Upgrading your HYDROS connection

ReefMind is moving HYDROS tanks onto CoralVue’s official HYDROS Public API. You do one thing: create a read-only Device Key for ReefMind and paste it in. ReefMind does the rest.

What you do

The device owner must issue the key. Sign in to HYDROS with the owner account. Seeing the device through a shared or service account does not grant owner key rights. Use the scoped Read only Device Key flow below, not shared-account credentials.

Open the tank. Switch to the tank whose HYDROS controller you are upgrading, then Settings → Edit for that tank → the HYDROS controller section → Start upgrade.
Prepare the correct device or collective. In the HYDROS app, choose the device or collective linked to this tank. Follow any app prompts to update its firmware first.
Open the Device Key form. Open the top-right menu → Device Properties, scroll to Manage Device Keys, then tap the blue +.
Issue a read-only Device Key. 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.
Copy the correct key. Back in the Device Keys list for that collective, find the ReefMind.ai / Read only key you named. Tap the copy-to-clipboard icon beside that key — not the neighboring view or delete icons.
Paste it into ReefMind and choose Check key. The field is masked and the key goes only to ReefMind’s server. ReefMind verifies the key and the collective it belongs to.

That is the whole job. Once your key is accepted, ReefMind matches your controller, checks the new connection against your tank alongside the one you already have, and switches it over when everything lines up. There is nothing to confirm and nothing to monitor — you can close the page, and the upgrade carries on without you.

What ReefMind does next

Reads from the official API with your new key while your existing connection keeps collecting. Your existing connection stays the authoritative source for the tank until the moment it switches.
Switches the tank over automatically once it has confirmed live readings through the new key and that everything on the tank maps across. The switch is all-or-nothing for that controller.
Holds on your existing connection if anything does not line up — an unmatched reading, two sensors that could both match one reading, or dosing that has no proven equivalent yet. A hold is ReefMind’s to resolve, not yours. Your tank keeps collecting exactly as it does today and nothing is deleted.

You can look in on it any time from the same place in Settings. It will say what is happening; it will not ask you for anything.

Adding your first HYDROS connection

The owner-key instructions also apply to Add HYDROS and onboarding. Once the key is accepted, ReefMind saves the setup and verifies live readings in the background, even if you close the page. There is no final confirmation button. Reopen Settings to check progress; do not paste the key again.

Unlike an upgrade, a first link has no previous HYDROS connection to keep collecting. It stays pending until live readings pass verification. Temporary failures retry automatically with a bounded backoff; if a delay persists, contact support with the tank name and displayed message, never the key.

What is preserved

Your tank, readings history, sensor mappings, source names, labels, hidden channels and Dosing Map all stay as they are. The switch is not a delete-and-re-add: you never create a new tank or re-enter history.
It is read-only. ReefMind reads sensor and status data and does not send commands to your controller.
It needs no extra hardware — no Collector Box and no local network access.
It does not ask for your HYDROS password or sign-in. You create the Device Key, and you can revoke it in the HYDROS app at any time.

One limit up front: this does not promise full dosing parity. If a dosing capability your tank relies on has no proven equivalent on the official API yet, ReefMind keeps that controller on your existing connection rather than switching you to a reduced version of what you have.

More than one controller

If this tank has several connected HYDROS controllers, choose the controller by name from Connected HYDROS controller in Settings before starting its upgrade. ReefMind will not guess or ask you to match raw IDs.

Each HYDROS collective needs its own Device Key, created from that collective’s Device Properties. Paste each key into the ReefMind tank it belongs to.
Each collective is upgraded independently — one being held does not stop the others.
Each switch is all-or-nothing for that collective: it moves across intact — tank, history, sensor mappings, source identities, Dosing Map — or it stays exactly where it was.

Do not remove or re-create your existing connection. Leave it in place — ReefMind compares against it, and removing it early only costs you collection time.

Key security

Never send a Device Key, an API key, or a password by email, Discord, screenshot, or chat — including to ReefMind. Support does not need one to help you. The key is never kept in your browser, so if you leave partway through pasting you will paste it again.

A successful read cannot prove a key is read-only. HYDROS does not report a key’s permission back to ReefMind, so choosing Read only when you create the key is what makes it read-only.

After the switch

Your tank reads through the official HYDROS API. History, sensor mappings, source names and Dosing Map are unchanged.
You can revoke the Device Key in your HYDROS app at any time; that stops ReefMind reading that controller.
If something looks wrong afterwards, support can put the previous connection back, and readings collected either way are kept.

Getting help

Email support@reefmind.ai with your ReefMind account email, the tank name, the controller, and the exact message ReefMind showed you. You can also reach the ReefMind Discord from the app for general questions.

If you cannot see Start upgrade, check you are on the right tank and that the Edit view’s HYDROS controller section is open, then reload the page. If it is still missing, contact support — do not delete, reconnect, or re-share your HYDROS connection to try to make it appear.