Hydros X10 Controller Experiences

[Bill333]

I'm getting close to setting up a new tank and I'll be needing some type of alkalinity tester. It's down to either the X10 with iV, or an Alkatronic. The X10 has been out for a few months now, but I've seen very few end user reviews. Does anyone have experience with the X10 for alkalinity measurements? Salinity?

Let's post our experiences here to get a better sense of this unit's strengths and weaknesses.

 

[MarineandReef Jaron]

I have been using the X10 for a couple of weeks now. I switched from a KH Carer and some Apex gear. Overall I like the X10 better for alk monitoring and I think I prefer the Hydros system to Apex.

Pros

1. Salinity is much more reliable than Apex. I hated using the Apex salinity probe but the Hydros one has been rock solid.
2. The KH Carer used 8 to 1 reagent mix and the Hydros uses 4 to 1. This lets me get more tests from the same regent container volume. Which means fewer regent fills.
3. The KH Carer uses a drip sensor which started to give me issues. The X10 just counts the volume of regent added which seems less troublesome even if it is not as accurate. I prefer it overall.
4. I prefer the auto-dosing on the X10. Hydros lets you set a Max dosage a low point dosage and a dosage amount if you drop the connection to the unit for some reason. I felt a bit scared to do auto-dosing with the Kh Carer but these limits make me feel more comfortable.

Cons

1. There are a lot of options when setting up testing with the X10 that took me a bit to figure out. There is a video but no written instructions that I found. In the end, I wound up not setting up Alk testing as recommended in the video. I contacted CoralVue support and they recommended I slow down the dosing pump speeds on the drain and fill pump to get more accurate results. It has worked flawlessly since it has been set up but it did take me a bit to get it there.

 

[Atalien2005]

If you go on the Hydros FB group, you will probably get better answers. What I’ve seen with my X10/IV and well as reading other peoples post is there’s still a lot of kinks to work out with the it. It took over a month of back and forth with CoralVue before I had a functioning setup that would read anywhere near the Alk of my tank. Even then I had to put in an offset in the software to get closer. It constantly tells me that I’m low on reagent, when that’s not the case.

If I could rewind time, I wouldn’t buy the x10/iV setup again. Hopefully in the future they update the software to make it better.

 

[augustx]

If you go on the Hydros FB group, you will probably get better answers. What I’ve seen with my X10/IV and well as reading other peoples post is there’s still a lot of kinks to work out with the it. It took over a month of back and forth with CoralVue before I had a functioning setup that would read anywhere near the Alk of my tank. Even then I had to put in an offset in the software to get closer. It constantly tells me that I’m low on reagent, when that’s not the case.

If I could rewind time, I wouldn’t buy the x10/iV setup again. Hopefully in the future they update the software to make it better.

I am very interested to know more about your experience. I am very much drawn to the price point of x10/iV and the Coralvue team's design philosophy, but if there are issues that are hidden behind the marketing material, I would love to learn them!

Can you please elaborate?

I am looking to get the X10 for alk monitoring, ph monitoring exclusively (maybe drive kalk dosing, but that is not a must have for me).

 

[dangit]

I just recently got the x10. I did not get the IV… I use the dosers to auto add alk and cal throughout the day and am dialing it in with manual testing. Going to add mag to the third doser soon. I do plan to add auto testing later on

Programing the dosers isn’t too bad. Adjusting the daily dose takes a few seconds then the x10 will automatically distribute it in small doses throughout a set time.

Still breaking it in so more to come.

 

[Arcu2]

I have been using the X10 for a couple of weeks now. I switched from a KH Carer and some Apex gear. Overall I like the X10 better for alk monitoring and I think I prefer the Hydros system to Apex.

Pros

1. Salinity is much more reliable than Apex. I hated using the Apex salinity probe but the Hydros one has been rock solid.
2. The KH Carer used 8 to 1 reagent mix and the Hydros uses 4 to 1. This lets me get more tests from the same regent container volume. Which means fewer regent fills.
3. The KH Carer uses a drip sensor which started to give me issues. The X10 just counts the volume of regent added which seems less troublesome even if it is not as accurate. I prefer it overall.
4. I prefer the auto-dosing on the X10. Hydros lets you set a Max dosage a low point dosage and a dosage amount if you drop the connection to the unit for some reason. I felt a bit scared to do auto-dosing with the Kh Carer but these limits make me feel more comfortable.

