Glossary
Age
How long ago a reading was taken, shown on every parameter widget as now, 1h, 2d. Not how recently the screen refreshed. A number with an old age is an old number, and Cora says so rather than presenting it as current.
Alert
Cora telling you something needs attention. Most often a reading outside the range you set, but also a parameter moving too fast, an equipment fault, a consumable running low, or a lab result arriving. Most clear by themselves when the condition passes. See Alerts and thresholds.
Automation
A rule or scene that runs by itself: "if temperature goes above 27, turn on the fan". Lives under Settings → Automation.
Cora Cloud
The service that keeps your phone, your Cora Max and your equipment in step, and stores your history.
Cora Assistant
The part of Cora you ask questions. Available by typing or by voice on both Cora Mobile and Cora Max.
Cora Max
The wall screen for the reef room. Shows your tanks live and takes voice.
Cora Mobile
The phone app. On your home screen the icon is labelled Cora.
Feed mode
A pause for feeding that stops the right equipment and restores it automatically. Safer than switching pumps off by hand, because nothing depends on you remembering to switch them back.
Health report
A deeper periodic assessment of a whole system: every parameter, source, dose and recent lab result, considered together. See ICP and health reports.
ICP
A laboratory water test covering a wide range of elements. Upload the result and Cora tracks every element over time.
Insight
One specific observation in a Reef Buddy briefing: a parameter drifting, two sources disagreeing, something untested for a while.
Journal
Your record of what you did to the tank. Cora reads it too, so "what did I do before the alkalinity dropped?" is an answerable question. See The journal.
Outlet
A switchable socket on your equipment. In Cora it has three states: Auto, Off and On.
Parameter
Something measurable about your water: alkalinity, calcium, nitrate, temperature.
Saved design
A dashboard layout you have kept under My dashboards, to re-apply later or load onto another tank or screen.
Reef Buddy
Your daily briefing: a headline, two scores (Stability out of 100 and Data, a percentage) and the insights behind them. See Reef Buddy.
Source
Where a reading came from: a probe, a controller, a lab result, or you with a test kit. Every reading carries one, which is what lets Cora tell you when two disagree.
Tank
A body of water you track. Most people have one; a frag system or quarantine is a separate tank.
Threshold
The range you consider acceptable for a parameter. Can be a range, a ceiling or a floor. Yours to set; the defaults are only a starting point.
Vacation mode
Tank-sitter mode. A dated plan with a checklist of jobs, which Cora turns into a read-only page you can share with whoever is minding the tank while you are away. See Settings.
Widget
One tile on a dashboard showing one thing. Nine types: Value, Gauge, Graph, Status, Outlet, ReefBeat, Apex module, Jecod™ and Maxspect™ (beta). See Widget reference.
Written for Cora Max 0.28.60 and Cora Mobile 0.5.70. Last checked 2026-09-09.
Still stuck? Email cora@coraiq.tech and we'll help.