Neptune WXM replacement product?

[kgmoreno123]

In searching for the ever elusive discontinued WXM module, I stumbled upon this web posting from Neptune saying to stay tuned a new module (MXM) is coming soon? Post shows from 6 days ago, here is the link so we can hang in there: https://www.neptunesystems.com/vortech-wireless-module-wxm/

 

[picoreefguy]

They recently merged along with bulk reef supply and possibly one other. So im thinking that maybe since they’re one company now that they’ll be more willing to work together. I’m really hoping that they allow the vectra to integrate with the new wxm or maybe even issue an update for the old one too.

 

[scuba steve]

Betram Capital bought BRS, Neptune Systems and EcoTech Marine. With them coming under one parent company, it's very likely they'll play nice with each other again. That's at least one part of the deal that I'm excited for. I've hated Mobius and EcoSmart Live, and loved when I a WXM to control my EcoTech products with my Apex. It'll be great to have that option again.

 

[picoreefguy]

Im the same, ecosmart live and mobius, or really standalone app for any aquarium product feels so clunky when you have an interface that is supposed to control your entire system. I hated that i couldn’t control the vectra with my apex/wxm when it first came out. if you’re like me you lose out on many of the features because you get enough out of it by simply turning its power on and off via the apex so you don’t bother messing around with the actual vectra controller. I’d love to be able to monitor its speed or just have reduced flow during feed mode or have that pipe cleaning feature they advertised when it came out or any of the other possible uses when you can fully integrate it into the apex. Hopefully we see it soon. Who knows maybe they’ll even just integrate connectivity into the base unit with the a4 model when it comes out lol

 

[Adam]

The only time I like a stand alone control option is with lighting. It can be nice to have one quick place to handle that. But pumps/powerheads on multiple interfaces is a royal PITA. I hate Mobius and it sucks not having another choice.
The Hydros WaveEngine seems to be a pretty good product. I will be playing with it soon. But there is no option to control Vectra's on HWE and something tells me that the new conglomerate will not play nice with CoralVue which sucks.

It's not good for us to have all of our eggs in one basket. An Apex base unit dies and the whole system is shut down. Then to have to scramble to find outlets, power strips and go into emergency mode. The only other potion is to have a backup base unit sitting on a shelf, fortunately I have one. But you have to keep the firmware up to date and keep a backup of your programming every time you change something. You also need to keep a pdf copy of every module you have and connect them to the backup base unit in the exact same order that they were originally connected. Forget to do either of those and you will be stuck for a long time programming.
It's also a PITA that Neptune doesn't allow us to manually change module addresses. At the very least an option in Fusion to select the address when a new module is first connected.

 

[Adam]

I've done some searching and can't find anything about the MXM. Just the teaser in the OP's link.

 

[picoreefguy]

The only time I like a stand alone control option is with lighting. It can be nice to have one quick place to handle that. But pumps/powerheads on multiple interfaces is a royal PITA. I hate Mobius and it sucks not having another choice.
The Hydros WaveEngine seems to be a pretty good product. I will be playing with it soon. But there is no option to control Vectra's on HWE and something tells me that the new conglomerate will not play nice with CoralVue which sucks.

It's not good for us to have all of our eggs in one basket. An Apex base unit dies and the whole system is shut down. Then to have to scramble to find outlets, power strips and go into emergency mode. The only other potion is to have a backup base unit sitting on a shelf, fortunately I have one. But you have to keep the firmware up to date and keep a backup of your programming every time you change something. You also need to keep a pdf copy of every module you have and connect them to the backup base unit in the exact same order that they were originally connected. Forget to do either of those and you will be stuck for a long time programming.
It's also a PITA that Neptune doesn't allow us to manually change module addresses. At the very least an option in Fusion to select the address when a new module is first connected.

Its nice having the option to use a standalone app for lighting (and everything really) but i hate that they make it the only way to control their products. I rarely mess with my lights and going into apex fusion and fiddling around once in a while is easy enough. i do agree that its not great having so much of the industry packed into one mega company. it’ll put the other ones at a pretty big dissadvantage. but since they were each the biggest players in their respective markets hopefully they’ll at least bring us some good features and better integration between their product lines. it definitely feels like theyre trying to setup a monoply. First eco tech and ai merged then we had brs and marine depot. Now ecotech, Neptune and brs are all under one umbrella. Wouldn’t surprise me if they did what luxottica did to Oakley try to buy other companies out and if they dont comply then aggressively outcompete them till they have no choice but to sell or go bankrupt.

I was actually kind of sad to see the apex jr come back the way it is. I liked the idea of the old jr and wanted to get one but back then I couldn’t justify spending that kind of money to have two controllers so i just got the full one. For people who have multiple tanks in different areas which i think is a lot of us It would have been so awesome to have a mini version with a few controllable outlets like the old version even if we had to pay a little more for it. The monitoring only route doesn’t make much sense to me without the automation and/or the ability to remotely adjust things, which i know you can still buy a seperate eb832 and add it to the jr but that defeats the purpose. I guess its better than nothing but it would have been nice to have the outlets. imo it would have even been smarter to offer a wireless eb832 or maybe an eb432 so that you could still use your main base unit and control another tank in a separate part of the house.