CoralVUE Hydros

[JoshH]

The X3 monitor starter pack is a good one for that. The XS will add 4 more sense ports that will give you 6 sense ports and a pH port. The wifi strips are only 39.99 each and have 4 controllable AC outlet and 4 USB outlets that are controlled as one. That is all you would have to do to start using it as a controller. you will need a command buss cable and a terminator to connect them as one controller. Also you will get push notifications on any device you have app installed on. They do plan on having a couple of wired AC outlet options in the future. I have two of the XS units and an X3 in the collective. If you haven't seen the App here are some screenshots. You can separate your inputs and outputs etc into pages. This is set to the dark mode. I got screenshots of my hex tank page and the page for the storage tanks in the garage. On the inputs if the outer ring is highlighted blue they are within normal limits. The outputs that the outer ring are highlighted blue are on. The ones that are grey are off. The pH, temp and sump full inputs on the first screenshot are from an X3. The sump high, sump low, skimmer full and stand leak 42 are from the XS that is at the tank. The inputs at the storage tanks are a mix of a X4, XS and two X2's.

Is it easy to setup an automatic water change on the hydros? If you don't mind me asking, What kits would I need to do this?

 

[JoshH]

Double Post*

 

[n2585722]

Is it easy to setup an automatic water change on the hydros? If you don't mind me asking, What kits would I need to do this?

There is now a water change output built in and also a schedule you use for it. It would require a drain pump and a fill pump. If you use it you would also need to use the ATO part of the auto water change output. I do it differently since i use one pump with two pump heads for AWC. You would need at least one water level sensor. Two would be better. Here are a couple of screen shots for the water change output and schedule. I don't have them setup since I don't use it but it will give you an idea of the settings. The first one is the schedule settings and the last one is the output settings.

 

[MJV15]

I know that Neptune rules the world of tank controllers, but it comes at a high price. Has anyone used the Hydros controllers and if so what is your opinion of it?

I have a control4 running my WB7225 for almost a year now. No major issues or complaints other than I wish they had a native doser.

 

[KenRexford]

Never had Apex so can't compare, but I love the Hydros. I have a collective with the Hydros Control 4 and the Hydros Wave Engine. Easy stuff is easy. Hard stuff can be worked out once you know the weird tricks. Customer service for me has been ridiculously good.

 

[JoshH]

There is now a water change output built in and also a schedule you use for it. It would require a drain pump and a fill pump. If you use it you would also need to use the ATO part of the auto water change output. I do it differently since i use one pump with two pump heads for AWC. You would need at least one water level sensor. Two would be better. Here are a couple of screen shots for the water change output and schedule. I don't have them setup since I don't use it but it will give you an idea of the settings. The first one is the schedule settings and the last one is the output settings.

I am guessing you could set it up so the return pump shuts off and then the water change is done then turns the return back on?

 

[n2585722]

I am guessing you could set it up so the return pump shuts off and then the water change is done then turns the return back on?

There were people doing it before they came out with the output and schedule. I do not know if they were turning off the return pump or not. I know I don't but i am removing and adding water at the same time so I don't need to turn off any other pumps.

 

[n2585722]

I have a control4 running my WB7225 for almost a year now. No major issues or complaints other than I wish they had a native doser.

Like this one here.

 

[reefiniteasy]

I run a X4/XS/WE collective. Been using for 11 months and love it. I have had no issues with anything.

 

[MJV15]

Like this one here.

Oh snap!!!

 

[ingchr1]

Like this one here.

Here's the point in the workshop where they discuss it:

 

[n2585722]

Is it easy to setup an automatic water change on the hydros? If you don't mind me asking, What kits would I need to do this?

Here is a link to how they were doing the AWC before the new release. I don't see anything about turning off the return pump. they are using the ATO sensor as the fill sensor so i would thing the return pump would have to be running for that to work.

