I bought this unit about 7 months ago and it works great. It almost makes the aquarium a set it and forget it. It monitors everything I need it to and it keeps me informed of my water peramiters.

Its very helpful and i like it, but haven't figured out the wavemaker setup. Ive had it for several weeks at isnt that easy to work with. Also dont call digital aquatics for help I couldnt even get a hold of their sales rep just call BRS they were very helpful and I got it up and working after i called them.

I would agree with most of the reviews on here. The product is great but comes with no instructions. Thanks BRS for the videos. I have purchased the elite/ net package. The only thing differant I would like to see is a more aquarium safe RKE, Head unit. I did have a small spill (My Fault) and had the head unit laying on the sump self (Was still trying to figure out where I wanted to mount it) Head unit got wet a little salt water and fried!!! Would like Digital Aquatics to make a better sealed unit to maybe withstand a small spill. Like another review on here, you really need one more power strip and a few other cables. Due to warranty will not cover water damage, I have decided to just purchase the elite plus package. By the time I buy another RKE Head and another power strip, for just a little more, I will have a spare SID card, Power Strip, and cables. OVER ALL, LOVE THE PRODUCT!!!!

Overall the product is SoSo. They are not in the same ball park with companies and products like Vortech and Digital Aquatics. I say this because their salinity meter is poor and their product support is well below par.

I dropped $500 on the Elite module about 6-7 months ago. It stopped working and tried to call in for which their phones were not working and would just hang up when you call or give busy signal. Thankfully their was email. I had to pay $20 to ship the short circut device back to them only to waste a week for them to tell me they were not standing behind their 2 year warranty and would have to pay $215 for a new one. To make matters worse they stated I needed to pay for return shipping for my 6 month old product.

I have never been so disatisfied and upset with a company. I have been in the hobby for 10 years. I had no other choice but to buy another one since I alreayd invested close to $700 after all the modules I have added on. I would never reccommend this company to a family or friend.

I ordered this controller and everything worked perfectly. It took me several nights to get the basics. Everything worked like it should, but it wasn't the right controller for me. I wasn't crazy about the interface so I switched to an Apex. I have nothing against this controller or its functionality, it just wasn't a good match for me.

Disclaimer: I bought this directly from DA, before I knew about BRS. And I got introduced to BRS because there were no instructions to setup this thing and BRS TV was a life saver.

The only reason I did not get the Reefkeeper Elite was because it seemed so expensive. In hind-sight though, this thing saved me a couple grand already. Here's how this thing is invaluable:

1) I have dual main pumps, a skimmer, 2 Vortech circulation pumps, a chiller pump, a carbon reactor pump and a GFO reactor pump, -- 7 things that need to be switched off or on or a mix of some off and some on when a) I am feeding the fish or b) I'm feeding the corals or c) I'm doing a water change. With Reefkeeper, I just hit the standby 1 or 2 or 3 (configured for fish feeding, coral feeding and water change respectively) and I do not have to worry about forgetting to turn something on. I broke a thermometer one time (before RKE) while doing a water change because I forgot to turn the damn thing off before doing a water change (Tangled wires anyone?)

2) If you're manually managing individual switches you already know how expensive a mistake of forgetting to turn something back-on is. With RKE, delayed and automatic turn-ons make it easy to manage everything and has already saved me a whole tank crash multiple times.

3) The ability to set timers, standby as well as default settings for each one of the control outlets is a life saver, even when something major goes wrong. The ability to set one device's behavior based on an input received from another device (for example, based on the pH reading or the temperature reading) is even more invaluable.

4) There's one really good reason why Reefkeeper Elite is a must have: Port sensors and control. If you do not know what I'm talking about, skip it but if you need a digital control over water level, micro pumps and dosing, RKE is a must have.

Now over to a few things where RKE failed to live up
1) This thing seems to be made by people who're good at microprocessors but really lacking in software development. my Reef 2.0 is functional but takes too long to do anything, gets stuck half the time, the USB dongle is flimsy at best (needs a couple plug/unplug cycles) or the individual modules need a software update before they work. For example, every time the module resets I have to keep pressing the buttons until I see pH at top and temp at the bottom of the display. Shouldn't I be able to set my preference through software? Or, for example if I have something for which there is no preset, its quite hard to configure it between the three selectors of On/Off/Auto. For example, if I want the Chiller to be running all the time irrespective of the temp I must choose it as on/off rather than the preset which turns it on or off based on temperature.

2) This thing is meant for aquarium use but is really sensitive to salt water. My SL1 lab connectors are corroded and I have to live with it (I'm not aware of any time I spilled water on this thing but I must have dropped a drop sometime). There are times when this thing shows Bus Error and keeps resetting itself - if you have the lights connected to this thing they also turn on and off repeatedly shocking the fish (if there is a bus error). However, this is still my fault for mounting the unit to close to the aquarium on the side when it should have been inside the cabinet or something.

3) You'd need to buy more hardware. Even with the price tag of RKE, you'd realize you need one more power strip, probably a standby SL1 or SL2, some more connectors (they look like 2 line telephone wire plugs) and certainly couple more recalibration solutions.

4) Calibration isn't easy. I wish there was a BRSTV video for that. The data never stabilizes (even for the temperature) and the pH goes off track after a couple months. Anytime you backup and restore, calibration data is off by a few decimals. I don't mind paying for the calibration solution for the pH once in a few months but its still an irritation with an otherwise very good module.

Overall, I would highly recommend reefkeeper Elite I just wish some of the annoyances were corrected.

life with a controller lets you enjoy your tank, Awesome product!

THIS CONTROLLER HAS SO MANY FEATURES THAT IT WILL MAKE USING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME A LITTLE DIFFICULT. THERE IS VIRTUALLY NO INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO OPERATE IT. ONCE YOU GET IT FIGURED OUT, IT WORKS GREAT.

Having a reefkeeper elite had made my reef automation incredibly easy. In addition, it allows for easy top off via a solenoid by using a switch valve. It is also nice to be able to turn off outlet in the event the temp raises too high. With the reefkeeper elite, you can completely automate your reef.

Over all this is a great system. It reduces "chore time" with your tank and allows you to have more fun time. The system is very versatile as you can build on over time.
That being said it is a pain to set up. My biggest compliant is that you have to do a firmware upgrade immediately. This upgrade is challenging. DA provides very good responses via the DA forum however it is nearly impossible to get a hold of a person via their customer service line.
Once it is set up it is a awesome system.

This is my first controller and I'm glad I bought it. However, since I didn't know what I was doing this was a tough thing to set up. Thanks to BRS TV for getting me started. The video was a lifesaver. The timers work great. I'm still trying to figure out the ATO function.

Get one, you won't regret it.

I love the unit, but not knowing anything about controllers, I was lucky that BRS TV had an episode about this.

This unit has so many modules that you could upgrade and upgrade and not fill out the capacity if you tried. For something as complicated as a controller can be, the instruction manual was not adequate. I would set it up using the computer rather than the small display as it is much easier.

I would recommend it, just be ready to spend a few hours in setup if you're a controller novice like I was.