Launch is the latest tempting addition to the Hydros controller range from Coralvue which combines a lot of useful control and monitoring features into one single box. Our three main monitoring needs are temperature, pH, and salinity, and Launch comes with a temperature probe and pH probe and has a port for a salinity probe, although that is sold separately.
Three other sense ports can then be used for optical sensors (for an ATO or skimmer cup sensor), leak detectors, and Drive ports for the ATO pump and dosing pumps. Unique to Launch though are the four built-in AC power outlets – a built-in 4-way power strip – enabling the plugging in, monitoring, and shutting off of life-critical equipment like an LED light, a heater, a protein skimmer, and a return pump. And if you need more of any of the above you can of course hard wire it into other Hydros modules via the Command Bus.
The four AC power outlets on Launch do come instead of the four dosing heads on the Hydros Control X10, but now first-time purchasers have the choice of if they want four times dosing or four times power outlets from the get-go, but if they want both a bespoke Hydros system can be configured to their individual needs too.
Out of the box, Launch has pretty much everything we would want, although knowing how deep we go into all-in-one ecosystems if we invested, we would no doubt bolt on a Wave Engine pump controller and of course the new Maven to test Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium, Nitrate, and Phosphate. We’ve said before that if you can think of it, CoralVue has pretty much built a control or monitoring solution for it in Hydros. You’ll never please all the people all of the time, but for $550, Launch ticks nearly all of our long list of reef aquarium equipment, control, and monitoring boxes.
