5.5G Budget Nano - reef-pi & open design

Ranjib

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I am starting this thread to document my new 5.5G nano build. Primary goal of this tank will be the ability to grow harder to keep SPS (e,g. red dragon) in as low cost as possible.

A bit of context. I already own a 3 year old nano and a pico. I always loved pico and at one point I had two of them. But had to downsize during last apartment move. Being an city apartment dweller who frequently travels, nano tanks are perfect for me. Although I have been able to grow softies, LPS and some easier to keep SPS (like monti cap or pociliopora), Acros and miliporas remained a tough challenge to solve. During this time I have been worked on an opensource reef tank controller called reef-pi, and after 3 years of rigorous development, I think I have enough know-how to give this a serious try. In short, the tank will be used to test if I can maintain such a nano tank with minimal cost and maintenance involved. Just to reiterate, my three main goals:

  • Grow a hard to keep SPS ( one of acro or millipora)
  • Keep cost as low as possible
  • Keep maintenance, reliability and other operational requirements to a known limited set.
Tank: Top Fin 5.5g (From petco)
Equipment:
- Kasa HS300 6 outlet smart powerstrip with current monitoring
- Stock HOB Filter
- Hydor 50W heater
- Kessil A80 for light
- Two 12V DC submersible pumps for wavemaker
- A 12V DC peristaltic pump for ATO
- reef-pi controller, with float switch for ATO sensor, temperature sensor, kessil control, and pH monitoring


Except for the light, rest everything is fairly cheap. This build will be pretty heavy on DIY electronics and 3D printed components. The idea is to keep overall complexity as low as possible while attaining all the key factors for SPS growth, which is stable and pristine water chemistry, intermediate to strong light, strong flow and stable temperature, salinity, ph, alk and Ca.

Filtration: I am attempting to reduce the filtration requirement as much as possible. For this, I am going with bare bottom. Rockscape done with tonga branches. Low on livestock (only snails and maybe a single fish). I am planning to go with only HoB filter. The filter will have filter pads and chemipure blue. Feeding will be primarily done with reef roid and before weekly water change.

Stocking plans, pretty much everything will be sourced. I'll start with easy to keep zoas, then leptos , then some easy to keep sps and finally the hard to keep sps.
- One trochus snail. I may add another one if needed in the future.
- Assorted zoas (bambam, blondes, la lkers etc)
- A couple of lepto (any of these: jack o lantern, klepto lepto, tangerine juice )
- A couple of easy to keep SPS (rainbow monti, no-name acro, green slimer etc)
- Red dragon or one of my no-name millipora.

I plan to take it slow and giving myself 3 years to test if this is possible. Expect once every two weeks or once a month updates.
 
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Ranjib

Ranjib

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The tank was wet today afternoon. I am using instant ocean reef crystal and also seeded the tank with one of my current tank water.
D1214141-570F-40CF-B7B3-FBD16680792A.jpeg


I am using dry Tonga branches from my lfs. There will be a central elevated structure (on the left in current state) and several small individual island for isolating the fast growing encrusting corals. The rocks are not properly arranged yet, I have just dunked them in hurry for the time being

71DBA64C-EB27-4A09-86B3-4600ED3A1111.jpeg
:-
 

Tihsho

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Yep I'm definitely following this. I've been lurking on the Reef-Pi thread since the beginning and now have the time to sit down and fab up my own take on the Reef-Pi. Just ordered an RPi 4 last night actually to take on this task. In the long run I plan on running the vision I have of Reef-Pi off of multiple Pi's to split the processing load and to get everything as close to realtime as I can (hoping that I can find a supported realtime OS solution for the Pi.)
 
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Ranjib

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Cleaned up the rockscape little bit today. And added a power head.

0B56C9A9-E968-4488-B304-32585C4E989E.jpeg


My plan is to start with two 12v dc submersible pump and use them as wave maker.
These are fairly inexpensive, non dimmable dc pumps
85774A3F-773E-46EB-934A-38F19AA9B290.jpeg

I designed and 3d printed a simple bracket for the pump
F90198AD-3D1A-4FC2-9CE7-031C6CD80499.jpeg

The bracket is then attached to a holder with nylon screw . The holder let’s the pump hang from wall akin to hob filter

7B133FA5-A22F-41B8-89A0-3393EA8DA0CC.jpeg


The current holder design is simple and ugly :-/
3E5E1D90-9BCD-4484-9E05-0FFFF6D97F5B.jpeg

But it has nifty features to hold the cable :)
8CDF47EC-0277-4D55-BE54-C84CCF96E421.jpeg


This was the first iteration of this design. I have already started printing a sleeker version which uses much smaller width for most of the holder body .

Any how, the pump is working perfectly with the reef-pi based wavemaker. I’m using the doser circuit exactly as it is, along with timers in reef-pi to switch on/off the pump periodically . I’ll see how the next version of pump holder comes out . It will be used to mount the second pump . With this two pump I’ll start with some easier corals and observe what happens.
 

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Cleaned up the rockscape little bit today. And added a power head.

