Both Monte and I have made quite a few comments about the Apex on this and other forums. Monte is a bit more optimistic than me about how well the Apex works in iron. There isn't anything you can do to adjust recovery speed on the Apex so you have to use other tricks to optimize it in iron. I'm sure Monte will offer up some tips and they will probably differ from mine.
For me personally I have found that using zero mode, MF, iron audio off gives the best chance of unmasking good targets in iron. Relic mode can also be used but it's easier to miss a partially masked target. A slower consistent sweep speed is also essential as the Apex is not very forgiving when it comes to sweep speed. If you're hunting an area with shallow targets (2" or under) it helps to hold the coil about 3" off the ground to get better separation. If targets are deeper, then swing the normal 1-2" off the ground. You're also going to have to investigate any chirps above the iron tone from different directions as they could be a good target next to iron. The most important thing to remember with the Apex is that iron tends to pull the ID and audio waaaaaay down, like a dime in iron can barely register above the iron break at 35. IMO opinion 5 tones was a bad choice with this machine. Anyway that's my condensed version. Monte is a man of many words and when he chimes in he will give you an even better run down of the Apex than I can. Good Luck!
Andrew
XP Deus-Minelab Equinox 800-Minelab GPX 4000-Tarsacci MDT 8000-Minelab Vanquish 540-Easy Radar ER500A GPR