Mattgsa 315 gallon build

mattgsa · May 18, 2026

That Crusso Kid said:
I don't think the timing of the EB832 could have been more perfect.

That seems like a pretty fancy labeler. Although, it's been many years since I last bought one.

If you wouldn't mind, if you haven't already, could you keep a running total on the cost of going full-PLC?

This is fairly close, I did order a module the other day, which was about 80, for more outputs

Core PLC Components (AutomationDirect)

Item	Qty	Price	Vendor	Notes
CLICK PLC C2-03CPU-2	1	~$219.00	AutomationDirect	CPU with Ethernet
CLICK Ethernet Communication Module	1	~$119.00	AutomationDirect	For Node-RED integration
CLICK Digital Input Module	1	~$37.00	AutomationDirect	8-pt input module
CLICK Relay Output Module	1	~$39.00	AutomationDirect	4-channel
Gefran Solid State Relays (GQ-15-24-D-1-3)	4	$96.00	AD	15A SPST SSRs
Selector Switches (GCX1264-120L)	5	$187.50	AD	22mm, LED, 3-point of sale switches
FTG Enclosed Terminal Block (38049AL)	1	$15.50	AD	80A, 1-pole terminal
Power Supply RECOM 24V DC (RCP-120S)	1	~$40.00	AD / Amazon	DIN-mount, 5A

Enclosures & Mounting Hardware

Item	Qty	Price	Vendor	Notes
VEVOR Fiberglass Electrical Enclosure (16"x12"x8")	2	$76.99 ea	Home Depot	Fiberglass with mounting plate
Pre-Cut DIN Rail Kit (10 pcs, 7in)	1	$18.38	Home Depot	For terminal blocks & devices
Iboco T1 Series Open Slot Wire Duct (T1-1010B-1)	1	$20.50	AD	1in x 6.5ft, blue
NPT Cable Glands (IP68 Assortment Kit)	1 kit	$14.99	Amazon	Strain reliefs for cabling

Wire & Cable Management

Item	Qty	Price	Vendor	Notes
TFFN 16 AWG Wire (White, Black, Green, Blue)	4 rolls	$57.00 each	WireAndCableYourWay	500 ft per color
Ferrule Crimping Tool Kit + Ferrules	1 kit	$26.99	Amazon (SOMELINE)	Includes 23 sizes of ferrules
Deutsch 2-Pin Waterproof Connectors (DT Style)	6 sets	$14.99	Amazon	For secure removable connections
Self-Tapping Stainless Screws (125 pcs)	1 kit	~$9.99	Amazon	For mounting to enclosure

Terminal Blocks & Accessories

Item	Qty	Price	Vendor	Notes
Multi-Color Terminal Block Kit (30 pcs)	1 kit	$19.99	Amazon (TOKCKYBL)	Includes aluminum rail, jumpers
JANDECCN 50 Pack DIN Terminal Blocks	1 kit	~$16.99	Amazon	For 24-12 AWG wire
JANDECCN Splicing Terminal Blocks (3-in 15-out)	1 kit	~$14.99	Amazon	DIN rail mount
Bridge Connectors (EB10-6, 10 pcs)	1 pack	$8.99	Amazon	For shared power distribution
Konnect-It Ground Terminal Blocks (KN-G10-10)	10 pcs	$33.00	AD	Green/yellow grounding blocks

Power Protection & Switching

Item	Qty	Price	Vendor	Notes
Square D HEPD80 Whole House Surge Protector	1	~$75.00	Amazon	80kA, 120/240V
DIHOOL Mini Circuit Breakers (15A, 2-pack)	1	$13.88 (bundle)	Amazon	DIN-mount, AC/DC compatible
CHTAIXI 20A Circuit Breakers (3-pack)	1	included	Amazon	DIN-mount, 120/240V

mattgsa · May 19, 2026

I don't think there is a need to elaborate here

And finally the trash bin. I'm trying not to think about how much money I wasted on that crap

That Crusso Kid · May 19, 2026

mattgsa said:
This is fairly close, I did order a module the other day, which was about 80, for more outputs

Core PLC Components (AutomationDirect)

Item Qty Price Vendor Notes
CLICK PLC C2-03CPU-2 1 ~$219.00 AutomationDirect CPU with Ethernet
CLICK Ethernet Communication Module 1 ~$119.00 AutomationDirect For Node-RED integration
CLICK Digital Input Module 1 ~$37.00 AutomationDirect 8-pt input module
CLICK Relay Output Module 1 ~$39.00 AutomationDirect 4-channel
Gefran Solid State Relays (GQ-15-24-D-1-3) 4 $96.00 AD 15A SPST SSRs
Selector Switches (GCX1264-120L) 5 $187.50 AD 22mm, LED, 3-point of sale switches
FTG Enclosed Terminal Block (38049AL) 1 $15.50 AD 80A, 1-pole terminal
Power Supply RECOM 24V DC (RCP-120S) 1 ~$40.00 AD / Amazon DIN-mount, 5A

