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Thread: Brand new Apex owner with just too many hours

  1. #1
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    Brand new Apex owner with just too many hours

    Hi!

    I am a Utrecht based reefer (newish) with a Red Sea Reefer 170. I modified the sump to run a Refugium of 10% watervolume and follow the Triton method. For a refugium light I use a Kessil H80 Tuna Flora Grow Light and use a Radion G4Pro as Primary.
    For skimming I use a Tunze DOC 9004 and put it in my inlet section.

    So I bought an Apex 2016 with WXM module one week ago.
    After everything hooked up I've configured the probes. After calibrating the PH probe, I'll noticed (otherwise than noticed in the manual) that the PH probe needs the temperature compensation set to ON, if you have a temperature probe connected. That made me to calibrate the PH Probe a second time. The Conductivity probe was really a PITA. Contacted support, read a bunch on information on here, I'll just bought 7 packages of calibration fluid and just after the seventh try of manual calibration everything the probe calibrated fine.

    Time to start programming :-)
    And reading a ton and ton's of topics on here. Thanks guys. Because I have to combine a few posts from different forum's I just decided to post my whole programming here in one topic. Feel free to use it.

    I wanted to follow the seasontable from the Fiji's, which have a time difference compared to my TimeZone (Amsterdam) of 11 hours backwards. Since I didn't know if the Sun command could handle an offset of 720, I just followed RussM's advice to alter the seasontable.
    That also gave me the opportunity to shift the seasons to prevent that in December my chiller is on and in May my heater.

    This is my seasontable edited and used:

    Moonrise&Moonset.png Sunrise&Sunset.png New Moon.png Temperature.png

    For programming I've used the two KING topics on this:

    Neptune Apex Seasonal Lighting Table for Ecotech XR Series: Samba_dad
    https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ne...series.208315/

    Using the Season Table for primary and moon lightning with Hydra/Vega/Rdion LEDs, including Weather events: RussM
    https://forum.neptunesystems.com/sho...Weather-events

    I just decided to mix them up :-)

    Following the explanation of Samba_Dad, I was a little confused of how to use his Excelsheet :-(
    I just did not know how to interpret The settings Sun Rise, Sun Set and the starttime of PreDawn. I also counted the total light duration of light throughout the day. I noticed that this would be 16 hours in total, which is more then the Sun Rise/Set delta in the Seasontable.
    Given the fact that sunrise and sunset happens quite fast in the Fiji area, I decided tho extend the length of Midday and shorten the Eveningperiod.

    So I'll altered his Excelsheet and shortened the period of light:

    Schermafbeelding 2018-12-09 om 18.47.41.png

    This gave me a full photoperiod of 12 hours.

    According to his setup I created the Light Profiles:
    [PreDawn]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 0%
    Blue Intensity 0%
    Royal Blue Intensity 100%
    Green Intensity 0%
    Red Intensity 0%
    UV Intensity 100%
    Start Overall Intensity 0%
    End Overall Intensity 2%
    Ramp Time 7 minutes

    [EarlyMorn]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 0%
    Blue Intensity 100%
    Royal Blue Intensity 100%
    Green Intensity 0%
    Red Intensity 0%
    UV Intensity 100%
    Start Overall Intensity 2%
    End Overall Intensity 7%
    Ramp Time 7 minutes

    [MidMorn]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 20%
    Blue Intensity 100%
    Royal Blue Intensity 10%
    Green Intensity 20%
    Red Intensity 20%
    UV Intensity 100%
    Start Overall Intensity 7%
    End Overall Intensity 22%
    Ramp Time 22 minutes

    [LateMorn]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 24%
    Blue Intensity 100%
    Royal Blue Intensity 100%
    Green Intensity 24%
    Red Intensity 24%
    UV Intensity 100%
    Start Overall Intensity 22%
    End Overall Intensity 35%
    Ramp Time 22 minutes

    [EarlyMid]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 24%
    Blue Intensity 100%
    Royal Blue Intensity 100%
    Green Intensity 24%
    Red Intensity 24%
    UV Intensity 100%
    Start Overall Intensity 35%
    End Overall Intensity 60%
    Ramp Time 30 minutes

    [Midday]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 24%
    Blue Intensity 100%
    Royal Blue Intensity 100%
    Green Intensity 24%
    Red Intensity 24%
    UV Intensity 100%
    Start Overall Intensity 60%
    End Overall Intensity 60%
    Ramp Time 60 minutes

    [LateMid]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 24%
    Blue Intensity 100%
    Royal Blue Intensity 100%
    Green Intensity 24%
    Red Intensity 24%
    UV Intensity 100%
    Start Overall Intensity 60%
    End Overall Intensity 35%
    Ramp Time 30 minutes

