So who else is excited about the new HYDROS Control 4?

CoralVue_Marketing · Feb 6, 2020

slojim said:
I've thought about a few home automation applications in the past, but I'm not ready for a controller yet so I haven't given it more than passing thought, and I'm not sure yet if it is something I'd get real use of or not.
1) local alarms - like turn a living room light a particular color for various parameters out of spec - so the alarms have different urgency
2) thermostat integration - where I live, it's hot most of the year. The furnace runs sparingly, and I might swap back and forth between furnace, AC, or nothing in the winter. If I was controlling the temperature of the tank directly, I might change the deadband of the heater depending on the house climate control mode - maybe fewer cycles is less risk of heater failure. Conversely, if a heater failed and I shut it off, I might alter the house temperature to give me longer to address the problem.
That said, the hubitat intrigues me, so if I got one, I'd probably want to link in my aquarium somehow just to demonstrate I could.
I'm a year or so from a controller in my mind, but this looks pretty interesting.

I like the idea of using a light in another room to alert you to an issue with the tank. My aquarium is in the entry of my home, but I spend most of my time in the office in my bedroom. A visual cue that something is amiss could really get my attention when I might be otherwise super plugged into what I'm doing on the computer at any particular moment.

southerntnreefer · Feb 6, 2020

Jeff@CoralVue said:
I like the idea of using a light in another room to alert you to an issue with the tank. My aquarium is in the entry of my home, but I spend most of my time in the office in my bedroom. A visual cue that something is amiss could really get my attention when I might be otherwise super plugged into what I'm doing on the computer at any particular moment.

I love this idea too! i mean id love a big red light if something is out of range etc, and i see it when i walk in the door.

Ericm1205 · Feb 9, 2020

I have a dumb question. Since reef keeper was discontinued, why didn’t u buy that and expanded on it since a lot of the hobby has them? My RKE was perfect for my clown breeding 9(15 laying pairs) system years ago. All I had to do was feed those angry clowns 8 times a day. Lol. Best thing RK made was the multi temp unit. I could keep temp in multi hatch tanks at the same time.

I do like your hydros system. When I get back into salt. Be like the 3rd thing I buy besides the tank and stand.

CoralVue_Marketing · Feb 10, 2020

Ericm1205 said:
I have a dumb question. Since reef keeper was discontinued, why didn’t u buy that and expanded on it since a lot of the hobby has them? My RKE was perfect for my clown breeding 9(15 laying pairs) system years ago. All I had to do was feed those angry clowns 8 times a day. Lol. Best thing RK made was the multi temp unit. I could keep temp in multi hatch tanks at the same time.

I do like your hydros system. When I get back into salt. Be like the 3rd thing I buy besides the tank and stand.

I joined CoralVue in June of last year, so if that idea was entertained here, it was before my time. Although gossip I've heard (which could be absolutely wrong, so take this with a grain of salt) is that different companies did approach Digital Aquatics about working with them to carry on with the controllers or purchase that side of the business to keep it going. Whether this is complete hearsay or not, I can't be sure, but I heard DA didn't follow through with exploring these opportunities. Again, I don't know if any of what I just said is true, so if anyone reading this actually does know, please feel free to correct me!

As far as HYDROS goes, I know CoralVue has been working on this for at least 2 years. I also know the HYDROS philosophy wouldn't really work with the Digital Aquatics way of doing things. Namely that we don't have a central "brain." Every HYDROS device we release will have its own brain. So you can use each product by itself or as part of a larger system. There will be a lot of inroads to HYDROS and you're not necessarily going to have to start with an aquarium controller like other brands.

n2585722 · Feb 10, 2020

Ericm1205 said:
I have a dumb question. Since reef keeper was discontinued, why didn’t u buy that and expanded on it since a lot of the hobby has them? My RKE was perfect for my clown breeding 9(15 laying pairs) system years ago. All I had to do was feed those angry clowns 8 times a day. Lol. Best thing RK made was the multi temp unit. I could keep temp in multi hatch tanks at the same time.

I do like your hydros system. When I get back into salt. Be like the 3rd thing I buy besides the tank and stand.

As far as buying DA the issue would be everything was made at Dynon Instruments. I don't think there was a way to seperate the DA side from Dynon.

CoralVue_Marketing · Feb 10, 2020

n2585722 said:
As far as buying DA the issue would be everything was made at Dynon Instruments. I don't think there was a way to seperate the DA side from Dynon.

True dat. It's just unfortunate when a product people like goes away. The ReefKeeper Lite was super popular for quite a long time. The price was right!

n2585722 · Feb 10, 2020

Jeff@CoralVue said:
True dat. It's just unfortunate when a product people like goes away. The ReefKeeper Lite was super popular for quite a long time. The price was right!