Enclosures & Mounting Hardware

Item Qty Price Vendor Notes
VEVOR Fiberglass Electrical Enclosure (16"x12"x8") 2 $76.99 ea Home Depot Fiberglass with mounting plate
Pre-Cut DIN Rail Kit (10 pcs, 7in) 1 $18.38 Home Depot For terminal blocks & devices
Iboco T1 Series Open Slot Wire Duct (T1-1010B-1) 1 $20.50 AD 1in x 6.5ft, blue
NPT Cable Glands (IP68 Assortment Kit) 1 kit $14.99 Amazon Strain reliefs for cabling

Wire & Cable Management

Item Qty Price Vendor Notes
TFFN 16 AWG Wire (White, Black, Green, Blue) 4 rolls $57.00 each WireAndCableYourWay 500 ft per color
Ferrule Crimping Tool Kit + Ferrules 1 kit $26.99 Amazon (SOMELINE) Includes 23 sizes of ferrules
Deutsch 2-Pin Waterproof Connectors (DT Style) 6 sets $14.99 Amazon For secure removable connections
Self-Tapping Stainless Screws (125 pcs) 1 kit ~$9.99 Amazon For mounting to enclosure

Terminal Blocks & Accessories

Item Qty Price Vendor Notes
Multi-Color Terminal Block Kit (30 pcs) 1 kit $19.99 Amazon (TOKCKYBL) Includes aluminum rail, jumpers
JANDECCN 50 Pack DIN Terminal Blocks 1 kit ~$16.99 Amazon For 24-12 AWG wire
JANDECCN Splicing Terminal Blocks (3-in 15-out) 1 kit ~$14.99 Amazon DIN rail mount
Bridge Connectors (EB10-6, 10 pcs) 1 pack $8.99 Amazon For shared power distribution
Konnect-It Ground Terminal Blocks (KN-G10-10) 10 pcs $33.00 AD Green/yellow grounding blocks

Power Protection & Switching

Item Qty Price Vendor Notes
Square D HEPD80 Whole House Surge Protector 1 ~$75.00 Amazon 80kA, 120/240V
DIHOOL Mini Circuit Breakers (15A, 2-pack) 1 $13.88 (bundle) Amazon DIN-mount, AC/DC compatible
CHTAIXI 20A Circuit Breakers (3-pack) 1 included Amazon DIN-mount, 120/240V

This is great, Matt, thanks!

Rough math has you clocked in at about $1,425 so far. Not too bad, at all.

That Crusso Kid · May 19, 2026

mattgsa said:
I don't think there is a need to elaborate here

And finally the trash bin. I'm trying not to think about how much money I wasted on that crap

You don't want to try selling the gear?

CoralB · May 19, 2026

Peeking .

mattgsa · May 19, 2026

That Crusso Kid said:
You don't want to try selling the gear?

I don't think I could do that ethically and still sleep at night. Trash belongs in the trash.

That Crusso Kid · May 20, 2026

mattgsa said:
I don't think I could do that ethically and still sleep at night. Trash belongs in the trash.

I hear what you're saying but sometimes something is better than nothing. Let me know if you have a change of heart as I could be tempted to take it off your hands.

CoralB · May 20, 2026

That Crusso Kid said:
I hear what you're saying but sometimes something is better than nothing. Let me know if you have a change of heart as I could be tempted to take it off your hands.

Find out where he lives and wait for when he takes out the garbage lol!!

mattgsa · May 21, 2026

Well since the tank is going to be controlled by PLC, I still need a way to control it remotely so the node red intigration is coming along. I will be able to monitor and control the tank from phone or the one of the live control pannels in the house. Since all my sensor was connected to the APEX I'm having to start over looking for sensors now that I can connect through the PLC or MQTT interface. Right now I'm leaning towads MQTT.

I have been eyeing more Atlas sensors

I think I will start with a temp sensor, and then move on to ORP and possibly PH. However, I will have the PH on the Calcium reactor and I don't see any point in having on the tank since I have no plans of chasing ph.

mattgsa · May 21, 2026

Another major milestone night for the Jarvise reef system project. The overall vision from the beginning has always been to build a layered observability and automation platform for the aquarium, but the Apex failure definitely accelerated the timeline and forced me to start integrating pieces together much sooner than originally planned.

Tonight was less about adding hardware and more about turning separate systems into a cohesive ecosystem.

The biggest accomplishment was bringing the tank camera fully online inside the Jarvise infrastructure. Instead of directly exposing the Amcrest stream to dashboards and clients, I built a dedicated camera proxy service running inside one of the Proxmox LXCs. The proxy continuously pulls the MJPEG stream from the camera, caches the latest frame in memory, and serves both live streams and clean JPEG snapshots on demand. It also automatically reconnects if the camera drops offline. That may sound excessive for a reef tank, but it creates a stable foundation for everything that comes next.

The wall-mounted TankControlPanel now has a fully integrated live tank feed. One tap on the touchscreen immediately opens a fullscreen camera view with live/offline health indicators and automatic fallback to snapshot mode if the stream fails. The interface is becoming much more operational and appliance-like rather than just “a dashboard.”

