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Official Hydros Thread (1 Viewer)

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soymilk

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Just wanted a thread to hold all the hydros stuff for now.

Gonna try to run my Infinia tank on hydros. Gonna try to track the differences. Pros and cons. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask.

If anyone else has some hydros experience, please feel free to throw in your experiences. Positive or negative.
 

Cody

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I’m sorry, but I’m a god fearing, law abiding citizen and I won’t sit idly by while you openly talk about growing hydro!

Also, what is hydros?
 
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soymilk

soymilk

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John, It’s a newish controller from coralvue. It’s seems interesting and I agree with a lot of its base concepts.

The apex revolves around the apex “brain”. If that one item fails then possibly your whole setup could come crashing down.
Hydros is built on a concept of multiple components being a controller. So if one device fails, the others will continue to work. Interesting concept.

It’s cheap enough for me to give it a shot and compare it to the apex. I currently have an apex and apex el. So I feel like I have some experience to compare it to. Coralvue is huge enough that I believe if they continue to support it, it can grow to be a healthy competitor to the apex.


 
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soymilk

soymilk

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IMG_0968.jpg

With the help of another reefer I was able to my hands on a hydros controller. I wanted to give a few sensors a test so I bought the skimmer sensor and the hydros feeder.

IMG_0972.jpg

The wifi power strip feels a little cheapish, but at 40 msrp it isn't bad for a wifi controlled powerstrip. Time will tell if it is reliable or not.

I will play with everything over the weekend and report my findings. If anyone has any questions, go ahead and shoot.
 
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soymilk

soymilk

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Lets talk fish feeder

WARNING - It doesn't explicitly tell you, but you need a hydros controller to be able to use this feeder. The packaging outside doesn't make it abundantly clear.


I don't have first hand experience with the Neptune Feeder, But I did get a chance to look at the feeder from Avast Marine. I feel like those are pretty much the competitors to this one, I'd be comparing it more to the cheaper ehiem feeder.

IMG_0969.jpg

If you're thinking it looks familiar then you'd be correct. Its basically an ehiem feeder that normally sells for about 25 bucks. So what does the extra 10 dollars get you.
67108188923__AFD87BC0-3A5E-4909-9BF2-7CB89E8002F8.jpg


Main differences between this and the ehiem

- more robust mounting system. You can install this on a tank with an eurobracing since the adapter can be swapped around. In the pic above its being mounted to 3/4 glass. I want to say it should be able to support 1" glass.

- There are holes in the feeding dispenser cup that helps with modulating how much feed goes out. It helps when you're trying to feed smaller amounts.

- usb powered. I can see this possibly being an issue for some people. But it being directly powered means it can be turn on and off remotely if connected to a controller. In remote situations, its been reported that some users are using usb battery bricks to power the feeder. seems convenient for those can't have direct power to connect the feeder.

- the ability to feed more than 4 times per day. This is kinda big, esp if you have fish with short digestive tracks. Continuous feeding is being pushed now as a more natural way of feeding the fish. Its argued that in the wild they aren't eatting at 7am and 7 pm everyday. So in a bid to mimic their natural feeding patterns, having feed available for them though out the day seems logically more healthy.


I misplaced the usb cable for power last night so I haven't been able to connect it to the controller. I'll report back tonight on the app and programming
 
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soymilk

soymilk

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Connecting the feeder was a little bit more wonky then I would like. Fine tuning the amount of feeds and intervals is pretty nice. Programming the ehiem isn’t hard, but being able to adjust it though the hydros app is so much faster.

The ehiem is limited to 2 or 3 rotations per feeding. The hydros can feed more often and more amount wise per feeding. If you like the ehiem, the hydros is a no brainer if you’re in the hydros family.
 

Erin

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The Hydros looks more user friendly (I have zero experience with any controller besides the Reefkeeper, which I love)
 

BigRick

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The Hydros looks more user friendly (I have zero experience with any controller besides the Reefkeeper, which I love)
I have no experience with the new hydros... Apex is easy and very controllable once you learn it. I just hope the hydros quality has gotten better. I had multiple hydros wavemaker pumps go out while trying them. I guess its more Android vs Apple then anything. U pay for quality.
 
