Automation: What do you have automated!

[AdamNC]

I'd be lost without my Apex.

ATO
Alk and Ca
Heaters
Lights
Wave Pumps
Algae Reactor

 

[ComfortRacing]

Thanks to my My Apex my tank no longer needs me…..

only thing i do manually is food & water changes…FOR NOW

 

[CRD23]

Only light schedule of my AI Prime and Fish Feeder are automated. Next stop is ATO. After that may be pH, Alkalinity testing. My priority is to automate daily, routine tasks. Then build risk mitigation mechanisms (e.g. notifications on equipment failure or leak detection). Eventually a self-correction mechanism (e.g. automated dosing)

 

[Mrjsmith33]

Lights, flow, temp, feed.... It is a 36 gallon so my evap is fairly slow and a dosing pump is coming asap , falling victim to precipitation

 

[neo1738]

Lights, Powerheads, Return pump all on Current USA controller. Tunze ATO for top off. Inkbird for heaters. I also have automation to alert me if the voltage of any of my devices is out of parameters especially if my return pump turns off. This is done by integrating Kasa power strips with my Control4 home automation station. I also have someone who comes to do biweekly water changes and I do the opposite weeks. When he enters code into the door turns lights on, music on, turns off powerheads, skimmer, ato, and return pump. When he leaves they all turn back on starting w return pump and timed to turn rest on slowly over a few minutes. It then checks things are on and running and if not sends me a push notification. As you can tell I love automation.

Edit: Added doser as well. So basically water changes and feeding (do have eheim feeder for vacations but try not to use too much pellet) by hand rest automatic.

 

[yusufhadiwinata]

small modification of iAqua Controller

GitHub - NineteenFire/MrAqua: Code for the MrAqua aquarium controller

Code for the MrAqua aquarium controller. Contribute to NineteenFire/MrAqua development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

+Adding 5 more dose pump
+Adding buzzer for alerting
+Adding Non-touch Water Sensor

• Water temperature monitoring
  • Allows calibration
  • Automatic shutoff of heater if water exceeds setpoint
• Automatic water top-off
  • Float switch inputs for tank and reservoir
  • Set maximum run-time with alarm flagged if exceeded
• Feeding mode
  • Monitor time since last fed
  • Control outlets during feeding (ie turn off pumps)
• Light control
  • 6-channel PWM or IR control of e-series LED
  • 4 lighting levels (moonlight, sunrise, mid-morning and full daylight)
• Dosing
  • 3 channels
  • Individual settings for each channel
• 8 power outlet control
  • Manual control or set on/off times
  • Aux outlets can be set to cycle times (ie on 10 minutes every 2 hours)

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

Currently, I only have my lights automated. I am planning on purchasing an ATO and Dosers in the future once I have the demand but for now, I have all I need.

a very cool gadget, but expensive one I’ve seen recently is the mastertronic auto tester. It allows testing of all important params utilizing off the shelf test kits. It does come in at $1299 USD however.

i cannot see myself ever purchasing this, ever, unless I become a coral plug … lol

 

[exnisstech]

2 tanks running and this is all I have being controled. Ato, lights, and one dosing pump for kalk.

 

[lefkonj]

ATO, AWC, Testing, Feeding, Heat, Chiller, Lights, Water level sensors and alerting., The only things not automated right now are feeding of frozen food and me.

 

[The_Macro_Lady]

Everything but a frozen food feeder and algae clip. The Nursing profession requires an automated reefI

Yes it does!

 

[SunnyX]

Tunze ATO and standard Ecotech controls for lights and pumps. Everything else is done manually. I feel that any more automation in my setup would be at the detriment of my reef.

The only real monitoring I do is with the PH/ALK. PH is monitored daily and the ALK is checked once per week. No other levels are monitored. (Phosphate/nitrate,etc). All supplements are added manually each day. I do this because it forces me to look at the tank and observe.

I know, I’m old school but it works. Chasing numbers and automating too many tasks has lead to the doom of many a reef tank.

