DA or Neptune monitoring system

[jaynigz]

Hey guys,

Definitely need an opinion for those who have the DA module or Neptune Apex

What do you guys like about the system? I'm going back and forth on which one to get.

Considering the cost, I don't want to make a decision I'll regret later down the road.

Thanks for your inputs!

FYI, I'm looking at the Neptune Standard for 499 and the DA Lite with Net/Digi for 369.99

It's for a 90 gallon tank.

[ReachTheSky]

There are lots of threads regarding the Apex vs. ReefKeeper. The Apex seems to come out on top on just about every single one of them. I personally do not own a ReefKeeper but my Apex has made me a very happy user.

One of the most prominent is this:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2029200

[asgrande]

I have a rkl. So far its worked great. I like the user friendlyness. But overall I think you can do more on an apex. Granted its a little harder to program.

[PrangeWay]

I think Apex is the favorite right now and has much better development and support. Depending on what you want you probably don't need the full version, can go with the Lite and save some cash for that tank size (assuming you aren't going to run a calc reactor).

I personally use an RKE, but I use balling for calc/alk/mag so I don't need alot of the features that currently don't work right with the DA controller (the SL-2 module), and I bought mine when they first came out when Neptune was still gouging us on price (they don't anymore, yeah competition).


PW

[garydan]

Go on the support forums and read about the problems. The DA support forum summary:

1)when will they fix the salinity pobe module (it's been like 3 years)
2)programming timers (on a power loss they can skip a whole day, if you mess up a calculation, they likely won't do anything at all)
3)bus communication problems, if you have halides, the RF interference can cause the bus to fail. when the bus fails, all hell breaks loose
4)alarms, if you get an alarm for something, like ph, you won't just get one email, you'll probably get hundreds
5)updates, it's been over a year since the last software update. They claim they've been working on the salinity probe and "other projects"
7) the two plugs on the pc4 which will continue to give power to low current devices (don't put an ato pump on plugs 2 or 3, it'll flood your house)..
8) sl1 ph probes aren't isolated, can't have 2 on the same system reliably


I'm personally bumping into limits of the programming. They have this concept of "alarm", and when an alarm fires you can have something turn on or off, but no both. So if you want your lights to turn off if it gets too hot, you can't have them turn on if it gets too cold (just as an example). I picked up an sw5 to do some override switches, but can't do what I really want with them.

Overall I'm mostly happy with my RKE, but it's not trouble free or perfect, just OK.

[corals4life]

Same question here. I will be keeping an eye on this posting.

[JonnyD91]

This should have all the info you need to decide.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1711947

Most notably this post:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=19987112#post19987112

[chemisfun11]

I have experience with both products. Reefkeeper a bit easier to use and less to learn. Switched to my Apex which I can do more with and I love it. Needed to learn how to use the Apex to get the most out of it, but lots of support out there. just my $.02