AOS 5.04_7A18 includes:

Support for the new ApexEL controller

The first release of Internet of Things Aquarium (IoTa)

In this release the following LED lighting systems are now supported:

  • AquaIllumination Prime, Prime HD, Hydra 26HD, Hydra 52HD (excluding the AI Prime Freshwater and Prime Fuge models). The AI Prime and Hydra HD lights must be running at least version 2.2 of the AI firmware.
  • The lighting configuration wizard fully supports AI lights with Hyperdrive (HD) features. When using a light with HD support, the intensity of individual color channels may be driven above 100%, so long as the channel is not yet at maximum brightness and there's still power available to allocate to it. When using an HD light, a meter will display the percentage of total power used by all channels; decreasing power used by a channel will allow it to be allocated to other channels.




Major updates to APEX Local

Some highlights:

  • APEX Local now looks and feels even more like APEX Fusion
  • APEX Local now contains the same Tours and Info (built-in context-sensitive help) as APEX Fusion
  • The Configuration Summary report has been redesigned, and now has sections for Inputs and Modules in addition to Outputs and Profiles
  • The Inputs, Outputs, Module and Profile list views have been enhanced to sort in a more natural order
  • The Inputs list view now shows icons for all input types
  • APEX Local now loads faster


Miscellaneous fixes and enhancements

  • resolves an issue with DO probe calibration
  • resolves an error-trapping issue in AOS 5.03_2C18; when an invalid or non-existent profile name was used in certain advanced programming statements, that statement was incorrectly accepted and in the resultant programming, the invalid profile name was replaced with 0. Now, a suitable syntax error message will now properly be displayed if an invalid or non-existent profile name is used.



FAQ

Q: What is Internet of Things Aquarium (IoTa)?
A: The aquarium hobby today is flooded with many Internet of Things (IoT) products that are Internet-connected, usually via Wi-Fi. Many aquarium equipment manufacturers have developed their own Apple and Android smartphone/tablet apps which unfortunately work only with their own equipment. This resulted in many aquarists becoming frustrated with having to use several different apps on their mobile devices and to deal with the lack of integrated control and coordination of their various pumps and lighting fixtures. Internet of Things Aquarium (IoTa) is an initiative created by with these main purposes:

  • to provide a framework that other aquarium equipment manufacturers may use that facilitates the control of such their IoT devices by an Apex
  • to encourage other aquarium equipment manufacturers to actively engage and collaborate with Neptune Systems to develop ApexReady products via the use of this IoTa framework.
  • that Neptune Systems will, when possible, independently develop Apex and APEX Fusion support for selected, Wi-Fi-controlled 3rd-party products.

Apex control of AI Prime, Prime HD, Hydra26 HD, and Hydra 52HD LED lighting is the first result of the IoTa initiative.

Q: How do I control my AI lights with my Apex?
A: Refer to the IoTa-AI Prime and Hydra User Guide for full details about using the Apex to control compatible AI lights.