Advice on buying

Hard to go wrong with Reef Geek. You could ask them for a GIRS member discount if you've joined GIRS. They're a great etailer.

 

I was going tho say the same thing! Greg is great!

 

I'm not sure how long you're interested in waiting, but we're talking about doing a group buy for Fall Fest. For Spring Fest, we got discounts on things...you could save a fair amount of $ on a $500 purchase. Give us another week or two to figure out the details on the group buy and hopefully we can save you some $$. See here for the thread about Spring Fest group buy - http://www.greateriowareefsociety.org/Community/DiscussionForums/tabid/78/aft/19344/Default.aspx

--AJ

 

Thumbs up on Reef Geek. I just bought a Apex from them 3 weeks ago and they had the best prices for what you get. I bought a Apex with Eb8 and Lab Grade ph and temp probe for $514. Alot of places charge far more than that for the lab grade probes. Greg is great to deal with. If you mention GIRS he will also give you a 5% discount as well.

 

i've been told lab grade probes last longer and that they detect changes faster than standard probes. I dont  know how true this is, maybe some other members can chime in as to their expieriences (standard vs lab grade).
 
Im going to do standard stuff such as controlling lights and temp. Im loveing the fact that i can check it from my android phone at any time as well as controll it from my phone. Im going to do the normal stuff as well as setting it to turn off my mh if the tank gets to warm. Once i get some time i also want to have some water on floor sensors as well as float switches to send me a email if my water level is to high or low. I also want to hook up a ups up to it to keep vital equipment running during a pwr outage as well as send me email alerts to notify me of no power. At some point im going to use it to controll a calcium reactor as well. All in all i think the ability to check it from my phone and controll it from the net is my favorite feature! 
You dont need a controller to do this but im thinking im going to get a internet camera or two. I want to point 1 at the sump and one at the tank so i can visually see whats going on with my tanks well via my phone or the net.
Brian

 

I just ordered the Waterbug...I'll let you know how it works out...
What I really want to try is the WXM module to control my Vortechs...
--AJ

 

Thanks AJ ,What is the website for the sensor, i found it once but i couldnt find it the other day when i was looking for them. The wxm module would be nice to have. Does the spending on my tank ever quit ha ha!

 

I've heard that there are other water on floor sensors out there, but this one seems to get the best reviews that I've seen (fewest false positives, good build quality, and you can add up to four additional sensors).

Here's where I got mine from. http://www.smarthome.com/7160/WaterBug-Water-Sensor-WB-200/p.aspx This includes the base unit and one sensor. It has pics of the device and a link to the manual as well. Since this is typically used as part of a larger home automation/alarm system, it does not include the power supply. Don't forget to get that too! There is another model, WB-300, which is battery powered, but I opted not to get that one because I didn't want to have to think about replacing batteries all the time.

Good luck!

--AJ

 

AJ, Thanks for the info

 

No problem Brian..hope the info helps...
And Sean...sorry to have hijacked your thread! Whoops! :-/

--AJ