electrical idiot builds a controller - a reef pi build

[Bigtrout]

I'm inspired to one day start a planted freshwater tank.

Dont fight it. Embrace the Dark Side!

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

i wired up the aviation plugs to the pca9685 and to the relay. Hopefully I wired it right. I had forgotten how much I hate pin connectors. Those things must have been designed by the devil or at least a raiders fan. There must be a better way....

time to order a power supply for the relay, and a box to put it in. I also need to figure out the circuit for the moon lights.

 

[Ranjib]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

i wired up the aviation plugs to the pca9685 and to the relay. Hopefully I wired it right. I had forgotten how much I hate pin connectors. Those things must have been designed by the devil or at least a raiders fan. There must be a better way....

time to order a power supply for the relay, and a box to put it in. I also need to figure out the circuit for the moon lights.

LOL.. looking good. I am considering pcb mounted connectors for some projects next, will keep you posted. But i agree, this is the least fun part of the build :-/

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

@b4tn
Is the moonlight circuit in the light fixture or do I need to build it in my controller?

There are two wires coming from the light fixture. Where do these two wires go? 1 to the 12v no from the relay and the other to the +12v in the circuit above?

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

wire diagrams I need

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

What a crazy time we live in. I have so much more time now. less money. But more time. I have so many projects going. I had to write a list and print it to remember what I am doing.

so I remembered my Ocean revive lights from @b4tn . I finished wiring the lights circuit and connectors.
Next up is to figure out how to connect 2 GPIO and 3.3, SDA, SDL from the pico board in trolls reef pi to the new relay and PCA9685.

Then I will need to put all the new stuff in a case.

Well at least it is some progress.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

The tanks are setup in a temporary spot. But they are doing okay for now. The salt tank is pretty empty. I'm waiting until I can move it to a permanent spot before I add to it. Can you spot Toby?

The planted tank looks nicer, but I've been fighting Algae. I recently added Amano shrimp to help.

In my downtime I decided to remodel the house by removing a load bearing wall and redoing the entire kitchen.

I even hand built a copper range hood. (which is upside down in the garage right now)

Fun times!

 

[Bigtrout]

The tanks are setup in a temporary spot. But they are doing okay for now. The salt tank is pretty empty. I'm waiting until I can move it to a permanent spot before I add to it. Can you spot Toby?

The planted tank looks nicer, but I've been fighting Algae. I recently added Amano shrimp to help.

In my downtime I decided to remodel the house by removing a load bearing wall and redoing the entire kitchen.

I even hand built a copper range hood. (which is upside down in the garage right now)

Fun times!

Nice planted tank. Try cutting your light intensity a bit if you are getting some algae...after all with reef pi you can do that!
Is it green algea?

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Nice planted tank. Try cutting your light intensity a bit if you are getting some algae...after all with reef pi you can do that!
Is it green algea?

It is hair algae and some type of brown algae on the plant leaves. Seems to be killing the leaves and feeding off it. I’ve upped the CO2 and started fertilizing using ei method. I think I’ll just remove the diseased plants so I can get back in front of it.

 

[Ranjib]

Looking good

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

... and Toby is gone. Found him on the carpet this morning. The picture above was the last time I saw him swimming.

Before I moved the tank to work on the kitchen I had a cover. I changed to a different tank and didn’t build a cover. I planned to build one once the tank moved back. ... not soon enough.

now the salt tank is animal less. Just water and rock.

 

[Ranjib]

... and Toby is gone. Found him on the carpet this morning. The picture above was the last time I saw him swimming.

Before I moved the tank to work on the kitchen I had a cover. I changed to a different tank and didn’t build a cover. I planned to build one once the tank moved back. ... not soon enough.

now the salt tank is animal less. Just water and rock.

Sorry to hear :-/. I lost couple of fishes during the move . And still feeling sad about it

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

... and done.

The ocean revive lights with added moon lights are fully controlled by reef pi!

The little black box is the main controller. It is a raspberry pi zero connected to a pico board from @theatrus. I’m using the built in expansion ports from the pico board over to the larger light expansion box. Inside it is a 16 channel pwm board and 2 channel relay. I have 3 channels per ocean revive, 6 channels total. White, blue, and moon per light fixture.

thanks again @b4tn for the lights!

now I need to figure out how to mount the lights above the tank.

@Bigtrout I finally beat the hair and bush algae in the planted tank. I took every plant out and dipped in 10% bleach. The algae is gone now. And so are the stem plants. the stem plants all melted away over the next week.The bushy plants survived the bleach fine.

 

[b4tn]

... and done.

The ocean revive lights with added moon lights are fully controlled by reef pi!

The little black box is the main controller. It is a raspberry pi zero connected to a pico board from @theatrus. I’m using the built in expansion ports from the pico board over to the larger light expansion box. Inside it is a 16 channel pwm board and 2 channel relay. I have 3 channels per ocean revive, 6 channels total. White, blue, and moon per light fixture.

thanks again @b4tn for the lights!

now I need to figure out how to mount the lights above the tank.

@Bigtrout I finally beat the hair and bush algae in the planted tank. I took every plant out and dipped in 10% bleach. The algae is gone now. And so are the stem plants. the stem plants all melted away over the next week.The bushy plants survived the bleach fine.

sweet!!! I’m so glad you got it all working. Did you have to open up the lights at all?

 

[b4tn]

Here is how I mounted them. The metal is just 1” steel stock I got from Home Depot and used a u bolt. The stand is 3/4” EMT conduit. I rented a bender from my local hardware store to make the bends.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Here is how I mounted them. The metal is just 1” steel stock I got from Home Depot and used a u bolt. The stand is 3/4” EMT conduit. I rented a bender from my local hardware store to make the bends.

I like the stand you built. I was thinking about modifying the brackets I had for the previous. But they attach to the tank side and aren't as sturdy as the stand you built. I think I may steal your idea!

sweet!!! I’m so glad you got it all working. Did you have to open up the lights at all?

I did open one of them as I was just too curious about what was inside. I didn't modify anything inside though. I added a couple of transistors to the moon light circuit inside of the controller case. I think I spent $2 for 10 transistors, but it took 2 weeks for them to be delivered.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Ahh F*c** ****>€£*%#~!

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

I was getting ready to re-setup my salt tank.

just needed to polish out the sand paper like scratches.

and pop goes the weasel.

side panel split. Maybe the 7 inch sander/ polished I was using was a bit too aggressive.

anyone have a good condition 120g?

 

[Bigtrout]

Ahh F*c** ****>€£*%#~!

Ouch! That sucks

I had a 55 gallon one time set up with an undergravel for years...was going to re-do the setup. Had my fish in buckets, drained tank to clean it...had it outside rinsing it out and took a beer break, sun hit the tank and after the beer break when the cold water from the hose hit the hot glass...instant broken tank.

 

[Ranjib]

Ahh F*c** ****>€£*%#~!

Ouch :-(