DOS to do an auto water chance 1g/day. set it and forget it. it's adds and removed a small amount every few minutes

 

[Rjmul]

I still use am inkbird ontop of the apex temp sensor along with a heater that uses a a temp sensor. It's all for redundancy as we want to make sure that everything stays safe and while apex may not be for everyone it sure does offer peace of mind. Wife calling you? No need apex texts you to let you know when things go wrong. I have been running one for a good maybe 2 years with not a single issue. To each his own but it's not for clout it's for complete control of your system no matter where you are.

I have a fire alarm in my house that sends me a text if I'm not home to alert me if anything is detected, does that means it's for clout? Nope it's to keep my property and pets safe just like my expensive coral and fish in my tank.

Not a personal attack. Just not my cup of tea. As long as your tanks happy

 

[horseplay]

Apex’s temp control has been rock solid from years of usage and multiple units. I have not yet find a Alexa compatible temp prob that can be used in salt water for long periods of time. Everything else can be replaced by smart plugs. And the smart plugs are actually mechanical relays so can be used with dosing pumps. I have never had a smart plug stuck on.

each to his own and just exchanging ideas, no offense. And I have bought expensive watches that do nothing more than a $20 Casio

 

[mwil79]

Wifi plug dosing alk. Dumped 250ml of alk in my tank in a day.

 

[horseplay]

did you find out how it happened?

 

[mwil79]

did you find out how it happened?

Plug turned on and internet went down briefly so the plug just stayed on. Ever since then when I use wifi plugs ( still use them on my 20g) I have a start and a stop along with a 2nd stop Failsafe about 5 minutes later just incase.

That is another plus of using an apex...if it loses connectivity it just goes by the schedule you already set and doesn't miss a beat. You get a text from neptune letting you know your apex lost its heart beat (internet connection).

It's a fantastic tool to have if you want control of what is going on in your tank. I know kamoer for instance I believe loses schedule when it loses power? I believe I recall reading that but could be wrong. Never have to deal with that on an apex. Once it's set you can just monitor and adjust as needed. If anything is off you are notified.

 

[MadReefer]

The Kamoer dose lose the schedule and you need to resync it.

 

[horseplay]

Plug turned on and internet went down briefly so the plug just stayed on. Ever since then when I use wifi plugs ( still use them on my 20g) I have a start and a stop along with a 2nd stop Failsafe about 5 minutes later just incase.

That is another plus of using an apex...if it loses connectivity it just goes by the schedule you already set and doesn't miss a beat. You get a text from neptune letting you know your apex lost its heart beat (internet connection).

It's a fantastic tool to have if you want control of what is going on in your tank. I know kamoer for instance I believe loses schedule when it loses power? I believe I recall reading that but could be wrong. Never have to deal with that on an apex. Once it's set you can just monitor and adjust as needed. If anything is off you are notified.

wow I have check this. I have most of my stuff controlled by wifi plugs. I know in Apex the control is handled locally. Wifi plugs all coming from the cloud?

 

[mwil79]

wow I have check this. I have most of my stuff controlled by wifi plugs. I know in Apex the control is handled locally. Wifi plugs all coming from the cloud?

Wifi plugs are handled by your app and or cloud and do not have internal memory to store the schedule you set. I tried finding one that did after I had this issue but was unable to find one. There may be one out there now but I have not researched since then.

 

[horseplay]

I have a kasa smart strip (has it's own app) and a few other no name plugs (using the smarthome app). Set the schedule to turn off both did. Off by about 15 seconds or so. I agree these plugs should be tested extensively under different scenarios before they can be trusted.

Years ago I had my apex turned on to do a few minutes of dosing and forgot to turn it off. Whole bottle of alk was dumped into the tank (there is a thread about that). So I end up setting up an alarm in Apex to if that plug has been running more than a set of amount of time.

 

[mwil79]

I have a kasa smart strip (has it's own app) and a few other no name plugs (using the smarthome app). Set the schedule to turn off both did. Off by about 15 seconds or so. I agree these plugs should be tested extensively under different scenarios before they can be trusted.

Years ago I had my apex turned on to do a few minutes of dosing and forgot to turn it off. Whole bottle of alk was dumped into the tank (there is a thread about that). So I end up setting up an alarm in Apex to if that plug has been running more than a set of amount of time.

You can set the apex to turn on for a few minutes or seconds then automatically turn off without any intervention at all.

 

[horseplay]

You can set the apex to turn on for a few minutes or seconds then automatically turn off without any intervention at all.

Yes. But I have it manually on (not auto mode) which overrides everything.

 

[eli smoke]

I’m don’t think I would run a tank with out an apex now, I’ve become addicted to it. It monitors for leaks, water levels, controls temp turns on and off my rodi. Works my lights colors and schedules. I open a cabinet door I have a light that turns on under there. The things you control and monitor are endless. Just yesterday I hooked up a button that when pushed turns off my return pump for ten minutes and my skimmer for 12 for a feed mode.

 

[Yates273]

I’m don’t think I would run a tank with out an apex now, I’ve become addicted to it. It monitors for leaks, water levels, controls temp turns on and off my rodi. Works my lights colors and schedules. I open a cabinet door I have a light that turns on under there. The things you control and monitor are endless. Just yesterday I hooked up a button that when pushed turns off my return pump for ten minutes and my skimmer for 12 for a feed mode.

I love that feature with the breakout box. I have a maintenance switch that kills everything when I’m working on tank a coral feed button and a fish feed button. So many possibilities to experiment with.