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Reef Keeper by Digital Aquatics
- Thread starter SamK
- Start date
i have 2 RK lites. love them.
I also use a RK lite and love it. One of my best purchases I made for my tank.
I owned a RKL and when it worked and was finally set up it worked very well.
I too like Bob am switching to the apex, from my understanding their support is a lot better and it performs better overall.
I still have an extra PC4 if you want it or Flare if you want to sell me one of your headunits
I too like Bob am switching to the apex, from my understanding their support is a lot better and it performs better overall.
I still have an extra PC4 if you want it or Flare if you want to sell me one of your headunits
ive heard the apex is good but havnt experienced it myself. i have no issues to report about the reef keeper. ive had one for a few years and a few months ago i purchased another one new. you can tell a difference in the LEDs they used years ago compared to the brighter ones now. the set up is alittle different too, but still easy enough to follow.
We can work something out, let me know how much you want it for or the other way around 
I owned a RKL and when it worked and was finally set up it worked very well.
I too like Bob am switching to the apex, from my understanding their support is a lot better and it performs better overall.
I still have an extra PC4 if you want it or Flare if you want to sell me one of your headunits
I love all 3 of my RKL's, I have one on each tank!
I do need to get another PC4 for my 40B.
I do need to get another PC4 for my 40B.
Well, maybe I'm nuts (or just a glutton for punishment) but for my first "controller" I just ordered a Reef Angel, which is an open source controller. It comes with some basic pre-installed programming, but since it's open source, you can edit the coding and customize it to do whatever you want!
At first I wondered if it was worth the effort to figure the extra steps out, but in the end I decided it's worth it if I can make it control whatever I want, in any way I want. I've asked several questions on their forums before making the decision and I got speedy answers by other users as well as the owner (Roberto). Sometimes, I would get replies to one question while I was asking another... so getting the info I need doesn't seem like it will be a problem.
Anyway, if you're looking at the RKL, then consider looking at this thing as another option. Price-wise it's very comparable and in the end you can expand it to do even more than the top of the line Apex controllers do now. They even have people developing apps for your Iphone or Android phone to not only get status updates but also the ability to control things remotely (requires the WiFi attachment).
I just ordered it yesterday but there's a 2-week delay with backorders... but when it arrives I'll probably make a nice post about my setup experience.
One other note... I was looking at the RKL's also, but my original purpose for getting a controller was because I'm upgrading to LED lights. I decided on the Apollo Reef LED's and they require a separate controller for their new dimmable units because they don't have one yet. They designed them to work with Apex or Profilux. The reason they did not include Reef Keepers is because people were having issues with RK's and dimmable drivers. Just thought I'd mention that in case you planned to use them for LED dimming.
At first I wondered if it was worth the effort to figure the extra steps out, but in the end I decided it's worth it if I can make it control whatever I want, in any way I want. I've asked several questions on their forums before making the decision and I got speedy answers by other users as well as the owner (Roberto). Sometimes, I would get replies to one question while I was asking another... so getting the info I need doesn't seem like it will be a problem.
Anyway, if you're looking at the RKL, then consider looking at this thing as another option. Price-wise it's very comparable and in the end you can expand it to do even more than the top of the line Apex controllers do now. They even have people developing apps for your Iphone or Android phone to not only get status updates but also the ability to control things remotely (requires the WiFi attachment).
I just ordered it yesterday but there's a 2-week delay with backorders... but when it arrives I'll probably make a nice post about my setup experience.
One other note... I was looking at the RKL's also, but my original purpose for getting a controller was because I'm upgrading to LED lights. I decided on the Apollo Reef LED's and they require a separate controller for their new dimmable units because they don't have one yet. They designed them to work with Apex or Profilux. The reason they did not include Reef Keepers is because people were having issues with RK's and dimmable drivers. Just thought I'd mention that in case you planned to use them for LED dimming.
IMHO any controller which you learn how to really use is worth it. I honestly wouldn't be keeping a reef tank without one as it saves me from having to do my major maintenance work. I use it to run the pumps, lights, do my water changes, top off my ATO Top off, run my mixing station, run Kalk into my ATO, plus all the monitoring to let me know when something isn't right.
I went with the APEX as like others said I saw better customer service and support on forums for the APEX, I have a friend who is on the RKL and loves his as well.
I went with the APEX as like others said I saw better customer service and support on forums for the APEX, I have a friend who is on the RKL and loves his as well.
I would not run a tank without one. I do have the RKE. It suits my purpose, I may have gotten another brand had I known what I know now, but the RKE is fine for what I use it for. Some have had problems with theirs, but I just set mine up and haven't really touched it since like late 2008 I am actually running with outdated programming. I will be updating the software very soon, I waited for them to work out the bugs
I have RKL for 2+ years. It's cheap and works fine. The only issue - initially I've purchased salinity probe with it. It went bad in several months. DA promiced to replace, but they still 'working on new model' so it's not clear if they will ever get it done and will replace as promiced.
theyve since updated their temp probe too from the older model. my only issue is that it seems to float which can easily be fixed with zipties.