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soymilk

soymilk

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I started a long write up on the differences but it got deleted lol.

What hydros pumps are you talking about? I don’t think hydros made pumps under that name badge. @BigRick
 
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soymilk

soymilk

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968C3B19-17EC-4138-8D19-721D6C8B2E50.jpeg

Having experience with apex programming for the past 10 years. I want to say I am fairly familiar with programming one. Not to mention you can google some apex code pretty fast.

I have to admit programming for the hydros is fairly straight forward. It’s very conversational and once you kinda get the core concept it becomes pretty easy. I haven’t tackled anything super complicated. But hopefully I will try to program a calc Rx using the hydros and see how hard/easy it is.

FBEE2E5E-A824-48F9-8BB4-BE77B1DA465C.png

I added the skimmer cup optical sensor for cutoff.

First added the input. Selected the skimmer optical sensor and linked it to “sense” port 2. Then added an output. Output was to turn off the skimmer of optical sensor was active. All in all took me 3 mins to set that up without looking up anything. Pretty straight forward.

One of the nice things about running a hydros is having multiple “controllers” running. The equivalent for apex would be each module would be its own controller too. A nice fail safe if the main controller dies somehow.
 
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soymilk

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I’m running maxspect gyres with mines right now.

To paraphrase Carlos from coralvue “ we aren’t gonna re-invent the wheel, we are going to help bring brands that everyone knows and uses to hydros”

- Gyres and wave makers from maxspect and reef octo.
- Optical sensors from xp aqua
- dosers from kamoer
 

R-BallJunkie

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Hmmm, I'm biased so if this post comes off as fanboi like....err it really is. After going thru the gyrations of setting up a new system from scratch, top to bottom...started with a full GHL stack w/Kh director. After 5million tech support tickets to Vinnie, watching endless tutorials and posting on GHL forums, decided to ditch the platform in whole because it sucks....really sucks. Sure, i'll get a reaction from someone in the GHL camp but its totally dated in many ways. Antiquated best describes the interface, SW and usability. Sometimes i don't want infinite flexibility that came with the GHL, i want preset, gonna cover 95% of my needs programming. My last Aquacontroller experience was with the Jr....starting to date myself a bit. It served its purpose in the mid 2000's to mid 2015'ish era. Nothing flashy but served its purpose. So, have to say, experience with three platforms. I decided to go all in with Hydros. Fast forward a year, this controller has been reliable, intuitive and cant think of using another platform moving forward. Setup consists of 2x X4's, 1x wave engine 12X outlets and a Alkatronic. Have to say, love having the crazy redundancy built in with the "collective", 2x system ph probes (4 total), 3x leak detection, double RO makeup water solenoids. The Alkatronic ties in seamlessly, allowing for control of the CO2 in the CaRx. The new XP8 really levels the playing field when looking at the big 3.
 
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soymilk

soymilk

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I was about to ping you on your thoughts. I remember you running a hydros system from the trident/alkatronic thread we were in.

Good to know it’s been working for you. I am coming from apex so it’s a little hard to let go but honestly I’m liking the hydros more and more as I get more familiar with it. Really considering getting rid of the apex on the big tank and just going hydros all the way.
 

RR-MAN

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Hydros look promising - I definitely want a wave engine.

How do you like it so far?
 

MurseJB

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Wave engine has been working well. 3 less power bricks and super intuitive programing for my gyres and octopulses. Have yet to test out how it does with the vortechs just bc I was lazy to sync them, but for sure on to do list. I do like the interface vs my apex interface. I have yet to set up the main hydros controller to test it as Soymilk has... other toys have taken priority.. new pellet grill and a OneWheel GT :cool:
 

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Are there any brands of pumps, lights, etc, that are not compatible with the Hydros? Can you use Neptune products with it? (Thinking lights here...)
 
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