I did get to meet several of the people that worked there over the years. I was a team DA member and also a beta tester for them. I hated to see them loose their jobs at the end.

CoralVue_Marketing · Feb 11, 2020

n2585722 said:
I did get to meet several of the people that worked there over the years. I was a team DA member and also a beta tester for them. I hated to see them loose their jobs at the end.

I would enjoy it when Scott from DA would visit my previous employer. He was always nice and easy to talk to.

n2585722 · Feb 11, 2020

Jeff@CoralVue said:
I would enjoy it when Scott from DA would visit my previous employer. He was always nice and easy to talk to.

I think he is working in Europe somewhere. I think I met him at one of the MACNA events, but that was after he had left DA. He had something to do with a new type of lighting if I remember correctly.

CoralVue_Marketing · Feb 11, 2020

n2585722 said:
I think he is working in Europe somewhere. I think I met him at one of the MACNA events, but that was after he had left DA. He had something to do with a new type of lighting if I remember correctly.

Yep, Euroquatics!

ether · Apr 8, 2020

Jeff@CoralVue said:
We are working on accessories now. I assume most if not all will be released when the controllers are. Some accessories that I am aware of that are in development include a CO2 Solenoid Valve, DC Solenoid Valve, DC Pump, AC Switch, Temperature Sensor, Skimmer Sensor, Level Sensor, Leak Detectors, and Flow Rate Sensors. The Sense Ports are universal so any sensor could be plugged into them, you won't need any sort of adapter. The ATO pump will plug into a Drive Port so it can be powered by the controller.

So the only hesitation I have is the number of sense ports on the Hydros4. I started counting up the number of sense ports I will need: skimmer sensor, ato sensor, level sensor for ato container, temp, ph, salinity (if available?), a couple leak detectors, I'm sure I will think of more. This quickly exceeds the 4 available in the brain unit. Will there be some way to connect more "sense" units without buying several brain units?

SuncrestReef · Apr 8, 2020

ether said:
So the only hesitation I have is the number of sense ports on the Hydros4. I started counting up the number of sense ports I will need: skimmer sensor, ato sensor, level sensor for ato container, temp, ph, salinity (if available?), a couple leak detectors, I'm sure I will think of more. This quickly exceeds the 4 available in the brain unit. Will there be some way to connect more "sense" units without buying several brain units?

I proposed the idea of a dedicated "Sense Module" a few months ago. They said there's no immediate plans, but hopefully will get their team thinking about offering it at some point. See https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/control-monitor-your-aquarium-for-199-99.687569/post-7037635

southerntnreefer · Apr 8, 2020

Ultimiately that is one reason why i went for another controller for my 72 build, is i had too much equipment that id need a sense port for.

n2585722 · Apr 8, 2020

ether said:
So the only hesitation I have is the number of sense ports on the Hydros4. I started counting up the number of sense ports I will need: skimmer sensor, ato sensor, level sensor for ato container, temp, ph, salinity (if available?), a couple leak detectors, I'm sure I will think of more. This quickly exceeds the 4 available in the brain unit. Will there be some way to connect more "sense" units without buying several brain units?

There are also the 4 0-10v inputs on the control 4 that can be used as switch inputs. I plan on using these for my level sensors in my three storage tanks. So I will have three switches on each input for that use. The only issue with more than one switch on a single 0-10v input is only one switch will show as triggered, but with the level switches in a single tank there should only be one at a time triggered anyway. Like my sump it has currently 4 float switches that are at different levels. I believe I will be able to use one 0-10v input for all four of these switches since each switch is triggered at a different water level.

Carlos@CoralVue · Apr 8, 2020

ether said:
So the only hesitation I have is the number of sense ports on the Hydros4. I started counting up the number of sense ports I will need: skimmer sensor, ato sensor, level sensor for ato container, temp, ph, salinity (if available?), a couple leak detectors, I'm sure I will think of more. This quickly exceeds the 4 available in the brain unit. Will there be some way to connect more "sense" units without buying several brain units?

Yes, there are going to be plenty of Sense Ports. Like you, my system at bare-bones uses 5 different sense inputs not including the two pH probes that I need so we are definitely going to take care of the sense ports when the control comes out.

ether · Apr 23, 2020

Coralvue website now shows a release date for the co trip units of fall 2020...ugh...

southerntnreefer · Apr 23, 2020

ether said:
Coralvue website now shows a release date for the co trip units of fall 2020...ugh...

Doesn't surprise me with everything going on. Went another way, but need to clean up the gear on the 220, so might go for a control 2 for that once it's available.

ether · Sep 17, 2020

Carlos@CoralVue said:
Yes, there are going to be plenty of Sense Ports. Like you, my system at bare-bones uses 5 different sense inputs not including the two pH probes that I need so we are definitely going to take care of the sense ports when the control comes out.

Any update on release date?