At the same time, the first version of the Jarvise observation pipeline is now running. Every few minutes the system captures a tank snapshot and stores it alongside structured metadata including PLC output states, float switch states, lighting state, frame hashes, and environmental context. Right now it’s operating silently with no alerts while it builds a baseline understanding of what “normal” looks like over time.

That last part is probably the most exciting piece of the entire project.

The goal is not to have AI randomly stare at a fish tank asking “does this look wrong?” That approach would generate endless false alarms. Instead, the system is being designed more like industrial observability infrastructure where multiple independent signals are correlated together before anything is considered an actual issue.

For example:

Float switch reports low water
Camera visually confirms abnormal sump level
Return pump power consumption changes
= high confidence alert

That’s a very different philosophy than traditional aquarium controllers.

The camera system is also laying the groundwork for future capabilities like:

skimmer overflow detection
leak detection
water clarity trend analysis
equipment state verification
remote “show me the tank” snapshots from Jarvise chat
long-term operational trend analysis

What’s becoming really interesting is that the system is beginning to accumulate operational memory. Not “AI memory” in the buzzword sense, but actual historical understanding of how the tank behaves over time:

what normal nighttime operation looks like
how equipment states correlate
what conditions precede instability
what changes before something fails

The architecture itself is also becoming far more mature:

CLICK PLC for deterministic control
MQTT for telemetry
Node-RED orchestration
Proxmox LXC infrastructure
local-first deployment
camera proxy + observation pipeline
touchscreen operational interface
future Atlas sensor integration for temp and ORP

At this point it’s honestly becoming less of a “controller” and more of a true reef observability platform.

Still a huge amount left to build but tonight was one of those nights where the separate pieces finally started feeling like a single integrated system instead of a bunch of independent projects.

That Crusso Kid · May 22, 2026

mattgsa said:
Another major milestone night for the Jarvise reef system project. The overall vision from the beginning has always been to build a layered observability and automation platform for the aquarium, but the Apex failure definitely accelerated the timeline and forced me to start integrating pieces together much sooner than originally planned.

Tonight was less about adding hardware and more about turning separate systems into a cohesive ecosystem.

The biggest accomplishment was bringing the tank camera fully online inside the Jarvise infrastructure. Instead of directly exposing the Amcrest stream to dashboards and clients, I built a dedicated camera proxy service running inside one of the Proxmox LXCs. The proxy continuously pulls the MJPEG stream from the camera, caches the latest frame in memory, and serves both live streams and clean JPEG snapshots on demand. It also automatically reconnects if the camera drops offline. That may sound excessive for a reef tank, but it creates a stable foundation for everything that comes next.

The wall-mounted TankControlPanel now has a fully integrated live tank feed. One tap on the touchscreen immediately opens a fullscreen camera view with live/offline health indicators and automatic fallback to snapshot mode if the stream fails. The interface is becoming much more operational and appliance-like rather than just “a dashboard.”

At the same time, the first version of the Jarvise observation pipeline is now running. Every few minutes the system captures a tank snapshot and stores it alongside structured metadata including PLC output states, float switch states, lighting state, frame hashes, and environmental context. Right now it’s operating silently with no alerts while it builds a baseline understanding of what “normal” looks like over time.

That last part is probably the most exciting piece of the entire project.

The goal is not to have AI randomly stare at a fish tank asking “does this look wrong?” That approach would generate endless false alarms. Instead, the system is being designed more like industrial observability infrastructure where multiple independent signals are correlated together before anything is considered an actual issue.

For example:

Float switch reports low water

Camera visually confirms abnormal sump level

Return pump power consumption changes
= high confidence alert

That’s a very different philosophy than traditional aquarium controllers.

The camera system is also laying the groundwork for future capabilities like:

skimmer overflow detection

leak detection

water clarity trend analysis

equipment state verification

remote “show me the tank” snapshots from Jarvise chat

long-term operational trend analysis

What’s becoming really interesting is that the system is beginning to accumulate operational memory. Not “AI memory” in the buzzword sense, but actual historical understanding of how the tank behaves over time:

what normal nighttime operation looks like

how equipment states correlate

what conditions precede instability

what changes before something fails

The architecture itself is also becoming far more mature:

CLICK PLC for deterministic control

MQTT for telemetry

Node-RED orchestration

Proxmox LXC infrastructure

local-first deployment

camera proxy + observation pipeline

touchscreen operational interface

future Atlas sensor integration for temp and ORP

At this point it’s honestly becoming less of a “controller” and more of a true reef observability platform.

Still a huge amount left to build but tonight was one of those nights where the separate pieces finally started feeling like a single integrated system instead of a bunch of independent projects.

I feel a little crazy with so many of the same replies about your plan, development and execution but I've never let that stop me from saying anything before, so, THIS IS SO FREAKING COOL!

(There, I yelled it that time to try and mix it up.)