New build, planning on ditching Apex for Hydros looking for feedback on ATO unit

[littlebigreef]

I'm very well familiar with Apex as I use it to run my display and trough. However, on my new build I'm looking at trying hydros for a few reasons with cost, versatility, modularity, and Apex/Aperture/Brs's current financial issues.

Tunze is discontinuing the ato 3155 which I currently run. What are folks opinions on this unit? I've read reviews stating that it needs to be 'rebooted' after power loss (same with temp probes), is this indeed the case?

 

[X-37B]

I'm very well familiar with Apex as I use it to run my display and trough. However, on my new build I'm looking at trying hydros for a few reasons with cost, versatility, modularity, and Apex/Aperture/Brs's current financial issues.

Tunze is discontinuing the ato 3155 which I currently run. What are folks opinions on this unit? I've read reviews stating that it needs to be 'rebooted' after power loss (same with temp probes), is this indeed the case?

Get the new 3154. I run it and it has a 5 year warrenty.
My 3155 is almost 8 years old and still running.

 

[scooterh928]

I use the hydros ATO and it works great. Simple to setup.

 

[littlebigreef]

I should have worded that better. I’m interested in feed back on the hydros ato.

I’m a huge fan on the tunze units but read poor feed back on their new unit ‘3.’

The reason I ask this is because the tunze 3 and hydros ato seem to have the same sensor configuration vs the 3155 with the separate eye and the float.

 

[n2585722]

Not sure what you mean about being rebooted after a power loss. When I have a power loss everything starts back up. Now I have a Kraken in both locations and have battery backup so the controllers never loose complete power. I have use the ATO function within the Hydros for my ATO. I use a Hydros simple dosing pump for the pump and a water level sensor for the input. I have had no issues with it. My DI reservoir is in my garage 35ft from the tank so the ATO pump has to pump up through the attic and then down to the tank.

 

[Treehrtsme]

You can set up your own ATo with hydros essentially however you like it depending on what I just gear you have. All you need is a sense port for water level and program that with pretty much any pump you want. The programming itself took me a minute to be honest, but it works excellent. I ended up just using their micro pump and water level sensor instead of buying the ATO kit. Never had any trouble. The nice thing is you can always add on more water level sensors as they're compact and depending on what controls you have, program it to shut off power to the pump if the water reaches a certain height to prevent overflow and do the same for your ATO reservoir in the case that the water runs low.

 

[n2585722]

If you have not seen any settings on the Hydros here is mine for my ATO. I use the generic output type so I can use more inputs to control it other than the sump ATO level sensor. Since I use the AND combiner mode all the inputs have to be in the active state for the ATO to come on along with the advanced settings, the depends on settings and the Active in modes settings.

 

[Treehrtsme]

Now that's just intimidating. I found a lot of problems with figuring out the hydro system, especially the more complicated advanced settings. The video tutorials they have online or not worth much in my opinion and I'd rather mess around with the equipment and call them customer support or post a thread but once you do get everything up and running right make sure there's no contradictions I think hydros is a great option

 

[littlebigreef]

Not sure what you mean about being rebooted after a power loss. When I have a power loss everything starts back up. Now I have a Kraken in both locations and have battery backup so the controllers never loose complete power. I have use the ATO function within the Hydros for my ATO. I use a Hydros simple dosing pump for the pump and a water level sensor for the input. I have had no issues with it. My DI reservoir is in my garage 35ft from the tank so the ATO pump has to pump up through the attic and then down to the tank.

My mistake, it was a review on the X2 controller I'm leaning towards;

"The Wi-Fi outlets do not work on Meshed internet. So basically if you have 2.5 & 5 gh it wont work. Hydros recommend adding a separate 2.5 to controller only. Disappointing to say the least."

I can figure that out, just wondering if other people experience this generally? I have good signal strength throughout the house. I still have the Apex's drop off occasionally.

But I found the next part more interesting about rebooting stuff:

"Also every time you lose power you have to re-boot you probes temp-ato-water level. Ive lost power 3 times and all 3 times i had to reset."

@n2585722 have you experienced any issues like this or just one-off issue reviewer was having?

I see where you're able to conditionally add the redundancy for the active state.

If I'm understanding correctly
input 1 - sump low sensor
input 2 & 3 - leak sensors
input 4 - probe for DI (?)
input 5 - sump high (Additional sensor or same unit as input 1?).