    [EarlyAft]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 24%
    Blue Intensity 100%
    Royal Blue Intensity 100%
    Green Intensity 24%
    Red Intensity 24%
    UV Intensity 100%
    Start Overall Intensity 35%
    End Overall Intensity 22%
    Ramp Time 22 minutes

    [MidAft]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 20%
    Blue Intensity 100%
    Royal Blue Intensity 100%
    Green Intensity 20%
    Red Intensity 20%
    UV Intensity 100%
    Start Overall Intensity 22%
    End Overall Intensity 7%
    Ramp Time 22 minutes

    [LateAft]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 0%
    Blue Intensity 100%
    Royal Blue Intensity 100%
    Green Intensity 0%
    Red Intensity 0%
    UV Intensity 100%
    Start Overall Intensity 7%
    End Overall Intensity 2%
    Ramp Time 7 minutes

    [Evening]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 0%
    Blue Intensity 100%
    Royal Blue Intensity 100%
    Green Intensity 0%
    Red Intensity 0%
    UV Intensity 100%
    Start Overall Intensity 2%
    End Overall Intensity 0%
    Ramp Time 7 minutes

    I also created Weather profiles:

    [Cloudy]
    Type Weather
    Light Maximum Intensity 20%
    Cloudy Light Intensity 5%
    Cloudy Duration 5 minutes
    Cloudy Time 75%
    Lightning Probability 0%
    Lightning Intensity 0%

    [Stormy]
    Type Weather
    Light Maximum Intensity 30%
    Cloudy Light Intensity 8%
    Cloudy Duration 12 minutes
    Cloudy Time 50%
    Lightning Probability 45%
    Lightning Intensity 50%

    [Moonlight]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 0%
    Blue Intensity 100%
    Royal Blue Intensity 100%
    Green Intensity 0%
    Red Intensity 0%
    UV Intensity 30%
    Start Overall Intensity 5%
    End Overall Intensity 5%
    Ramp Time 1 minutes

    And because to prevent of buy-in a yellow filter to make photo's, I'll mad a photo proof light profile:
    [Take_Photo]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 60%
    Blue Intensity 100%
    Royal Blue Intensity 100%
    Green Intensity 85%
    Red Intensity 75%
    UV Intensity 95%
    Start Overall Intensity 60%
    End Overall Intensity 60%
    Ramp Time 1 minutes

    Now it was time to set the Virtual Outlets involving the Weather Events on the Radion:
    [Clouds]
    OSC 000:00/037:00/636:00 Then ON
    If Time 21:30 to 15:59 Then OFF
    Min Time 037:00 Then ON
    If DoW -M-W-F- Then OFF

    [Storms]
    OSC 000:00/037:00/636:00 Then ON
    If Time 21:30 to 15:59 Then OFF
    Min Time 037:00 Then ON
    If DoW S-T-T-S Then OFF

    [Moon]
    Set OFF
    If Moon 000/000 Then ON

    And a virtual outlet for the Photo's: (I dragged this VO on to my Fusion Dashboard)
    [Photo]
    Set OFF

    Since some of my corals are getting above the watersurface, I mad an alternating light profile to prevent the are getting burned:
    [ReduceLight]
    Type Radion
    White Intensity 60%
    Blue Intensity 100%
    Royal Blue Intensity 100%
    Green Intensity 85%
    Red Intensity 75%
    UV Intensity 95%
    Start Overall Intensity 30%
    End Overall Intensity 30%
    Ramp Time 1 minutes

    And now I was able to programming the Radion:
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Output Moon = ON Then Moonlight
    If Sun 000/-360 Then PreDawn
    If Sun 015/-360 Then EarlyMorn
    If Sun 030/-360 Then MidMorn
    If Sun 075/-360 Then LateMorn
    If Sun 120/-360 Then EarlyMid
    If Sun 360/000 Then Evening
    If Sun 360/-015 Then LateAft
    If Sun 360/-030 Then MidAft
    If Sun 360/-075 Then EarlyAft
    If Sun 360/-120 Then LateMid
    If Sun 180/-180 Then Midday
    If Output Clouds = ON Then Cloudy
    If Output Storms = ON Then Stormy
    If Output Photo = ON Then Take_Photo
    If Output Maintenance = ON Then ReduceLight
    If FeedA 005 Then Feed

    So.... that was a few hours reading and recalculating lighting stuff, and now I could move on to the Tidal section of my Vortech.
    For that I followed the fabulous topic of Perforator:
    https://forum.neptunesystems.com/sho...-for-Vortech-s

    Perforator's setup contains 2 MP10's, and I have just one, mounted on the right back wall. So I have to alter the percentages to get descent flow.

