Apex PM3 Module

Real-time Monitoring of Dissolved Oxygen in Many Algae Ponds is a Great Safety Net

Many phycologists  only give the oxygen content in their pond water a passing thought, not fully understanding how the level of the Dissolved Oxygen (DO) in their tanks can affect their algae culture.

In one way or another, everything (fish, invertebrates, corals, algaes, bacteria) in the oceans and in raceway ponds react with oxygen. Most of the living beings of this planet require oxygen in order to metabolize nutrients. Algae ingest CO2 and expel O2, sometimes leaving dangerously high O2 levels.

This module and sensor combination will let you know when you should purge the pond with nitrogen to remove excess dissolved oxygen and can be programmed to do it automatically!

Get an Alarm and Also Have the Apex Take Action

Should your pond O2 start to approach the danger zone, the Apex can alert you immediately by audible alarm as well as send you an email. But, that’s not all. You can have a couple of air gas solenoids with nitrogen on the ready in your sump and the Apex will turn them on if the O2 starts raising too high. Now this is what algae pond monitoring and control is all about! Yet another example of how the Apex is like an Insurance policy for your pond.

Bonus

And, there is an added bonus, you get an extra temperature port as well as six I/O switch inputs. Purchase our optional I/O Breakout Box and you can monitor the off/on state of six I/O signals. This is useful if you want to set up an ATO (Auto Top Off), a feed button, or even a sump door alarm or light switch.

Six I/O Switch Ports

Purchase our optional I/O Breakout Box and you can monitor the off/on state of six I/O signals. This is useful if you want to set up an ATO (Auto Top Off), a feed button, or even a sump door alarm or light switch.

Let’s Talk About A Little Thing Called Galvanic Isolation

This is a topic other controller companies like to avoid. Why? Because not all monitoring ports are created equal. Galvanic Isolation is key to getting accurate readings on pH, Temp, ORP, and Conductivity. Some controllers either do not do it well (they are still figuring it out) or possibly not at all.

So what is Galvanic isolation? Well, the tech-answer is that it’s where two or more electric circuits must communicate, but their grounds may be at different potentials. It is an effective method of breaking ground loops by preventing unwanted current from flowing between two units sharing a ground conductor.

Now of course that is all geek-speak to most of us so let’s just put it this way: on a controller without galvanic isolation, your readings of pH, Temperature, ReDox (ORP), Conductivity/Salinity, etc. will be completely inaccurate.  Of course it costs us more to add this circuitry into the Apex, but what good is a controller if it doesn’t give you accurate readings?

No Such Thing as a Free Lunch!  (DO Probe Sold Separately)

While the cost of the Dissolved Oxygen Module – PM3 is very reasonable, the down side is that the DO probe itself is relatively expensive. The DO Probe certified and sold by Neptune Systems is a lab grade device and costs about 5x the cost of the PM3 module itself. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the probe has replaceable membranes so you don’t have to throw it away when it wears out like other probes. Instead, every three months you simply put a new membrane in the probe – at a cost of only $8.