 

[2Plus2]

My mistake, it was a review on the X2 controller I'm leaning towards;

"The Wi-Fi outlets do not work on Meshed internet. So basically if you have 2.5 & 5 gh it wont work. Hydros recommend adding a separate 2.5 to controller only. Disappointing to say the least."

I can figure that out, just wondering if other people experience this generally? I have good signal strength throughout the house. I still have the Apex's drop off occasionally.

But I found the next part more interesting about rebooting stuff:

"Also every time you lose power you have to re-boot you probes temp-ato-water level. Ive lost power 3 times and all 3 times i had to reset."

@n2585722 have you experienced any issues like this or just one-off issue reviewer was having?

I see where you're able to conditionally add the redundancy for the active state.

If I'm understanding correctly
input 1 - sump low sensor
input 2 & 3 - leak sensors
input 4 - probe for DI (?)
input 5 - sump high (Additional sensor or same unit as input 1?).

I just got into the hydros system myself.

I will be honest here, first initial set up was a failure multiple times, for I have dual band WiFi both named the same. The hydros system will pick them both up just fine, 2.4ghz/5ghz, but if both units (controller & phone) are not on the same band it can become a headache.

I found the easiest fix for all WiFi controller headaches, On my router I enabled the guest WiFi which only runs on 2.4ghz and named it "Hydros System", connected my tablet which is only for my reef system, and the controller. All my issues resolved.

You can go with a triple sensor.

I set this sensor up along with an emergency low sensor single to kill the pump when the water gets to a level that will have the pump running dry.

Triple Optical Water Level Sensor - HYDROS

Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.

www.saltwateraquarium.com

 

[divewsharks]

My mistake, it was a review on the X2 controller I'm leaning towards;

"The Wi-Fi outlets do not work on Meshed internet. So basically if you have 2.5 & 5 gh it wont work. Hydros recommend adding a separate 2.5 to controller only. Disappointing to say the least."

I can figure that out, just wondering if other people experience this generally? I have good signal strength throughout the house. I still have the Apex's drop off occasionally.

But I found the next part more interesting about rebooting stuff:

"Also every time you lose power you have to re-boot you probes temp-ato-water level. Ive lost power 3 times and all 3 times i had to reset."

@n2585722 have you experienced any issues like this or just one-off issue reviewer was having?

I see where you're able to conditionally add the redundancy for the active state.

If I'm understanding correctly
input 1 - sump low sensor
input 2 & 3 - leak sensors
input 4 - probe for DI (?)
input 5 - sump high (Additional sensor or same unit as input 1?).

I have an X2, originally purchased for ATO purposes on my nem tank. I have zero issues on my WiFI Mesh network (Works with both Google and Eero systems).

ATO has worked without issue.

 

[2Plus2]

I have an X2, originally purchased for ATO purposes on my nem tank. I have zero issues on my WiFI Mesh network (Works with both Google and Eero systems).

ATO has worked without issue.

See that's the thing, it worked fine on mine the first time then started acting funny, I do not have a mesh system only an extender so yours probably handles traffic better in a correct way.

I'm just sharing what worked for me, and since my set up is unique and isolated from my other WiFi connections it works out great.

Just giving @littlebigreef options.

 

[Treehrtsme]

My mistake, it was a review on the X2 controller I'm leaning towards;

"The Wi-Fi outlets do not work on Meshed internet. So basically if you have 2.5 & 5 gh it wont work. Hydros recommend adding a separate 2.5 to controller only. Disappointing to say the least."

I can figure that out, just wondering if other people experience this generally? I have good signal strength throughout the house. I still have the Apex's drop off occasionally.

But I found the next part more interesting about rebooting stuff:

"Also every time you lose power you have to re-boot you probes temp-ato-water level. Ive lost power 3 times and all 3 times i had to reset."

@n2585722 have you experienced any issues like this or just one-off issue reviewer was having?

I see where you're able to conditionally add the redundancy for the active state.

If I'm understanding correctly
input 1 - sump low sensor
input 2 & 3 - leak sensors
input 4 - probe for DI (?)
input 5 - sump high (Additional sensor or same unit as input 1?).

