After reef keeping for 1.5yrs I finally decided to pull the trigger on getting the Apex Controller. 2 weeks ago I ordered from BRS the
Apex Controller with Lab-grade pH probe, the Mag Probe Holder & the IO Breakout Box.
I purchased new
Madison float switches from Jon and being inspired by his Apex setup, I decided to replicate the float sensors… I looked around a lot to get the right bracket to hold these switches but there was none to hold 4 switches.
I took measurements and I ended up 3D printing the bracket. This one below was my first prototype… I didn’t get the levels right, also wire placement was not great.
I redesigned the model with the adjusted levels and also make sure I had holes for the wires so its more organized. Also used XT-CLEAR material this time with higher quality print.
I also got a
7 Positons Ground Wire Row from Jon to connect all the grounding wires from the switches then into the grounding port in the IO box, that way if any switch fails I can individually disconnect & replace them (instead of taking down all switches). The ATO in the back will be gone soon!
For a whole week I kept messaging Jon day/night asking all sorts of questions around configs and programming… messaging was not enough so we ended up using Google Hangouts!! I really want to
thank @jonmos75 for all the advise
My Apex config is not very sophisticated but I got most of my automation needs covered.
The probes are sitting very close to the dosing tubes which is why you’ll see some spikes in pH. They’re sitting in the skimmer chamber that has variable water levels but I’ve placed them such that the pH probe is never completely submersed.