Just curious who has them.
Uhh, That would be me. I’m the universal, automatic controller. i do it all manually.
I have a Reef Keeper 2 that I use to control temp, flow, lights, and PH - ok well I use it monitor PH - I really need to get a calcium reactor that will enable me to utilize the RK2 to it’s fullest potential.
Ok
Since theres few different types which ones have you guys looked into??
And what made final decision for the choice you picked. I'm looking into one for my system but unsure which one to get. Craig I looked into the one you have but aquacon says it's discontinued but they have a newer version but alot more money. Not sure if they're any better but usually as electronics go when you get it 5 minutes later it's out of date anyway.Well Bill, both of the two manufacturers are hard at work at the new latest greatest things. Lucky for us it is mostly firm ware upgrades and ad ons, but not a new base unit. Both Digital Aquatics and Neptune Systems put out 2-3 old controllers which weren’t too upgradeable.
About 6 months ago I helped someone set up a DA ReefKeeper. I suggested they use it because Shawn used it, Bellamy wanted one, and there website and advertising were 10 fold more professional. Surfing Neptunes site can be a pain in the butt as they seem to advertise and compare all there old discontinued products against each other vs. talking about their new stuff. Well it was a mistake to go with what seemed popular and by judging a book by it’s cover.
I’m now helping someone else hook up a Neptune with just about every add on there is and I am myself hooking up a fairly basic one in my basement. I choose Neptune around this time because:
Neptune has a conductivity probe that has worked for years. DA has one they launched almost two years ago and recalled after 2 months. They said they’d have a fix in a couple of months then said it would take a couple of months more, now they are saying a couple of weeks, but after a year and plenty of other missed re-launches of their crappy product.
With Neptune controllers for years you have been able to see the status of your outlets(on, off, or Auto) for years and be able to turn change that via a computer anywhere in the world once set up and change how they are programmed. With DA you need to buy a Net module which came out about a year ago to be able to see the pH, ORP, and temp and you can’t change the on, off, or Auto abilities or program any of the outlets. You have to be sitting next to your tank to change the programming.
DA talks for 12 months about a new upgrade that is coming to make their product almost due everything a Neptune does then promises a Beta of it in 4 months. 3 months later they say it will be another couple months…. 12 months later a “Beta†is released that I wouldn’t call a public Beta at all, it is horrible. Lots of talk, but just disappointing their customers with delays and missed launch dates.
While the Neptune might seem a little more expensive once you are done adding the Net module to communicate with it and the other add ones you are likely going to want they end up being not too different in price.
In short
Neptune’s conductivity probe has worked for years. Da’s doesn’t yet.
Neptune’s outlets can be turned on and off and programmed from anywhere in the world. Not with DA.
Neptune responds quickly and in detail to their e-mails. DA responds in a week and sends you to their forum to talk to novice.
In really short
Digital Aquatic’s sucks. Neptune’s rock.
Don’t believe anything DA says about anything coming in the future as they are horrible a missing launch dates and talking about things they may never do. Even if they did everything they claim they are trying to do now they would be years behind Neptune and still not do everything the Neptune does.
Oh, got another one for you. DA has started working on an add on module to allow you to controll Tunze power heads. Yeah! Well yeah… and Neptunes controllers have done that for years with out an add on and now have an add on to allow you to control Vortex power heads.
Da, always talking about catching up to the point Neptune moved past years ago.
When you read up on them on your own ignore anything about the old AquaControllers. The Apex is what they sell now and is backwards compatible with all the old parts and with some parts can control X10 devices as well which is what I have used for years.
Well Jon I can’t disagree with too much of what you have said about DA. But a lot of it is open to suggestion and perception. Maybe they miss release dates because they want to make sure the product is right before they let it out the door?
They openly admitted to creating the RK Lite to be able to compete with the Neptune Aquacontroller - they wanted something that could sell at $149- from what I am hearing now it’s down to $99. I personally think the RK ELite is ridiculously expensive and not worth it.
I have researched in a couple years now. I can say this though - I LOVE my RK2 and couldn’t think about switching to anything else. It’s not the newest technology - but it works - and it works very well. If this one ever dies I will probably look for another used RK2.
Well all good info,
Not ready to get one yet but since electronics are constantly being up-graded we'll see which ones are out there and which are on top when it's my turn for one.“Maybe they miss release dates because they want to make sure the product is right before they let it out the door?”
Very true, but it is stupid to over promise and under deliver.
I am not sure which part is open to perception.
Coming soon with DA: Working conductivity probe (no oxygen probe coming)
Years ago with Neptune: Working conductivity and oxygen probes
Coming soon with DA: Being able to turn your outlets on or off (no ability to program remotely coming)
Years ago with Neptune: Ability to turn your outlets on or off and program them
Coming soon with DA: Add on to control Tunze pumps!
