I was sure I wanted an Elite until I actually did the research.  I do not consider DA a "good" company.  They continuously had problems with the Elite, promised fixes, and then delivered some of the fixes like a year later than what they originally promised...and then the cycle continued.  When I bought my APEX, there was pretty much no way to run the Elite wirelessly.

 

With the Apex you'll need a (forget the correct term) game consol wireless adapter to run wirelessly (so that'll cost a bit more).  I bought the moonlight package to control lunar cycles (which is really neat).  You can buy a specific Vortech controller to add on, but I found no real reason for me to purchase that.  The Vortech controller itself is good enough. 

 

Plus, there's just about no better service than through Neptune.  About the only downside I've found is the owner's manual.  It's horrid.  Thankfully there are a ton of dedicated users out there who have made an "unofficial" amazing manual, apps, and all sorts of other stuff. 

 

And, if you want to go really dorky, you can get a static IP address, and host your web stats.  You can then access your aquarium from ANYWHERE in the world where you have access to the internet (phone, etc).  So, let's say the APEX sends me an alert that the temp is too high, and that it has already done all the emergency protocol that I've programmed in.  I can then get online from China (or wherever), and turn off even more lights on the aquarium...check to make sure all heaters are off, turn on more pumps, or whatever else.

 

P.S.  I think Neptune retired AquaNotes for the APEX...not sure what they're calling it now (my site is down since my equipment is all down too.)  Regardless, you still have a website that will track your parameters and give you all control of your tank remotely. 

Getting in contact with the company for customer support was very difficult. They only have one line and no call waiting. Every time I called i got the busy signal. Finally I downloaded a redialing app and it just called and called and called until I got through. Once I got a hold of them they were helpful but they are sticklers to policy (one year warranty and you better have your receipt). We finally worked through the problem by reinstalling the firmware which was not an easy task mind you, but two hours later it was working normally again.

If there was something better I'd go for it but I've been told they are the best. I wouldn't call their interface or customer service user friendly.

I'm not trying to bash on them, this has been my experience.

Micah

 

Our router is on a different floor than the tank, so we had to have the gaming adapter for wireless capability.