0B56C9A9-E968-4488-B304-32585C4E989E.jpeg


My plan is to start with two 12v dc submersible pump and use them as wave maker.
These are fairly inexpensive, non dimmable dc pumps
85774A3F-773E-46EB-934A-38F19AA9B290.jpeg

I designed and 3d printed a simple bracket for the pump
F90198AD-3D1A-4FC2-9CE7-031C6CD80499.jpeg

The bracket is then attached to a holder with nylon screw . The holder let’s the pump hang from wall akin to hob filter

7B133FA5-A22F-41B8-89A0-3393EA8DA0CC.jpeg


The current holder design is simple and ugly :-/
3E5E1D90-9BCD-4484-9E05-0FFFF6D97F5B.jpeg

But it has nifty features to hold the cable :)
8CDF47EC-0277-4D55-BE54-C84CCF96E421.jpeg


This was the first iteration of this design. I have already started printing a sleeker version which uses much smaller width for most of the holder body .

Any how, the pump is working perfectly with the reef-pi based wavemaker. I’m using the doser circuit exactly as it is, along with timers in reef-pi to switch on/off the pump periodically . I’ll see how the next version of pump holder comes out . It will be used to mount the second pump . With this two pump I’ll start with some easier corals and observe what happens.
What type of filament are you using for your prints?
 
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Ranjib

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What type of filament are you using for your prints?
These are all basic Overture, Hathbox PLA, printed in ender 3 with 0.8mm nozzle. These parts should be temporary. Once I have finalized (somewhat) the designs I'll move on to PETG, and those should be for long term use. I have to tune my printer (heatbed, retration etc) for PETG before that.
 

Grape_City_Reefer

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These are all basic Overture, Hathbox PLA, printed in ender 3 with 0.8mm nozzle. These parts should be temporary. Once I have finalized (somewhat) the designs I'll move on to PETG, and those should be for long term use. I have to tune my printer (heatbed, retration etc) for PETG before that.
Gotcha, the plastic may leech contaminants. PLA biodegrade and is accelerated by moisture.
 
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Ranjib

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Gotcha, the plastic may leech contaminants. PLA biodegrade and is accelerated by moisture.
Got it. I’ll use these for less than couple of months, if not less. I am curious if it would cause any trouble of corals even if it leeches. Probably bad for the fixture, but not terrible for the corals. As long as it’s just pla and no additive or metal etc
 
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Ranjib

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Made a few changes in the tank. Added a background wallpaper , it was my son’s decision :-/

6E5E4010-9A49-4B04-BCF8-4F1B8EF7992A.jpeg


The few corals I added past week from my other tanks are doing ok. Liam’s clove looks relatively happier
16F1B9F1-541B-4523-BCB5-4D35E77B8178.jpeg
CAF3B044-2F39-4582-9E3C-E5A06CC56391.jpeg


While the zoas have not opened up yet
36C16A4C-5F60-4C83-8825-694C750D79D3.jpeg


The wavemaker is doing fine. I think I’ll change the 15s pulse to 30s and have 10 or 20s no flow in between . Here’s how it looks right now
 
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Ranjib

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Add few more corals from my bio cube today. And water change (not really fresh salt mix , but the water from my bio cube and pick tank). Overall I think it’s humming along. I knocked off the green slimed frag accidentally :-/. The ato is working perfectly. I’m happy with the reef-pi , hs300 powerstrip integration .
AA53B61D-89E1-41E2-8047-20D1761B29B6.jpeg


liams clove is feeling home , after two weeks of introduction. It’s showing new growth
A311134A-B0FE-4A33-B073-F073DE732622.jpeg


bam bams from my bio cube, still not opened yet (transferred couple of hours before )
86D97DDF-5A76-44F6-96B5-D66696878450.jpeg


added frag of grandis and blue tubs . I think I squeezed the blue tubbs :-( , we’ll see
05F78539-1EDC-441F-94C6-5D0D6277962C.jpeg
 

cwalton00

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Could you show me how you added the Kasa Smart plugs? I have 2 of the HS103's and i can get the drivers added but i dont see how to use them
 
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Ranjib

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Could you show me how you added the Kasa Smart plugs? I have 2 of the HS103's and i can get the drivers added but i dont see how to use them
Use reef-pi 3.0,
1) Go to Configuration -> drivers -> New driver (type: hs103, address: "IP:9999" , use proper ip)
2) Go to connectors -> outlets -> new -> create an outlet and associate it with the newly created driver (pin 0)
3) Create a new equipment or associate an existing equipment with the new connector
 

cwalton00

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Use reef-pi 3.0,
1) Go to Configuration -> drivers -> New driver (type: hs103, address: "IP:9999" , use proper ip)
2) Go to connectors -> outlets -> new -> create an outlet and associate it with the newly created driver (pin 0)
3) Create a new equipment or associate an existing equipment with the new connector
Perfect thank you. I was missing the port. Also for some reason i have to clear the database often. If i make changes going to the connectors causes an error
 

DidYouSayReefer

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I like what you have planned. Can I send you a roll of Velcro to clean up those wires? My OCD is on high alert .
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 73 37.6%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 66 34.0%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 12.9%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 14.4%
  • Other.

    Votes: 2 1.0%
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