- Hello everyone.
This is Wayland from Marine Depot.
Today we're testing out Coralvue's HYDROS Wave Engine.
(cheerful music)
The HYDROS Wave Engine is an aquarium pump controller
that not only provides power to many of your pumps,
but also controls them.
The Wave Engine controller can alleviate
many of your cable manager problems
and the accumulation of transformers
when you have a multitude of different pumps.
Obtaining great flow in aquariums is essential
for a clean and beautiful display.
Having multiple pumps will eliminate dead spots,
therefore relieving your sand bed
from excess nutrients and cyano.
We have a great video on flow,
so if you haven't checked it out,
please click the link below.
Most reef keepers tend to collect a variety
of power heads on their journey.
So it can get pretty confusing and cluttered.
Where do you place all your wave pumps?
How strong should they be?
What time should they change their flow?
Can you sync all of them at the same time?
Well this is where the HYDROS Wave Engine comes into action.
It simply connects all your pumps together
to be scheduled to your specific reef needs.
The flow and placement of your wave pumps
depends on your specific coral type and rock structure.
So proper research will go a long way.
Once you power the Wave Engine unit,
it will then supply power to most of your pumps
that are connected to it.
You will also have less clutter and less stress.
After unboxing the Wave Engine, it looks pretty cool.
It kinda looks like a guitar pedal.
When it's turned on, it lights up
and you'll see many different inputs and outputs.
And don't worry, you can turn the LEDs off
or customize them to your liking.
First, you'll see its power input
which is energized by a big power supply
that reduces the voltage to 24 volts.
After that, you'll spot four direct connect outputs
that work for most pumps.
These are labeled yellow.
Pumps like the Maxspect Gyre, Reef Octopus Varios,
IceCap Gyre are all direct drive compatible.
Each direct drive adapter is economically priced
at a reasonable $12.
This new pump controller also has the capability
of connecting EcoTech Marine pumps
through its built in wireless card.
You'll still need to use the EcoTech transformers,
but you can communicate with their pumps
wirelessly through the HYDROS.
No need for the reef link.
There are two versions, one with the wireless card,
and one without.
The one with this extra feature costs more,
so be sure to check them out carefully.
Some pumps will need a zero to 10 volt adapter
to connect to the Wave Engine.
For years now, pumps have had a third party
zero to 10 volt connection
used for controllers like the Apex,
so the Wave Engine cleverly uses this
to bypass brand exclusivity and keep your pumps together.
Abyzz, Octopulse, Tunze pumps
will need a zero to 10 volt quad cable adapter,
still economically priced at $13.
The quad adapter connects into the purple output port
and has four jacks for four different pumps.
Tunze pumps will require one more adapter
after that, for each of its pumps.
In the upper right, you'll be able to see the purple label,
zero to 10 volt input port.
The input can be connected to a third party controller
like the GHL Profilux, Neptune System's Apex, and others.
You can have your Apex send the Wave Engine
a zero to 10 volt signal to trigger an action,
like turn on feed mode.
So it's compatible, but it's a little different
than a typical Apex setup.
In order to use a third party controller,
you will need the Apex link adapter to connect it.
To the left is the command bus, labeled in the blue,
also known as the power and connecting inputs
for the HYDROS line.
This includes the control two, four, and more Wave Engines.
If you exceed four pumps,
you can also add another Wave Engine to your system,
and then two or more Wave Engines
can be synchronized to each other.
They will time up well
because they are connected to the same time server.
The connectors and casings on the Wave Engine
are IP65 certified, splash proof,
and the connectors aren't cheap.
They're made out of the same industrial parts
used in air crafts.
Here is a list of compatible pumps for the Wave Engine.
You can also visit Marine Depot's Wave Engine product page
for a list.
One easy way to see how all the adapters work
is to check their ends.
They will be labeled the same color as their port label.
The Wave Engine uses Coralvue's HYDROS app
which is the same for the entire line of HYDROS controllers.
Once you're in the app,
you can assign different pump locations,
set max intensity, create pump groups,
create a variety of modes and customize flow presets.
It already has some built in flow modes,
so be sure to check them out and use them to your advantage.
You can also create schedules and triggers for your pumps.
One option is connect to the app directly through WiFi.
You can also use the HYDROS through the Cloud.
This latter option can send you notifications
whenever there's a power failure or a problem.
It's able to do this to monitor each pump's voltage,
amps, watts, and RPM.
The HYDROS Wave Engine is an aquarium nice to have.
If you have a variety of pumps
and are bothered by all the different drivers
and controllers necessary to drive your mix of pumps,
then a HYDROS is very helpful.
But if you already have pumps with decent controllability
from the same manufacturer
and the transformers are nicely tucked away,
then you likely don't need one.
If you're able to buy certain pumps
without their controllers and drivers,
like the Maxspect Gyre,
then this could be a great investment.
Some of you may have been frustrated with the existing apps
that these pumps come with,
so the HYDROS app is a noticeable improvement
to control those pumps.
If you'd like to see more
aquarium supplier reef educational videos,
be sure to like and subscribe to our channel.
If you have any questions, don't be afraid to comment below
or call our team of experienced aquarers.
As always, thank you for watching
and let's build a better aquarium together.