    First I created the Tidal Profiles for my Vortech:
    [Constant]
    Type Vortech
    Vortech Type Constant
    Max Intensity 20%

    [Nutrient]
    Type Vortech
    Vortech Type Nutrient
    Max Intensity 60%

    [Tidal Swell]
    Type Vortech
    Vortech Type Tidal Swell
    Max Intensity 70%

    [ReefCrest]
    Type Vortech
    Vortech Type Reef Crest
    Max Intensity 70%

    [Lagoon]
    Type Vortech
    Vortech Type Lagoon
    Max Intensity 60%

    [Pulse]
    Type Vortech
    Vortech Type Pulse
    Max Intensity 80%
    On Time 1 seconds

    [Feed]
    Type Vortech
    Vortech Type Constant
    Max Intensity 10%

    Then I created the Tidal Virtual Outlets for my Vortech:
    [Hi_Tide1]
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Moon -360/-600 Then ON
    If Output Lo_Tide1-4 = ON Then OFF
    If Output Lo_Tide1-2 = ON Then OFF
    If Output Lo_Tide1 = ON Then OFF

    [Lo_Tide1-4]
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Moon -240/-600 Then ON
    If Output Lo_Tide1-2 = ON Then OFF
    If Output Lo_Tide1 = ON Then OFF

    [Lo_Tide1-2]
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Moon -120/-600 Then ON
    If Output Lo_Tide1 = ON Then OFF

    [Lo_Tide1]
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Moon 000/-600 Then ON

    [Hi_Tide2-4]
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Moon 120/-480 Then ON

    [Hi_Tide2-2]
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Moon 240/-360 Then ON

    [Hi_Tide2]
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Moon 360/-240 Then ON

    [Lo-Tide2-4]
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Moon 480/-120 Then ON

    [Lo_Tide2-2]
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Moon 600/000 Then ON

    [Lo_Tide2]
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Moon 600/120 Then ON
    If Output Lo_Tide2-2 = ON Then OFF

    [Hi_Tide2-4]
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Moon 600/240 Then ON
    If Output Lo_Tide2 = ON Then OFF
    If Output Lo_Tide2-2 = ON Then OFF

    [Hi_Tide1-2]
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Moon 600/360 Then ON
    If Output Lo_Tide2-2 = ON Then OFF
    If Output Lo_Tide2 = ON Then OFF
    If Output Hi_Tide1-4 = ON Then OFF

    Before I could program my Vortech:
    Fallback Constant
    If Output Maintenance = ON Then OFF
    If Output Storms = ON Then Pulse
    If Output Hi_Tide1 = ON Then TidalSwell
    If Output Lo_Tide1-4 = ON Then Nutrient
    If Output Lo_Tide1-2 = ON Then ReefCrest
    If Output Lo_Tide1 = ON Then Lagoon
    If Output Hi_Tide2-4 = ON Then ReefCrest
    If Output Hi_Tide2-2 = ON Then Nutrient
    If Output Hi_Tide2 = ON Then TidalSwell
    If Output Lo_Tide2-4 = ON Then Nutrient
    If Output Lo_Tide2-2 = ON Then ReefCrest
    If Output Lo_Tide2 = ON Then Lagoon
    If Output Hi_Tide1-4 = ON Then ReefCrest
    If Output Hi_Tide1-2 = ON Then Nutrient
    If FeedA 000 Then Feed

    In this I created an influence of a possible storm, by firing the Pulse program.

    So on the first night my Refugiumlight and my moonlight didn't show up. After breaking my head over a few hours I discovered my mistake: Moonrise and Moonset were backwards set into the Seasontable. That is something really hard for me to understand, the American verbs for this. For me SET means SET (don't touch it, it is set). The opposite of rise for me is down... I'll guess I have to stay a wake for just another night lol.

    For firing the VO Maintenance I wanted to switch off my skimmer, Wavemaker and return pump until I put them back on.

    Therefore I programmed my returnpump:

    [Returnpump]
    Fallback ON
    Set ON
    If FeedA 000 Then OFF
    Defer 002:00 Then ON
    If Output Maintenance = ON Then OFF

    and my skimmer:

    [Skimmer]
    Fallback ON
    Set ON
    If Output Returnpump = OFF Then OFF
    Defer 005:00 Then ON
    If Output Maintenance = ON Then OFF

    Only downfall I have is that I have put my Heater in the return section. I don't know yet if it stays there, because I think the flow is too high to keep up the temperature in the DT.

    Next project will be my auto. Right now I am using a Tunze 3152 Osmolator, and it is doing really great.
    Is that do able with a BreakOut Box?