 

[Spicy Reef]

auto..
Temp
lights
dose - alk, ca, mag
ATO = lid + kalkwasser
clean sand, algae - cuc, tangs
remove aiptasia - filefish
remove bristle worms - wrasse
maintain Redfield Ratio - corals
wouldn't call my wave maker automated? (it's either on or off which I do manually), except I do use feed mode when I do a water change

manual..
feed
clean glass
clean wave maker
clean sponges
clean skim mate
water change
testing, testing and testing
remove bubble algae
ordering all supplies...
have a beer watch tank

I'm closer to 50% than I thought

 

[Wasabiroot]

Temp, ATO, all for reef, carbon reactor, refugium lighting, tank lighting, pumps. Have the skimmer on a simple on/off socket w/switch. The non-app supported things (refugium/carbon/dosers) use either Kasa or Wyze plugs on a schedule. Everything else is manual, which is to say feeding mostly.
In the future I'd like to set up an auto-water change system. Generally speaking, I'm having a hard time justifying the cost of a full featured controller on a 50g cube. In my opinion there is a market opportunity for a cheaper controller. Hydros is starting to fill this niche nicely.

 

[DIYreefer]

The only thing I automate is my lighting, and top off when I go out of town. I've found that I'm a much better aquarist when I'm more physically involved with my tanks.

 

[arafas]

small modification of iAqua Controller

GitHub - NineteenFire/MrAqua: Code for the MrAqua aquarium controller

Code for the MrAqua aquarium controller. Contribute to NineteenFire/MrAqua development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

+Adding 5 more dose pump
+Adding buzzer for alerting
+Adding Non-touch Water Sensor

• Water temperature monitoring
  • Allows calibration
  • Automatic shutoff of heater if water exceeds setpoint
• Automatic water top-off
  • Float switch inputs for tank and reservoir
  • Set maximum run-time with alarm flagged if exceeded
• Feeding mode
  • Monitor time since last fed
  • Control outlets during feeding (ie turn off pumps)
• Light control
  • 6-channel PWM or IR control of e-series LED
  • 4 lighting levels (moonlight, sunrise, mid-morning and full daylight)
• Dosing
  • 3 channels
  • Individual settings for each channel
• 8 power outlet control
  • Manual control or set on/off times
  • Aux outlets can be set to cycle times (ie on 10 minutes every 2 hours)

is there a build thread on this ?or just the link you have there?

 

[yusufhadiwinata]

is there a build thread on this ?or just the link you have there?

Hi, the build thread is on another forum, you can view the link on github page wiki on my post

 

[Powderblue85]

I never thought automation would be where it is today. From
The old style reefkeepers to now is amazing. I keep as much stuff automated as possible but I haven’t found trust in the things like tridents. I like to have a hands on to stay on top of the tank.

 

[yusufhadiwinata]

Temp, ATO, all for reef, carbon reactor, refugium lighting, tank lighting, pumps. Have the skimmer on a simple on/off socket w/switch. The non-app supported things (refugium/carbon/dosers) use either Kasa or Wyze plugs on a schedule. Everything else is manual, which is to say feeding mostly.
In the future I'd like to set up an auto-water change system. Generally speaking, I'm having a hard time justifying the cost of a full featured controller on a 50g cube. In my opinion there is a market opportunity for a cheaper controller. Hydros is starting to fill this niche nicely.

Automatic water change should be not hard to build, can you help to list all the feature automatic water change product on the existing market?

 

[rioreef]

Apex EL running mine with two EB832’s controlling lights, ATO, heaters, hood fans, sump fan for cooling, carbon reactor, AWC via Neptune DOS, return, storage cabinet light, Alk and Ca dosing via another DOS, two temp probes and a pH probe. Each of the EB832 power centers are plugged into two separate house circuits.

Float switch for ATO along with low/hi float sensors for sump, low float sensors on brute can for AWC and low floats on Alk/Ca containers.

Floats control solenoid for ATO and AWC shutting them down based on programming parameters.

Switches for feeding, cabinet doors, skimmer control and a master kill switch for all devices.

Vortex battery backup for one of my mp40s. MP40s are on powered on different circuits. Ensuring not all my flow is on one EB832

Feeding with Ehiem feeder with programs to shut skimmer and reactor down during feed times.


Still manual control on:
Additives, testing, salinity and new salt water for the AWC. Also a closed loop on third circuit incorporating an external circulation pump operating continuously for 17 years and a UV lamp too.

 

[Wasabiroot]

Automatic water change should be not hard to build, can you help to list all the feature automatic water change product on the existing market?

I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you saying because I have a passing interest in them I should build one and also name every brand?