I use AT&t fiber with thier OEM router and an extended one to the second floor. By default the app will pick up two different accesses sometimes 3 to my router under the same name but with a different number channel numbers 6 11 9 etc. It's fairly simple to figure out which is the right one. You just hook up one controller and see if it'll update and hold on the cloud with a given Wi-Fi connection. If you can access the device through the cloud then the Wi-Fi works. If you can't then try a different one. When it comes to collectives though I'm not 100% sure but as long as one of your units is connected to the right Network it will allow you to access all the other units connected via command bus. Actually connecting to the internet is a bit timely cuz once you do you typically have to go through updates, but out of all the systems I've used connecting to the 2.4 has been the easiest with hydros

 

[rockdiver]

I have lost power since I put the ATO on 2 weeks ago and I didn't have to do anything when the power came back on.
Once was for like 20 minutes and the other time 40 minutes.
When power came back on all worked like normal.
Connecting to the internet was easy and not a problem.
With the ato you can set things up to where the pump only runs for so long or you just have the pump come on at certain times.
Lots and lots of options that YOU can chose and not just what comes in the box with other ato's
Idk but pretty simple.

 

[n2585722]

I just got into the hydros system myself.

I will be honest here, first initial set up was a failure multiple times, for I have dual band WiFi both named the same. The hydros system will pick them both up just fine, 2.4ghz/5ghz, but if both units (controller & phone) are not on the same band it can become a headache.

I found the easiest fix for all WiFi controller headaches, On my router I enabled the guest WiFi which only runs on 2.4ghz and named it "Hydros System", connected my tablet which is only for my reef system, and the controller. All my issues resolved.

You can go with a triple sensor.

I set this sensor up along with an emergency low sensor single to kill the pump when the water gets to a level that will have the pump running dry.

Triple Optical Water Level Sensor - HYDROS

Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.

www.saltwateraquarium.com

You have to be careful with the guest network since some routers will limit intercommunications between guest devices and this will cause issues with the wifi communications. I have a ASUS RT-AX58U which has both the 2.4ghz and 5ghz channels name the same. I have had no issues with the wifi devices. I have 4 power strips and a wifi feeder. I do not use it in the AiMesh mode. I did have an issue once but ut was not just the Hydros devices. The Hydros devices were showing a no internet connection on their lights breathing green-yellow. All upload changes would fail. I finally tracked it down to a wifi camera once that was powered down the network started working correctly including the Hydros controllers. The camera was very hot so I am assuming the wifi RF output was on continuously causing issues with the other devices trying to communicate with the router. I have never had an issue with any of the inputs due to a power outage. I have had power backup for the last year on the controllers. I bought my first one right after they came out with them. So it now has been a few years. O MESH type wifi networks it is best to get an access point and wire it to your router instead of using wifi. Then set it up with a different login credentials and on a different unused channel. This will eliminate the MESH causing an issue since the access point is hard wired to the router and not communicating via the router wifi. It provides a separate wifi channel specific to the Hydros or any other device that might have issues with a MESH network. I have used a router setup as an access point to do this since I usually do have previous routers that I can use for this. I did not originally setup my Hydros system on the current router. When replacing the old router I setup the credentials the same as the old one and everything switched over to the new router without any issues.

 

[n2585722]

I use AT&t fiber with thier OEM router and an extended one to the second floor. By default the app will pick up two different accesses sometimes 3 to my router under the same name but with a different number channel numbers 6 11 9 etc. It's fairly simple to figure out which is the right one. You just hook up one controller and see if it'll update and hold on the cloud with a given Wi-Fi connection. If you can access the device through the cloud then the Wi-Fi works. If you can't then try a different one. When it comes to collectives though I'm not 100% sure but as long as one of your units is connected to the right Network it will allow you to access all the other units connected via command bus. Actually connecting to the internet is a bit timely cuz once you do you typically have to go through updates, but out of all the systems I've used connecting to the 2.4 has been the easiest with hydros

All controllers and wifi devices have to be on the same channel but since you have one already setup just set the others up on the same channel. Each controller connects to the wifi and internet separately even in a collective. The command bus is for communications between the controllers only and not for internet access.

 

[dschuffert]

I think Hydros is great. I spent many years with Neptune Apex equipment and enjoyed it until a few years ago. I moved to GHL then and think they make excellent equipment, too. I am now running both GHL and Hydros for different reasons.

On networking, I run my GHL and Hydros on a 2.4 GHz MESH system (Asus) without issue. I did split the 2.4 and 5ghz networks with separate names.

