Hydros + Carlos = Awesome!

minus9 · May 1, 2020

I bought the Hydros ETM version with a couple direct drive cables for my Maxspect 330's and the apex link cable. Picked up everything on Monday and proceeded to set it up. It took me a few tries to get the Wi-Fi on the controller set up, you have to wait until the Wi-Fi is directly connected, which seemed to take some time. After I was able to connect it and log in, it prompted me to update the firmware. After updating the firmware, I logged in again and it prompted me to update the firmware again, kinda strange, but I did it again. On my third log in it prompted to update the firmware again, which I skipped this time and proceeded to move forward with the set up. I was able to get the gyres connect and running, but they seemed weak in power and super loud for how little water they were pushing. I paused on the gyres, then proceeded to set up my MP40's. I went through the steps, but for some reason they wouldn't connect to the Hydros, even though they were 2" from the controller. So I decided to submit a ticket with CoralVue and wait for a response. I believe it was after hours on Tuesday? Wednesday I received a response from Carlos and he proceeded to help me. He was able to log into my Hydros, update the firmware, check my settings and verify everything was working properly. After his update, I was able to connect my vortechs without issue and they started to move some water, woohoo! But, my gyres were still acting goofy, so I connected them to the Maxspect controller to make sure it wasn't user error, but they worked just fine. Carlos continued to help me try to solve the issue and I provided a bunch of videos showing the difference between the Maxspect controller and the Hydros. Again, all the settings on the Hydros were set properly, but they continued to barely push water and they were really loud. While I was going through the pump settings on the Hydros app, I noticed a tab for "invert rotation", in case you want to run the pumps in reverse (which I didn't want to use that option in my shallow tank, otherwise it turns into a sandstorm) so I decided to turn that option on, viola! It worked! The pumps started to push major water again, yes! My only guess is that the direct drive cables were wired backwards or they were put in the wrong package? Either way, the problem was solved and Carlos walked me through the whole process and was helping every way he could. I can't say enough about how great CV's customer support is, but I'll try. Carlos, you were super helpful, responsive, polite and everything else that goes with being a great person. Thanks again for all of your help and patience with setting up my hydros. Hopefully we’ll have the west coast RAP this year? If so, the drinks are on me!
Cheers and happy reefing!
CoralVue fan for life!
John

minus9 · May 1, 2020

Kyl · May 1, 2020

Invert rotation seems to be hit or miss. My IC1K's require invert, as does my IC4K. My XF230's and XF350 worked fine.

CoralVue_Marketing · May 1, 2020

minus9 said:
I bought the Hydros ETM version with a couple direct drive cables for my Maxspect 330's and the apex link cable. Picked up everything on Monday and proceeded to set it up. It took me a few tries to get the Wi-Fi on the controller set up, you have to wait until the Wi-Fi is directly connected, which seemed to take some time. After I was able to connect it and log in, it prompted me to update the firmware. After updating the firmware, I logged in again and it prompted me to update the firmware again, kinda strange, but I did it again. On my third log in it prompted to update the firmware again, which I skipped this time and proceeded to move forward with the set up. I was able to get the gyres connect and running, but they seemed weak in power and super loud for how little water they were pushing. I paused on the gyres, then proceeded to set up my MP40's. I went through the steps, but for some reason they wouldn't connect to the Hydros, even though they were 2" from the controller. So I decided to submit a ticket with CoralVue and wait for a response. I believe it was after hours on Tuesday? Wednesday I received a response from Carlos and he proceeded to help me. He was able to log into my Hydros, update the firmware, check my settings and verify everything was working properly. After his update, I was able to connect my vortechs without issue and they started to move some water, woohoo! But, my gyres were still acting goofy, so I connected them to the Maxspect controller to make sure it wasn't user error, but they worked just fine. Carlos continued to help me try to solve the issue and I provided a bunch of videos showing the difference between the Maxspect controller and the Hydros. Again, all the settings on the Hydros were set properly, but they continued to barely push water and they were really loud. While I was going through the pump settings on the Hydros app, I noticed a tab for "invert rotation", in case you want to run the pumps in reverse (which I didn't want to use that option in my shallow tank, otherwise it turns into a sandstorm) so I decided to turn that option on, viola! It worked! The pumps started to push major water again, yes! My only guess is that the direct drive cables were wired backwards or they were put in the wrong package? Either way, the problem was solved and Carlos walked me through the whole process and was helping every way he could. I can't say enough about how great CV's customer support is, but I'll try. Carlos, you were super helpful, responsive, polite and everything else that goes with being a great person. Thanks again for all of your help and patience with setting up my hydros. Hopefully we’ll have the west coast RAP this year? If so, the drinks are on me!
Cheers and happy reefing!
CoralVue fan for life!
John

I sent this over to Carlos a moment ago. I'm sure it will brighten his day!

