Cake Tank and Reef-pi Build

[Ranjib]

Double post

 

[denniscahill]

I will do that this afternoon when I get off of work.

Thanks for checking in on me.

In other news, I had three temp probes successfully working displaying temps within 0.3 degrees of each other for over a week before this latest speed bump.

I have the circuit built for 2 dosing pumps, but I must have something a bit off as they do not work....yet. I am trying to trace what I did to see if I made a simple mistake. Parts for my ATO and pH system should arrive by the end of the month, so I should be set.

Oh yeah, I made the enclosures. One for the Reef-Pi and pumps and associated boards, and another that has a 7 inch display and a 1TB HDD.

Just thinking out loud here, but I might scrap my initial board and start over. I started with the idea that I wanted to control 8 outlets, but now I am planning on getting this controllable 4 outlet device (https://www.adafruit.com/product/2935) if it ever comes back in stock. I think that I have wiring issues trying to use pins from the power switching for doser motor instead. It might just be easier to get a new perma-proto board and start fresh. It would give me a chance to learn to fritz and combine 2x doser pumps, pH, 3x temp probes, the control for the commercial outlet, and the ATO into a single diagram.

 

[Ranjib]

I will do that this afternoon when I get off of work.

Thanks for checking in on me.

In other news, I had three temp probes successfully working displaying temps within 0.3 degrees of each other for over a week before this latest speed bump.

I have the circuit built for 2 dosing pumps, but I must have something a bit off as they do not work....yet. I am trying to trace what I did to see if I made a simple mistake. Parts for my ATO and pH system should arrive by the end of the month, so I should be set.

Oh yeah, I made the enclosures. One for the Reef-Pi and pumps and associated boards, and another that has a 7 inch display and a 1TB HDD.

Just thinking out loud here, but I might scrap my initial board and start over. I started with the idea that I wanted to control 8 outlets, but now I am planning on getting this controllable 4 outlet device (https://www.adafruit.com/product/2935) if it ever comes back in stock. I think that I have wiring issues trying to use pins from the power switching for doser motor instead. It might just be easier to get a new perma-proto board and start fresh. It would give me a chance to learn to fritz and combine 2x doser pumps, pH, 3x temp probes, the control for the commercial outlet, and the ATO into a single diagram.

Not a bad idea

 

[denniscahill]

So, I am really new to the Reef tanks. I bought my first corals about 60 days ago and this is what I saw yesterday:

Looks like I have some growth going on....

 

[Ranjib]

Those tiny pipe things at the bottom are vermatid snails. They can be a nuisance.

 

[denniscahill]

Here is the result of running that command:


-- Logs begin at Tue 2019-08-06 16:42:47 MDT, end at Thu 2019-08-08 15:53:01 MDT. --
Aug 06 16:42:49 cakereefpi systemd[1]: Started raspberry pi based reef tank controller.
Aug 06 16:42:50 cakereefpi reef-pi[329]: 2019/08/06 16:42:50 Setting pca9685 frquency: 1500
Aug 06 16:42:50 cakereefpi reef-pi[329]: 2019/08/06 16:42:50 ERROR: Failed to initialize pca9685 d
Aug 06 16:42:50 cakereefpi reef-pi[329]: 2019/08/06 16:42:50 ERROR: Failed to initialize controlle
Aug 06 16:42:50 cakereefpi systemd[1]: reef-pi.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1
Aug 06 16:42:50 cakereefpi systemd[1]: reef-pi.service: Unit entered failed state.
Aug 06 16:42:50 cakereefpi systemd[1]: reef-pi.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Aug 08 15:53:01 cakereefpi systemd[1]: reef-pi.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling res
Aug 08 15:53:01 cakereefpi systemd[1]: Stopped raspberry pi based reef tank controller.
Aug 08 15:53:01 cakereefpi systemd[1]: Started raspberry pi based reef tank controller.
Aug 08 15:53:01 cakereefpi reef-pi[1445]: 2019/08/08 15:53:01 Setting pca9685 frquency: 1500
Aug 08 15:53:01 cakereefpi reef-pi[1445]: 2019/08/08 15:53:01 ERROR: Failed to initialize pca9685
Aug 08 15:53:01 cakereefpi reef-pi[1445]: 2019/08/08 15:53:01 ERROR: Failed to initialize controll
Aug 08 15:53:01 cakereefpi systemd[1]: reef-pi.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1
Aug 08 15:53:01 cakereefpi systemd[1]: reef-pi.service: Unit entered failed state.
Aug 08 15:53:01 cakereefpi systemd[1]: reef-pi.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.