What I like about CoralVue and Hydros, in addition to a great product, is the access to their people. I am at Aquashella Chicago right now and have had some great conversations with Carlos, David, and the rest of their leadership. You just walk about to their large display area, and they are talking to everyone about anything!

There is no one from Neptune or GHL here at Aquashella Chicago.

 

[n2585722]

My mistake, it was a review on the X2 controller I'm leaning towards;

"The Wi-Fi outlets do not work on Meshed internet. So basically if you have 2.5 & 5 gh it wont work. Hydros recommend adding a separate 2.5 to controller only. Disappointing to say the least."

I can figure that out, just wondering if other people experience this generally? I have good signal strength throughout the house. I still have the Apex's drop off occasionally.

But I found the next part more interesting about rebooting stuff:

"Also every time you lose power you have to re-boot you probes temp-ato-water level. Ive lost power 3 times and all 3 times i had to reset."

@n2585722 have you experienced any issues like this or just one-off issue reviewer was having?

I see where you're able to conditionally add the redundancy for the active state.

If I'm understanding correctly
input 1 - sump low sensor
input 2 & 3 - leak sensors
input 4 - probe for DI (?)
input 5 - sump high (Additional sensor or same unit as input 1?).

I have a router where the 5ghz and 2.4ghz channels cannot be separated and have had no issues with the wifi power strips. This issues is in some cases they can connect to 5ghz instead of 2.4ghz. If that happens the controllers cannot communicate with them since they are 2.4ghz only. Also some routers do not allow communications between devices and will block that communications. If this is happening the trick is the router will not do this to a wired connection only the wifi ones. So you can get a access point and add it wired to the router with it's own credentials. You would then setup the Hydros controllers and Hydros wifi devices to the access point. The only time you should need to have the device with the app installed on the same network as the Hydros is when setting up to wifi for either the controllers or wifi devices. Otherwise it will go through the cloud for communications so you don't even need to be in the same location for access. If you have an old used router that works then most of those can be setup as an access point. I have done this. As far as rebooting things I very rarely have to reboot a controller for some reason but you can usually do it within the app if needed. The only way I know to reset a input device is to unplug it from the controller and plugging it back in. This would only apply to the ones that have a microcontroller inside such as temp, triple level sensor, TDS meter to name a couple but that is also a rare occasion and is usually just the one. On my ATO output input 1 is the the level sensor that is used for top off by the ATO. That one is active when dry which is when you want it to top off. Input 2 is a leak detector at the tank if that senses a leak I do not want the ATO to run. So it is set to active when dry. Input 3 is a leak detector in the garage where the ATO pump and DI reservoir is located. If there is a leak detected there I don't want the pump to run just incase. So it is also set to active when dry. Input 4 is a low level sensor in the DI reservoir so we only want the ATO to run when this one is wet so it is set to active when wet. If all the inputs are in their active state it will allow the output to turn on as long as the other settings allow it such as minimum off time or the depends on setting. The AND combiner mode tells the controller to only make the output active if all the inputs are active. The other selection is OR and with it if any of the inputs are active then the output can be on if the other settings allow it. So it is like using a OR or AND gate if you are familiar with using them. My ATO, AWC and RODI unit are in the garage with my mixing station. The tank is 35ft away. All the tubing run between them goes through insulated PVC conduit in the attic.

 

[rockdiver]

Wow glad I dont have issues with connecting. I didn't understand most of that lol.

 

[n2585722]

Wow glad I dont have issues with connecting. I didn't understand most of that lol.

Most don't have issues but not all routers are the same and sometimes those differences will cause issues with some devices and not others. Unfortunately there are too many routers and settings on each for anything to be tested under every circumstance so sometimes things just do not work as planned. Usually there is a workaround for most instances. In this case it could be as simple as adding a access point with it's own wifi channel that is connected to the router with a CAT 5 cable so as far as the router is concerned is is a local wired connection and not wifi so it treats it differently than a device connected using wifi. Most routers consider wired connections as safe and do not give them the same security checks as something on wifi. A access point can also be setup with only 2.4ghz in most cases and this helps with some devices also. So it is a matter of case by case most of the time when connection issues show up. Also since wifi is RF signals other RF signals can interfere with them such as a neighbors wifi. Interference can come from other sources other than other wifi devices also. So the RF environment where the wifi is located also plays a big part into whether there are issues or not.