Carlos is a jack-of-all-trades who is actually good at all of them. He's always happy to help me with my PC, marketing, and, of course, my aquarium.

John, you're the best!

Hausser · May 1, 2020

Nice, waiting on my hydros to show up today.

CoralVue_Marketing · May 1, 2020

Hausser said:
Nice, waiting on my hydros to show up today.

Watch our HYDROS video playlist and check out our Getting Started Guide online so you can get up and running quickly. Open a Support Ticket ✉ if you need us. We're here for ya!

minus9 · May 1, 2020

They’re loving the flow from the hydros!

CoralVue_Marketing · May 1, 2020

minus9 said:
They’re loving the flow from the hydros!

Now you're just showing off ... and we like it!

Bluedore · May 2, 2020

Great tips on the invert rotations! I had the same issue of pumps working but not moving much water. Once I turn on the invert rotations, BAM! waters spilling out.

minus9 · May 2, 2020

@CoralVue what’s the experimental version of the hydros app?

CoralVue_Marketing · May 3, 2020

minus9 said:
@CoralVue what’s the experimental version of the hydros app?

It serves several different purposes. There may even be different experimental versions available at any given time.

One example is we fixed a bug that is affecting a small subset of users. We may not be ready to roll out the next firmware/app update to all users because there are several other things in that update that are not yet ready for the public. So we could have those specific users load the experimental version to solve their issue without pushing out a public update that could adversely affect more users.

Another example is for testing purposes. During Alpha testing, employees could load versions of the app to test improvements or new features. Initially HYDROS would use WiFi to connect to a device. It quickly became apparent people were having connectivity issues. So now we connect to a device via Bluetooth before switching over to WiFi/cloud control. This was a major improvement that Alpha testers/employees test drove before updating the firmware for all users.

If anyone listened to our livestream with @ReefNewsNetwork, you may have heard that major changes are coming to the user interface of the HYDROS operating system. With our aquarium controllers (Control 2 and Control 4) finally going out to Beta testers in a couple of weeks, chances are they will get to experience the updated OS using an experimental version of the app from the get-go. There isn't much reason for them to learn the current version of the app when the new version will launch before the controllers get released.

minus9 · May 3, 2020

Jeff@CoralVue said:
It serves several different purposes. There may even be different experimental versions available at any given time.

One example is we fixed a bug that is affecting a small subset of users. We may not be ready to roll out the next firmware/app update to all users because there are several other things in that update that are not yet ready for the public. So we could have those specific users load the experimental version to solve their issue without pushing out a public update that could adversely affect more users.

Another example is for testing purposes. During Alpha testing, employees could load versions of the app to test improvements or new features. Initially HYDROS would use WiFi to connect to a device. It quickly became apparent people were having connectivity issues. So now we connect to a device via Bluetooth before switching over to WiFi/cloud control. This was a major improvement that Alpha testers/employees test drove before updating the firmware for all users.

If anyone listened to our livestream with @ReefNewsNetwork, you may have heard that major changes are coming to the user interface of the HYDROS operating system. With our aquarium controllers (Control 2 and Control 4) finally going out to Beta testers in a couple of weeks, chances are they will get to experience the updated OS using an experimental version of the app from the get-go. There isn't much reason for them to learn the current version of the app when the new version will launch before the controllers get released.

Awesome! Thank you so much for the explaination. Yes, I watched the non-live live stream and was curious about the improvements to the Hydros app. I must say that I really love the Hydros so far and can't wait to dig deeper into programming it more. I've been patiently waiting to get my gyres and vortechs under one umbrella and now that I actually have the Hydros, it has exceeded my expectations.
Btw, if you need any beta testers, I'm more than willing to help out in any way possible.
Cheers!