 

[denniscahill]

Ok, rebuilt the Pi and am back up and running.

Dosers still do not work, but I think it is a wiring issue that will need to wait until mid-week to fix. Waiting on some new boards.

 

[Ranjib]

Ok, rebuilt the Pi and am back up and running.

Dosers still do not work, but I think it is a wiring issue that will need to wait until mid-week to fix. Waiting on some new boards.

The errors in the log indicate the reef-pi is not able to initialize the pca9685 driver . Is i2c enabled? Can you see pca9685 via i2cdetect ?

 

[denniscahill]

The errors in the log indicate the reef-pi is not able to initialize the pca9685 driver . Is i2c enabled? Can you see pca9685 via i2cdetect ?

I noticed that and figured one of the easiest things to do to fix it was to reformat and start from scratch.

Things now are working just fine with temps ans display.

 

[denniscahill]

so, made some progress in the past 10 months !! Ha!!
Tank has been up and running all this time, but almost everything in it has died. The 2 clowns are happy, i mean very happy, but all of the coral I have tried has not made it except for the one in the picture. That was 4 or 5 "heads" when I got it, and look at it now. It is just starting to come awake as the lights are ramping up now.

so, a quick question or a lot of questions about my water parameters.
I test pH with a probe and now with my Reef-pi constantly monitoring.
Refractometer, calibrated frequently for salinity.
I also monitor temps with the Reef-pi.
I use Hanna Checkers for Ca, Alk, and Ultra-low Po4.
I have stopped testing for ammonia and nitrates but am considering getting a good kit for the nitrates.
I use Red Sea Salt in the Blue Bucket and do not add anything except RO/DI to top off the tank between water changes. I have a custom modified BRS RODI system with an extra anion bed, so I have the following: 1. sediment filter, 2. carbon #1, 3. Carbon #2 for chlormines, 4. Membrane 5. anion bed #1 6. Anion bed #2 ( this goes fast with my water supply, hence two) 7. Cation Bed, and 8. Mixed bed.

I have inline TDS and output water is zero.

I am struggling to get things rock solid stable. Here are the last three sets of test results: ( i know I should test more )
10 June: salininty 1.024 pH 7.8 Ca 449 Alk 9.1 PO4 0.06
Calibrated pH probes
11 June : salinity 1.025 pH 7.5 Ca 467 Alk 9.2 PO4 0.05
22 June : salinity 1.025 pH 8.1 Ca 483 Alk 10.8 PO4 0.08

As you can see, Ca and Alk are rising, I am not dosing and I do stir the sand bed when I change water. I do not have a skimmer so I put an airstone into the sump to try to help pH. It did nothing so I was advised to use Balance. I add 10ml every other day and saw the pH go from 7.5 to 8.1 in the past 8 days.

With the Reef-pi monitoring temps, I see a swing of about 2 to 2.5 degrees daily. I see low of 75.8 F to a high of 78.1 F. I am working on setting up the Reef-pi to control a second heater to help the tank combat the Air Conditioner. Albuquerque is hitting high 90s now and the A/C is on almost constantly.

I feed frozen brine shrimp, the only thing the Clowns seem to devour. I try to sneak in some pellets occasionally for extra nutrients, but Bill and Ted are picky and only go after the brine shrimp.

so, if you have read this far, I am open to any advice you may have to help.

I have read just about everything Randy has written on pH and Alk, and before I got the Hannah checker I was titrating to determine Alk. I occasionally break out the burette and spot check the Hanna and I am pretty much spot on, within 0.1 of each other in the two tests.

