Hydros Question

[E.intheC]

Hopefully this is an easy one…

I have a Hydros Control 2 and two wifi strips on my biocube tank currently.

I’m also converting my 120 FOWLR to a reef tank and would like to add a controller as I am using Kasa strips right now. Both tanks are close to each other.

What’s the best and simplest way to add control to the 120? Im aware of the “Hydros Collective” idea and like the redundancy it offers. However I don’t want to over complicate things or create problems.

Thanks in advance

 

[JeffB418]

If the tanks are co-located, I would highly suggest going with the collective path. You can connect multiple Hydros controllers with Command Bus cables, they come in lengths from 1FT to 50FT. The 1FT-14FT options are standard command bus, which means they carry POWER and DATA. This means you can add another Control X2 or X4 (or other Control) to your existing Control 2, and NOT need an additional power source to power it. Command Bus cables over 15FT that are offered directly from Coralvue.com are 25FT and 50FT, these cables are DATA ONLY. This means that no power is provided over these cables and any additional Control you add onto your system after this longer cable has to have an additional power source.

So the question is, do you need 14FT or 25FT+ between your 2 tank setups. That will decide your setup.

Second thing about Collectives is something called a Command Bus Terminator. 1 of these is required when you setup a collective. They plug into the open command bus port at the end of the chain of devices. So for example if you have a setup that uses standard DATA and POWER command bus cables, it would look like this, with the terminator at the end:

Now if you end up having to use a DATA ONLY cable, you will end up having a power supply at each end... so you then say "hey if power is plugged on each end, how do I add a terminator then if theres no open ports? Well coralvue sells a Hydros power supply that INCLUDES the termination function as well. That way your second device not only gets power, but you also terminate the bus properly. They can be found at: https://www.coralvue.com/hydros-control-power-supply
Disclaimer: terminated power supplies SHOULD be included in Starter Packs as well, BUT thats not 100% guaranteed since non-terminated supplies were phased out slowly over the last year. So if you get old stock, theres a chance you get a non-terminated supply. Best bet is to buy one directly from the link above.

1-14FT command bus cables can be bought here: https://www.coralvue.com/hydros-system-command-bus-cable

The reason I recommend the collective is that the more Hydros devices you add, the more redundancy your system builds. And plus your system can expand as your ecosystem grows. Plus all the devices look like 1 big device in your app, so you can see inputs/outputs from either tank in one system.

More info on the collective:

HYDROS Control - Adding to Collective

Here is an easy to follow how-to add your WaveEngine to your existing HYDROS Collective.

www.coralvuehydros.com

 

[E.intheC]

Thank you- it looks easy enough to connect

 

[n2585722]

Thank you- it looks easy enough to connect

Just make sure when you create the collective in the app you currently have access to your controller that is already setup. That way those settings will become settings in the new collective. Any controller added after the original one will have any settings erased. There is only one controller added when it is created (The one you have accessed with the app at time of collective creation) all others have to be added separately after it has been created.