Auto Water Change (Advanced Users ONLY)

For those who want to do an auto water change before Coralvue releases their easy AWC profile, I figured out how to do it with what's available now, but its not super straight forward and very detailed oriented. The following is for advanced users, if you do try this make sure to proceed with...

forum.coralvuehydros.com

I use a dosing pump and the water change. it is split into 3 times a day For a total of 2757ml a day. i use a dosing schedule to do this. The only issue is the dosing schedule will only do 500ml a day per schedule. So to use a single schedule I divided the flow rate of the pump by 10 and used this for the flow rate. I also took the 2757 and divided it by 10 for the total dose for the day. So as far as the Hydros is concerned it is dosing something. Below is the setup for the pump output for my AWC pump. Notice the flow rate is set at 8.3ml but the pump actually pumps 83ml. Since I have a 20 gallon tank that this is pulled from And it will be used for another tank also. I am not tracking the amount used from the storage tank.

Below is the setup for the AWC schedule. It setup to dispense 275.7ml per day but but since the pump actualy pump 10x the amout it is actually pumping out 2757ml. The dose count set how many times it will dose during the time frame set. The doser count set how many pumps the schedule controls. In this case it is one. Active in modes determines which modes the schedule will still run in. In this case it is actually set to run in all modes except low power mode. The start time is set for 7:00am and the end time is set to 1:00am. So the first change starts at 7:00am and runs for about 11 minutes. The second on runs at 1:00pm and runs for about 11 minutes. The third one runs at 7:00pm and runs for about 11 minutes. So it splits the time into three equal sections which includes the off time between so that is why the last dispense does not happen at the end time set. I have it set to run every day and it will run as long as the AWC OK output is active. If that output is off the water change will not run. I have a overfull sensor and under full sensor in the sump which will stop the change via the AWC OK output. That output also has a FSW storage low sensor that will stop the water change along with some leak detectors. The water level sensors are input controlling the output the low sump and low FSW tank are active when wet and the sump overfull is active when dry. All inputs have to be active for the output to be on. The depends on for the AWC OK output is set to the leak all output which turns on if any of the leak detectors are active.

Below is a log of the AWC output. Since this is a dosing output it shows how much was dosed at the start of the off time. In this case the actual would be 919ml each time since the actual flow is 10x what the controller is aware of. Before the dosing schedules I was using a generic output with a schedule set to run 11 minutes each time 3 times a day. I wanted to check out the dosing schedules so I moved it to them to test it out. It works great this way.

 

[FishyFishFish]

I was on the fence with Hydros as my personal experience with Coralvue has not been great. However, I did like the look of the system and took advantage of the Black Friday discount to get an XS starter pack.

First impressions are generally positive. I think the back plate of the controller could be a bit more substantial bit it's fine. The wifi power strip is a lot smaller than I thought it would be, which is great and it will be pretty easy to mount.

The only annoyance so far is that, despite the controller and the power strip coming with a way to mount them, they don't include any screws. A small issue maybe, but for the sake of a few cents, I now have to make a special visit to Home Depot and it will delay the setup until the weekend.

 

[n2585722]

I was on the fence with Hydros as my personal experience with Coralvue has not been great. However, I did like the look of the system and took advantage of the Black Friday discount to get an XS starter pack.

First impressions are generally positive. I think the back plate of the controller could be a bit more substantial bit it's fine. The wifi power strip is a lot smaller than I thought it would be, which is great and it will be pretty easy to mount.

The only annoyance so far is that, despite the controller and the power strip coming with a way to mount them, they don't include any screws. A small issue maybe, but for the sake of a few cents, I now have to make a special visit to Home Depot and it will delay the setup until the weekend.

I got 8 controllers for use with my system and I never realized they did not come with screws. I have custom mounting boards that use inserts anyway. So I would not have used them anyway.

 

[rockdiver]

I was on the fence with Hydros as my personal experience with Coralvue has not been great. However, I did like the look of the system and took advantage of the Black Friday discount to get an XS starter pack.

First impressions are generally positive. I think the back plate of the controller could be a bit more substantial bit it's fine. The wifi power strip is a lot smaller than I thought it would be, which is great and it will be pretty easy to mount.

The only annoyance so far is that, despite the controller and the power strip coming with a way to mount them, they don't include any screws. A small issue maybe, but for the sake of a few cents, I now have to make a special visit to Home Depot and it will delay the setup until the weekend.

I said the EXACT same thing about the screws lol