Cons

1. There are a lot of options when setting up testing with the X10 that took me a bit to figure out. There is a video but no written instructions that I found. In the end, I wound up not setting up Alk testing as recommended in the video. I contacted CoralVue support and they recommended I slow down the dosing pump speeds on the drain and fill pump to get more accurate results. It has worked flawlessly since it has been set up but it did take me a bit to get it there.

By any chance would you be able to run a test and record a short video to show how loud the unit is when testing? I can’t find any videos on the x10 and iv running. I have my tank in my living room and I’m actually selling my alkatronic at the moment because of the wife saying it’s too loud lol I see you have the x10 and iv in stock on your website. Was trying to get an idea before placing an order.

 

[MarineandReef Jaron]

I will get a video later today. One nice thing about the X10 is you can change the speed of the pumps. The slower the quieter, but the longer it will take to test. I have had my drain and fill dosing pumps set at 50ml per minute. It takes about 30 minutes to test. The test time also depends on the alkalinity level. If the Alk is higher then the test will take longer.

 

[Arcu2]

I will get a video later today. One nice thing about the X10 is you can change the speed of the pumps. The slower the quieter, but the longer it will take to test. I have had my drain and fill dosing pumps set at 50ml per minute. It takes about 30 minutes to test. The test time also depends on the alkalinity level. If the Alk is higher then the test will take longer.

Sweet looking forward to it. Thanks!

 

[MarineandReef Jaron]

Here is a quick video. You can't hear much. I just recorded it on my S22 using the built-in speakers. I can hear the test but it is not very loud and doesn't bother me.

 

[leepink23]

Here is a quick video. You can't hear much. I just recorded it on my S22 using the built-in speakers. I can hear the test but it is not very loud and doesn't bother me.

How would you rate the accuracy and consistency? I have multiple hydros devices and had an apex trident that messed up on me last night.

 

[MarineandReef Jaron]

How would you rate the accuracy and consistency? I have multiple hydros devices and had an apex trident that messed up on me last night.

After the initial set up I have only been recalibrating the unit whenever I refill my 5l reagent container every 2 months or so. I typically calibrate it to match the Hanna. The X10 has been within .2 DKH of the Hanna when I have checked. If you ask me that is pretty good. I really don't care if the alk is 8.2, 7.8, or 8.0 as long as I know it is in that range. I have also tried running Fauna Marin multireference through the Hanna and it has been off by .1 so even it is not perfectly accurate.

If you buy the concentrated reagent you should definitely recalibrate whenever you mix the reagent because unless you are absolutely perfect measuring then this will affect the results even if only slightly. I like to keep as large of a reagent container as possible to avoid mixing more than I have to.

 

[leepink23]

After the initial set up I have only been recalibrating the unit whenever I refill my 5l reagent container every 2 months or so. I typically calibrate it to match the Hanna. The X10 has been within .2 DKH of the Hanna when I have checked. If you ask me that is pretty good. I really don't care if the alk is 8.2, 7.8, or 8.0 as long as I know it is in that range. I have also tried running Fauna Marin multireference through the Hanna and it has been off by .1 so even it is not perfectly accurate.

If you buy the concentrated reagent you should definitely recalibrate whenever you mix the reagent because unless you are absolutely perfect measuring then this will affect the results even if only slightly. I like to keep as large of a reagent container as possible to avoid mixing more than I have to.

Thank you, that’s helpful. I am holding out hope the Maven releases this year. Really hoped my Trident would have lasted longer but the apex lack of quality is why I am getting rid of apex.

 

[Smoke-Town]

None of the product pages for x10 or iv point to particular reagent but I assume it's this one for the lh carer and alkatronic.

If not, please link me to the correct one. And either way, how many alk tests does this 4L bottle get me?