2 tanks... 1 controller?

[geckoejon]

hello,

well, after the initial setup on my apex lite, it has been working very well. i will admit that i am very pleased with it. i am getting ready to set up another reef tank and was wondering if i can utilize the lite for both, or will i need another controller???

tanks would be 20' apart. is there any way to get another power strip for the new tank, connect it to the internet, and have it operate off the other controller?

if so, is there any way to add a temp probe for the second tank?

what about adding another breakout box?

thoughts?

thanks...

[aleithol]

You should not have a problem controlling another tank with your Apex Lite... You need a USB cable that is a wire only with no built-in signal repeater (or whatever they are technically called... Sorry, I forget at the moment) as those will fail with the higher voltage the Aquabus uses across the cable. Plug it into your Apex or EB8, run it over to where your other tank will be. Plug that end into say a PM1 which will give you ability to plug in another temp probe and breakout box there. You could then connect another EB8 off it for devices on your remote tank, or any of the other modules Neptune sells... Your restriction is that combined length of all Aquabus cables cannot exceed 200'. Those modules will appear on your same Apex... No need for another Ethernet connection or anything. You'll just have to keep it straight in your programming which modules and outlets go with which tanks, but people do what your asking.

[Napoleon I]

Just be certain to name each device with a tank designator first so you do not get them confused.

Example:

40_recirc
60_recirc
40_Heater
60_Heater

etc.....

I just integrated a second tank on my system and it was super easy and way cool.

Jeff

[tdb320reef]

hello,

well, after the initial setup on my apex lite, it has been working very well. i will admit that i am very pleased with it. i am getting ready to set up another reef tank and was wondering if i can utilize the lite for both, or will i need another controller???

tanks would be 20' apart. is there any way to get another power strip for the new tank, connect it to the internet, and have it operate off the other controller?

if so, is there any way to add a temp probe for the second tank?

what about adding another breakout box?

thoughts?

thanks...


I have done this multiple times. I have " stretched" the controller using a PM1 and EB8 along with PH and Temp probe. However, My observation is that once you get past 4 EB8s the system starts to have what has been described as corrupt page writes which can lead to the controller initializing (formatting). The proposed solution in my case, according to Neptune, is to run separate controllers. Hope that helps.

[Napoleon I]

Doesn't Neptune advertise you can add like over 200 modules to this system?
If it can not do 4 EB8's I'd be talking to Neptune.
I have 2 EB8's, a PM1 and PM 2 and a breakout box and mine works flawlessly on 2 tanks.

Jeff

[tdb320reef]

Doesn't Neptune advertise you can add like over 200 modules to this system?
If it can not do 4 EB8's I'd be talking to Neptune.
I have 2 EB8's, a PM1 and PM 2 and a breakout box and mine works flawlessly on 2 tanks.

Jeff

I read 100's in the marketing. The only scientific response I received from costumer support is that my controller is running at 80% of resource and that it is "a-typical".

Since I received this less than lack of information I was able to delete all of my v outlets and changed data logging to 25 minutes. As long as Fusion is disabled the controller will operate. Unfortunately the web server crashes every 15 minutes or so.

It was later communicated that i am "using a lot of functionality". I wish the firmware was opensource which would allow the community to fix it considering that we are already the functional testers.

[geckoejon]

thanks for the feedback and info! my only issue is trying to run a cord from the existing controller to the new build. i have vaulted ceilings and the area where the existing tank is on an end of the house with very little to no crawl space in the attic. hmm....

