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Hydros Cloud Sensor Setup

ReefMind’s official HYDROS Public API integration is read-only: it reads sensor and status data and never sends a command to your controller. ReefMind never asks for your HYDROS password, and the only credential you share is a Read-only Device Key that you create and can revoke in HYDROS at any time.

Connecting HYDROS for the first time

New HYDROS tanks connect only through the official HYDROS API with a Read only Device Key. Choose Hydros during onboarding, or use Add HYDROS in Settings. Sharing your tank with reefmind@reefmind.ai no longer adds a tank.

Sign in to the HYDROS app as the device owner: shared account access alone cannot issue owner keys. Choose the correct device or collective and follow any app prompts to update its firmware first.
Open the top-right menu → Device Properties, scroll to Manage Device Keys, then tap the blue +.
On Issue Device Key, choose ReefMind.ai from the Provider dropdown. Enter any Key Name you want (for example, ReefMind - Display Tank), set Permissions to Read only, then tap Issue.
Back in the Device Keys list for that collective, find the ReefMind.ai / Read only key you named and tap the copy-to-clipboard icon beside that key — not the neighboring view or delete icons.
Paste the Device Key into ReefMind. The field is masked and the key is sent only to ReefMind’s server. Never paste your HYDROS password — we never need it.

ReefMind verifies the key and the collective it belongs to, then finishes checking live readings automatically, even if you leave the page. If the key is wrong, nothing is connected and you can paste it again.

Upgrading to the official HYDROS API

Open your HYDROS connection in Settings and choose Upgrade your HYDROS connection. Full instructions, what is preserved, and what a hold means are in Upgrading your HYDROS connection.

The upgrade is three steps. If several HYDROS controllers share this tank, choose the connected controller by name in Settings first. For a first connection, Add HYDROS and onboarding save your key and finish live-readings verification automatically after you leave; check progress in Settings.

Create a read-only key in HYDROS. Sign in as the device owner: shared account access alone cannot issue owner keys. Choose the correct device or collective and follow any app prompts to update its firmware first. Open the top-right menu → Device Properties, scroll to Manage Device Keys, then tap the blue +. On Issue Device Key, choose ReefMind.ai from the Provider dropdown. Enter any Key Name you want (for example, ReefMind - Display Tank), set Permissions to Read only, then tap Issue. Back in the Device Keys list for that collective, find the ReefMind.ai / Read only key you named and tap the copy-to-clipboard icon beside that key — not the neighboring view or delete icons.
Paste the key in ReefMind. The field is masked and the value is sent only to ReefMind’s server. Do not paste your HYDROS password — we never need it.
Let ReefMind verify and finish. ReefMind matches the key to the correct collective, validates the new readings alongside the existing connection, and switches over only when everything lines up.

Your tank, your readings history, your Dosing Map, your labels, and anything you have hidden all stay exactly as they are. You never need to create a new tank, re-enter history, or remove the old connection to start.

For more than one collective, create a separate Device Key from each collective’s Device Properties and paste each key into the ReefMind tank it already belongs to.

If Manage Device Keys is missing after you follow the app’s update prompts: keep your current connection and ask us for help. Do not delete or re-create the connection.

Two honest limits. HYDROS does not report a key’s permission back to us, so a successful read cannot prove a key is read-only — choosing Read only when you create it is what makes it read-only, and ReefMind refuses to send any command either way. And if a dosing feature you rely on has no equivalent on the official API yet, we hold that connection back and tell you why rather than quietly switching you to a reduced version of it.

Keep the existing share in place until we tell you the upgrade has settled. If anything looks wrong afterwards we can move you back, and your official readings are kept either way.

Existing legacy connection reference

These steps apply only to an already-existing legacy connection. They are not offered for new links.

Open the Hydros/CoralVue app and select the tank/controller to connect.
Open that tank’s sharing/users area.
Invite reefmind@reefmind.ai with view/read-only access.
In ReefMind, open Settings → My Tanks → Hydros on the tank that already has this connection.
Enter the Hydros account email that owns the shared tank. This is a non-secret lookup key so ReefMind can pick the correct shared controller from reefmind@reefmind.ai.
Select the matching ReefMind tank and click Connect Hydros. ReefMind finds and accepts the delegated share automatically.
If multiple Hydros controllers are shared, use the advanced Grant ID / Thing Name fields only when provided by support.

If verification succeeds, Dashboard vitals and history show new readings using source/provenance hydros.

What ReefMind uses

New connections: your Read only HYDROS Device Key, stored server-side only.
Existing legacy connections only: delegated Hydros account reefmind@reefmind.ai.
Data path: Hydros shared access → ReefMind API → tank readings/history/dashboard/Captain Chris context.
Storage: customer integrations reference the ReefMind delegated credential. Customer Hydros passwords are never requested or stored.

Read-only boundary: the adapter fetches and normalizes Hydros live status/readings only. There are no Hydros write/control routes.

Sensor mapping behavior

Hydros can return generic channels and output states. ReefMind handles this conservatively:

Known kinds/codes map to ReefMind parameters such as temp, ph, orp, salinity, alk, no3, and po4.
Device-confirmed mappings can override generic channel codes and are marked with mappingTrust: device_confirmed.
Unknown channels are stored as raw/unmapped and are not alert-eligible until confirmed.
Original units and raw channel codes remain in reading provenance for audit/debugging.

Troubleshooting

Device Key not accepted

Copy the key again from the Device Keys list with the copy-to-clipboard icon beside the ReefMind.ai / Read only key, and paste it into the tank it belongs to. ReefMind does not fall back to a shared account.

Share not found / no devices visible (existing legacy connections)

Confirm the tank/controller was shared with exactly reefmind@reefmind.ai, then continue setup. ReefMind retries pending share discovery automatically. If more than one controller is shared, support may provide a Grant ID or Thing Name.

401 / 403 Unauthorized

The delegated ReefMind Hydros credential may need refresh, or the share was revoked.

Channel appears raw/unmapped

The Hydros payload did not include a recognized kind/unit. Keep it visible as unknown until a device-confirmed mapping is added.

Operational notes

The delegated credential is read from its platform credential vault entry (vault:platform-hydros-delegated-share) unless HYDROS_DELEGATED_CREDENTIAL_REF names another ref.
Scheduled polling uses POST /api/internal/hydros/poll-due with X-Internal-Secret.
Fleet polling is sharded by top-level thirdPartyIntegrations documents, staggered across the hour, capped per shard, lease-protected, and configured with Scheduler retries disabled so ReefMind does not stampede Hydros/CoralVue APIs.
This is cloud/shared-access only. It does not require Pi collector OTA or LAN access.

{
  "provider": "hydros",
  "enabled": true,
  "state": "active",
  "delegatedShare": true,
  "credentialRef": "gcp-secret:reefmind-hydros-delegated-creds",
  "externalDeviceId": "thingName"
}