Reddog170
Active Member
Well I have spent a fair amount of time researching controllers. This is some of what I have found.
I will start with the Reef Keeper Elite: You should be able to pick one up for around $400. They have a track record for dependable performance. They will run pretty much all of your equipment. All in all seem pretty good. Some of the people in the club say that when the "new" model comes out it can be hard to get stuff for the one you have, they also say that there are some glitches in the programming that may or may not effect how it works. Final opinion, decent controller, decent price. I give it (just from my research) 8 out of 10
Now for the Apex Aqua Controller 3. Well I have heard a TON of complaints about this version. I will come back to that. The Apex controllers do have a good record for performance. The have been a dependable unit that can also run all your equipment. They can be had for around $500 ready to go.
Now for what complaints I have heard about. I have heard the new firmware is unstable. They are hard to program and have a ton of glitches. All in all they seem ok, but still need some work on the new system. From my research I would say a 5 out of 10
And now for the unknown, the Reef Angel. Until I started looking into the controllers I had never heard of them. Well I now am willing to put it in this comparison because they are competing with them. They can control all of your equipment, they seem dependable and they cost about $200. This still has some bugs, it is very new to the market, and very few use them or heard of them. I have spent more time researching this one because of those facts. Not much info out there but the company will talk to you for as long as you need to answer all your questions. They are improving there firmware, and adding more add on's all the time. My opinion from my research, 7 out of 10, considering they continue to improve.
For my needs, I think i will try the Reef Angel, right now I just want it for temp control, light timing, ATO (which is included with the controller) and some parameter monitoring.
Please feel free to post your thoughts on this. There is very little comparison results on controllers and the more info we can get the better the decision we can make when we buy one. Shaun
I will start with the Reef Keeper Elite: You should be able to pick one up for around $400. They have a track record for dependable performance. They will run pretty much all of your equipment. All in all seem pretty good. Some of the people in the club say that when the "new" model comes out it can be hard to get stuff for the one you have, they also say that there are some glitches in the programming that may or may not effect how it works. Final opinion, decent controller, decent price. I give it (just from my research) 8 out of 10
Now for the Apex Aqua Controller 3. Well I have heard a TON of complaints about this version. I will come back to that. The Apex controllers do have a good record for performance. The have been a dependable unit that can also run all your equipment. They can be had for around $500 ready to go.
Now for what complaints I have heard about. I have heard the new firmware is unstable. They are hard to program and have a ton of glitches. All in all they seem ok, but still need some work on the new system. From my research I would say a 5 out of 10
And now for the unknown, the Reef Angel. Until I started looking into the controllers I had never heard of them. Well I now am willing to put it in this comparison because they are competing with them. They can control all of your equipment, they seem dependable and they cost about $200. This still has some bugs, it is very new to the market, and very few use them or heard of them. I have spent more time researching this one because of those facts. Not much info out there but the company will talk to you for as long as you need to answer all your questions. They are improving there firmware, and adding more add on's all the time. My opinion from my research, 7 out of 10, considering they continue to improve.
For my needs, I think i will try the Reef Angel, right now I just want it for temp control, light timing, ATO (which is included with the controller) and some parameter monitoring.
Please feel free to post your thoughts on this. There is very little comparison results on controllers and the more info we can get the better the decision we can make when we buy one. Shaun