    Now my big question to you all is.... Am I missing something??
    Last edited by Jasper; 12-09-2018 at 12:17. Reason: typo's

  2. #2
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    Oh.. and to be complete, my refugium is like:

    IMG_2774.jpg

    My RO container is moved into another cabinet:
    IMG_1711.jpg

    And my tank looks like:
    IMG_2881.jpg

  3. #3
    Master Control Freak RussM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jasper View Post

    Vortech:
    Fallback Constant
    If Output Maintenance = ON Then OFF
    If Output Storms = ON Then Pulse
    If Output Hi_Tide1 = ON Then TidalSwell
    If Output Lo_Tide1-4 = ON Then Nutrient
    If Output Lo_Tide1-2 = ON Then ReefCrest
    If Output Lo_Tide1 = ON Then Lagoon
    If Output Hi_Tide2-4 = ON Then ReefCrest
    If Output Hi_Tide2-2 = ON Then Nutrient
    If Output Hi_Tide2 = ON Then TidalSwell
    If Output Lo_Tide2-4 = ON Then Nutrient
    If Output Lo_Tide2-2 = ON Then ReefCrest
    If Output Lo_Tide2 = ON Then Lagoon
    If Output Hi_Tide1-4 = ON Then ReefCrest
    If Output Hi_Tide1-2 = ON Then Nutrient
    If FeedA 000 Then Feed
    The highlighted line will not work in its current position. It needs to be moved to the end of the program in order to take precedence over all the statements that cause the pump to be running a profile.


    Therefore I programmed my returnpump:

    [returnpump]
    Fallback ON
    Set ON
    If FeedA 000 Then OFF
    Defer 002:00 Then ON
    If Output Maintenance = ON Then OFF

    and my skimmer:

    [skimmer]
    Fallback ON
    Set ON
    If Output Returnpump = OFF Then OFF
    Defer 005:00 Then ON
    If Output Maintenance = ON Then OFF
    The highlighted line is not necessary - you already have the the skimmer being shut OFF whenever the return pump is OFF and return pump being shut OFF whenever the Maintenance VO is ON.
    Please do not send me PMs with technical questions or requesting assistance - use the forums for Apex help. PM me ONLY if the matter is of a private or personal nature. Thanks.

  4. #4
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    Light and flow are very tank specific, so what you have may work perfect or it may take some tweaking.

    In your skimmer code, you also want this line (make sure power monitor is disabled)

    If Power Apex Off 001 Then OFF

    It's also worth considering using fallback OFF on your skimmer just to make sure it can't overflow.



    For ATO, the tunze works fine except for two quirks

    1. It will beep at you nonstop while feeding unless you shut it off when your return is off

    2. Every time you start it back up it will prime for a couple minutes. If you have a small tank this can be a problem. Big tanks don't notice.


    If you are fine with those quirks, save your BOB slots for a door switch, low sump, high backup sump, and tank overflow floats. That leaves two more slots for anything else that you might want.

    Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by RussM View Post
    The highlighted line will not work in its current position. It needs to be moved to the end of the program in order to take precedence over all the statements that cause the pump to be running a profile.



    The highlighted line is not necessary - you already have the the skimmer being shut OFF whenever the return pump is OFF and return pump being shut OFF whenever the Maintenance VO is ON.
    Thanks Russ!!

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by zombie View Post
    Light and flow are very tank specific, so what you have may work perfect or it may take some tweaking.

    In your skimmer code, you also want this line (make sure power monitor is disabled)

    If Power Apex Off 001 Then OFF

    It's also worth considering using fallback OFF on your skimmer just to make sure it can't overflow.



    For ATO, the tunze works fine except for two quirks

    1. It will beep at you nonstop while feeding unless you shut it off when your return is off

    2. Every time you start it back up it will prime for a couple minutes. If you have a small tank this can be a problem. Big tanks don't notice.


    If you are fine with those quirks, save your BOB slots for a door switch, low sump, high backup sump, and tank overflow floats. That leaves two more slots for anything else that you might want.

    Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
    Hi zombie,

    So, what does this do?
    "If Power Apex Off 001 Then OFF"

    I do not have a power fallback like a UPS or something. The apartment building where we live has one on its own :-)
    It is very unlikely that we have a power outage for so long that it will affect our appt.

  7. #7
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jasper View Post
    Hi zombie,

    So, what does this do?
    "If Power Apex Off 001 Then OFF"

    I do not have a power fallback like a UPS or something. The apartment building where we live has one on its own :-)
    It is very unlikely that we have a power outage for so long that it will affect hour appt.
    It shuts the skimmer off for the first minute following a power outage or reboot (plus any defer) so you make sure the water level has settled before it can come back on. Without that line the skimmer and return will co.e on simultaneously after a reboot.

    Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

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