Years ago with Neptune: Built in ability to control tunze pumps and add on to control Vortex pumps
Coming soon with DA, who cares what they are talking about takes them years to get their act together…
Once you have enough time, money, and energy wrapped up into a reef tank it would suck to realize you programmed your Calcium reactor wrong and your ReefKeeper is sending you text messages 10 times a minute that your tanks crashing and you can’t do anything about it. With Neptune you only can set how many e-mails you get and by default won’t get more then one e-mail or text per minute. And the big thing for me… you can turn your calcium reactor off remotely or reprogram it.
In another example let’s say Rich had his reef tank hooked up to a DA reef keeper while he was on vacation and didn’t have a tank sitter. With the reef keeper he would realize the lights are still on and 400W of MH are blasting on his tank. With a Neptune he could turn the lights off and when he has a minute reprogram them correctly.
Knowledge is power, but if you don’t have the ability to do anything for a couple of weeks while your on vacation knowledge could just be torture.
It all depends on how much you care about the tank and how much you have invested in it. You can make a personal choice, but the price different is just about zip when you buy enough parts to get it online and control a Calcium reactor.
Very good point.
Which is why I’ve always been a firm believer in “Ignorance is bliss”
My RK2 won’t send me a text, an email, and won’t order up a sky writer. And I am probably a much saner person for it.
Out of curiosity - what does all the technology in the Neptune cost now?
Partially depends on what you want. If you would like a $450 oxygen probe and the $95 add on part required to run it then it will cost more then DA’s stuff.
A lot of online retail shops(and wholesalers, so should be LFS as well) offer a bunch of different packages depending on what you want. If you want two lab grade pH probes, and a lab grade ORP it costs a little more.
The package I got retails for around $450, but I am adding on more parts.(keeping in mind I usually use more probes/cords and what not then the average hobbyist) Some of the extra parts I am ordering are for ATO, and water sensor alarms.
That is something else to keep in mind. If you want a water sensor that screams when it sense water on the floor and if you plan to purchase ATO(if you don’t already have them) then adding these to the Neptune controller is cheaper then stand alone units. If you are starting with pretty much nothing or planning on doing some upgrades to your system these are things to consider.
Kind of like when an LFS recommends you use Power compacts and then you find out you needed at least T5s and well, it would have been cheaper to buy the T5s from the get go!
I own DA controller and will write review later but I have to agree with Jon - DA sucks. I should of purchased Neptune controller.
One more thing DA don’t tell you in their fancy advertising is if you purchase NET module you must have PAID e-mail account in order for it to work. If you have hotmail, yahoo, aol, gmail etc e-mail alerts will not work! I have hotmail account so I asked a friend with Comcast internet service(paid e-mail account) to redirect e-mails from DA net module to my hotmail. Very disappointing, will never look at DA again.
Rosti if anything changes with comcast or whatever and you can’t that e-mail let me know. I have e-mail accounts now set up for three different people’s controllers on through my URL. I can set up another for you to and have it forward to hotmail.
I too use an e-mail address at hotmail. My parents e-mails changed several times when the companies they used for internet were bought out one after another, but finally they switched off of the name changing companies and back to hotmail. Who knows comcast might stop all their @comcast e-mail addresses and have people use @xfinity. It is sort of a pet peeve of mine when people use different log ins for AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ReefCentral, YouTube, DRC, DVRC, Reef-Geeks… Seriously I have a hard enough time with one name. First and last name is rough, and when you through in 30 screen names and e-mail accounts…
Jon Gordon
Gordonious with hotmail
Gordonious on Reef Central
Gordonious on DVRC, DRC, Reef-Geeks
Gordonious.com was my website, but nothing there.
someone beat me to Gordonious on YouTube, so for a while I used Gordonious2
I like that your name and screen name match. Paul, Bill, Rich, and others do the same. Who picks a screen name that is 4n4rced4… blah
Well since we’re going to hijack this thread anyway - - my screen name IS my email address (up until the @ anyway) and is the same for every forum / website I belong to.
DRC
RC (well that was the name banned anyway)
Reef-Geeks
RAF
Pop-up explorer
Yahoo
CBSSports
visitcalifornia
tripadvisor
couples
etc
etc
etc
It’s all the same user ID and al the same password.
The only ones that are different are Ebay and Paypal.
And Craig spends a lot of time on the net. Especially during 9-5 M-F. 
Hope none of his bosses ever join the club and realize how much time he is on the forum.
lOl
I picked “I have another type” lol
Yeah, you’re probably the only one going into that category, lol. What all do you have that does what? Just things on the screen? Do you get e-mail alerts? Is anything actually controlled or just monitored?