Going to test the tagging system and see if I know what I am doing.

@Ranjib @Randy Holmes-Farley @ReefSquadLeader

 

[denniscahill]

Ok,
so the Reef-pi is successfully controlling the second heater in my sump and temps are now pretty much stable at 78.5 to 78.9 F here is a snapshot:

I did drop the temp down from 80.0 to 78.5 F

Now to work on solving my low pH issues. Everything I try does not work and I also have issues with rising Alk and Ca without the addition of anything but food and ro/di water.

I don't have a skimmer so a CO2 scrubber would need to work through an air pump. I am not sure the fish tank air pumps have enough head pressure to push through an inline media reactor, but it might be possible. I am pretty sure I would need to replace the air pump pretty often but it might be worth it in the long run. I am pretty sure I have a high CO2 household. 4 dogs plus 5 people and closed up due to high temps in Albuquerque most likely means high CO2. I tried just putting an airstone into the sump, but it barely move the pH. I cannot get outside air to the tank as it is on an inside wall more than 15 feet from the closest window.

So here we are. I am open to suggestions and comments.

thanks,

Cake

 

[Ranjib]

most popular two part dosing or kalkwasser will increase ph alongside alk. You have to use specifically sodium bicarbonate based alk supplement to increase alk without increasing ph. I would not recommend attempting to increase ph unless you see ill effect. Attempt to stabilize alk (dkh) instead and just keep maintaining stability (minimal swings) and that should be enough.

 

[denniscahill]

I am now having issues with my pH probe. I have a hand held probe as well as a probe connected through Michael Lanes' pH board to his Goby board. Last week everything was working very well. I saw about .5 difference between the hand held pH and the wired probe so I decided to calibrate. I bought 4 each of the 7.01 and 10.0 calibration solution packets and proceeded to calibrate the wired probe. I was very careful to only open the packet the bare minimum to get the probe inside to reduce atmospheric interference and CO2 absorption. I calibrated and now the wired probe is reading all over the place. I know for a fact that my tank is not sitting at a pH of between 2.1 and 5.3, but that is what the probe is reading. I have re-calibrated 3 times and still get wild results.

Is there any information out there on what my raw data should be for a pH of 7 and a pH of 10 so I can verify that my probe is working?

Could a grounding probe have any impact? I just added one of those to the tank as a "just in case" measure.

Standing by for your thoughts.

 

[Michael Lane]

I am now having issues with my pH probe. I have a hand held probe as well as a probe connected through Michael Lanes' pH board to his Goby board. Last week everything was working very well. I saw about .5 difference between the hand held pH and the wired probe so I decided to calibrate. I bought 4 each of the 7.01 and 10.0 calibration solution packets and proceeded to calibrate the wired probe. I was very careful to only open the packet the bare minimum to get the probe inside to reduce atmospheric interference and CO2 absorption. I calibrated and now the wired probe is reading all over the place. I know for a fact that my tank is not sitting at a pH of between 2.1 and 5.3, but that is what the probe is reading. I have re-calibrated 3 times and still get wild results.

Is there any information out there on what my raw data should be for a pH of 7 and a pH of 10 so I can verify that my probe is working?

Could a grounding probe have any impact? I just added one of those to the tank as a "just in case" measure.

Standing by for your thoughts.

I don't think a grounding probe should have an impact, but you should be able to get fairly stable readings from the calibration solutions. I'll follow up this weekend with approximate values to expect for the raw readings.

 

[denniscahill]

Update:

I found an old article (Raspberry pi pH Meter) and Step 2 talks about forcing a baseline of 7.0 by shorting out plug on the pH board and calibrating that as 7.0. I did that, and followed up with a second calibration at 8.2 ( what my tank was currently sitting at pH wise.)

Now, my probe is reading what I consider to be correct values. When I spot check with the freshly calibrated hand-held meter, I am +-0.1 . So I think I am finally getting a good reading. I am currently fluxing from about 7.7 to 8.2 and as time goes by I should be able to see a pattern.