[aleithol]

FWIW, I have run into the internal limits of number of modules and/or outlets, probes/switches or some combination of those -- as confirmed by Neptune Support. There are internal limits what the Apex will allow -- it's all about performance and memory usage since every Apex has a fixed processor size and amount of memory no matter how each of us use or expand modules and outlets attached to it. I'm OK with that -- I would expect some limitation -- it's just not clear what they are. (Don't ask me what the specific limits are -- IMO that isn't documented well at present. There are a few things called out in the Apex manual, CRM, and if you look through scads of threads you'll find a few other facts, but some of those have changed with more recent firmware updates and others, well, only those on the inside likely know the answers right now. Yes, sorry, it's a big bug-a-boo with me not having reliable documentation I can count on, especially as I've been burnt twice now on this forum trying to help people using downlevel documentation, so I'm a lot more shy with specifics the last few weeks. :o)

...but to put your mind perhaps at a bit of ease, in my case, I have a single Apex and Display with 3 temp probes, pH, ORP, 2 BOBs, and 11 other modules (3 EB8s, 1 EB4, PM1, PM2, LSM, WXM, VDM, ALD, AFS) with 98 outlets. I'm on the edge of what is possible with a standard out-of-the-box Apex, but from having read most threads here for close to 6 months, my impression is I'm on the high-end of usage compared to many others that can barely get started programming their new toy. For me, what I'm pushing my single Apex to do is beyond my original purchase expectation.

[tdb320reef]

FWIW, I have run into the internal limits of number of modules and/or outlets, probes/switches or some combination of those -- as confirmed by Neptune Support. There are internal limits what the Apex will allow -- it's all about performance and memory usage since every Apex has a fixed processor size and amount of memory no matter how each of us use or expand modules and outlets attached to it. I'm OK with that -- I would expect some limitation -- it's just not clear what they are. (Don't ask me what the specific limits are -- IMO that isn't documented well at present. There are a few things called out in the Apex manual, CRM, and if you look through scads of threads you'll find a few other facts, but some of those have changed with more recent firmware updates and others, well, only those on the inside likely know the answers right now. Yes, sorry, it's a big bug-a-boo with me not having reliable documentation I can count on, especially as I've been burnt twice now on this forum trying to help people using downlevel documentation, so I'm a lot more shy with specifics the last few weeks. :o)

...but to put your mind perhaps at a bit of ease, in my case, I have a single Apex and Display with 3 temp probes, pH, ORP, 2 BOBs, and 11 other modules (3 EB8s, 1 EB4, PM1, PM2, LSM, WXM, VDM, ALD) with 98 outlets. I'm on the edge of what is possible with a standard out-of-the-box Apex, but from having read most threads here for close to 6 months, my impression is I'm on the high-end of usage compared to many others that can barely get started programming their new toy. For me, what I'm pushing my single Apex to do is beyond my original purchase expectation.

Interesting, What FW version are you on? Are you seeing continuous reboots?

For the OP question, You can get a usb extension cord on ebay 30 footer. Just make sure you don't get one with a repeater. I have installed a few without issue. How you run the cable can be tricky. I have stashed between the carpet and molding.

[aleithol]

Latest firmware. No, if I have the problem, the Apex simply stalls and the internal web server stops ... the built-in Display remains active. Multiple sort of light (or none) combinations on my Apex when that occurs, and only solution is to reboot it again via pulling power to the Apex itself, which the majority of the time works -- it's just not a good situation when I'm trying to access my Apex remotely since I have to take manual action to gain access again.

[tdb320reef]

Latest firmware. No, if I have the problem, the Apex simply stalls and the internal web server stops ... the built-in Display remains active. Multiple sort of light (or none) combinations on my Apex when that occurs, and only solution is to reboot it again via pulling power to the Apex itself, which the majority of the time works -- it's just not a good situation when I'm trying to access my Apex remotely since I have to take manual action to gain access again.

I have minimized my Vports and changed data-logging to 30 minutes and that seems to have improved the availability. I also went through my code removing anything unnecessary. Maybe give that a shot but sounds like you are in a worst situation than I am.

[Quiverfull]

Basic question about setting up the pm1 on a second tank. I can not find the second ph and temp probes in my display module to calibrate them. I see the new probes in my fusion page as tmpx5 and phx5. How do I find them in the display module to calibrate? E display module only shows the original probes on my other tank. Thanks for the help.