Monitoring solution

[theatrus]

Well, a wemos D1 only has 1 AnalogInput, so you would only be able to connect one eTape, as long as you do not multiplex that.

Looks like Tasmota works on certain ESP32 chips as well though. There you would have 6 Analog Inputs and more than enough pins for everything. Tasmota does also support counters (for the flowmeters) and I2C, so it looks doable if you want to do it that way.

That does of course mean that you will probably not have a ReefPi controller, but well, I'm not one to judge ^^

There are a couple of "scriptable device" firmware packages in the ESP/Home Assistant/MQTT universe, which makes building these things easier especially from a pure monitoring POV. Tasmota is one, as is https://esphome.io/ . I don't have much opinion/experience with either, but its a pretty quick way to get things setup - honestly, getting HA running is probably harder just because its Python ecosystem is very brittle.

Yes, this isn't Reef-Pi, but can absolutely still be hooked to it (or HA, or things of your choosing).

 

[Carbonator]

There are a couple of "scriptable device" firmware packages in the ESP/Home Assistant/MQTT universe, which makes building these things easier especially from a pure monitoring POV. Tasmota is one, as is https://esphome.io/ . I don't have much opinion/experience with either, but its a pretty quick way to get things setup - honestly, getting HA running is probably harder just because its Python ecosystem is very brittle.

Yes, this isn't Reef-Pi, but can absolutely still be hooked to it (or HA, or things of your choosing).

Yeah, my goal is just to pipe sensor data to homeassistant. Reefpi looks like a cool way to do it, but maybe reefpi could be responsible for only certain things like leak detection, flow meter, ph, temp, and then a seperate specialized device could handle the things that arent supported out of the box with reefpi.

The eTape is for sure a favorite a favorite as I could set different actions based on different water levels. Like where to shut off return pump, skimmer, alert to ato target level not maintained and an overflow level.

 

[theatrus]

I think trying to use etape would be a fun project. You will need to adapt an analog input of some kind of course, but worth experimenting.

 

[aleksanderalski]

reef factory looks pretty useful! I like the pattern of each unit coming together to show an entire system in one place. Redsea is also building in this direction and i really like it. Does it have an api? Also where can i buy in canada?

It's hard to answer all questions, because there were a lot of them.

We have warehouse and distributors in the US - Champion Lighting, Aquarium Supply Distribution and Ultum Nature Systems. I am sure you can order from one of them to Canada, however we will be opening a warehouse dedicated to Canadian customers in few months.

Enviroment is closed to other brands, because our goal since day one, was to build complete system. We are close to that now, just lacking few devices. So far we have devices, ICP testing, automated dosing panel and reef care products released. In 2023 we will release reverse pumps, skimmers, roller mats, more reef care products...just to name a few.

Most of devices work on dedicated PSU, which in most cases is very small, but IMO it's pretty similar to have a central computer with ports and cables to every device.

Metrics and settings can be exported from the web app.

 

[Carbonator]

It's hard to answer all questions, because there were a lot of them.

We have warehouse and distributors in the US - Champion Lighting, Aquarium Supply Distribution and Ultum Nature Systems. I am sure you can order from one of them to Canada, however we will be opening a warehouse dedicated to Canadian customers in few months.

Enviroment is closed to other brands, because our goal since day one, was to build complete system. We are close to that now, just lacking few devices. So far we have devices, ICP testing, automated dosing panel and reef care products released. In 2023 we will release reverse pumps, skimmers, roller mats, more reef care products...just to name a few.

Most of devices work on dedicated PSU, which in most cases is very small, but IMO it's pretty similar to have a central computer with ports and cables to every device.

Metrics and settings can be exported from the web app.

Would allowing access to your api be possible? otherwise, the whole system is not compatible with what i'm building.

 

[Sral]

(…)
Environment is closed to other brands, because our goal since day one, was to build complete system. (…)

Sry if I’m being overly honest, but that’s in my opinion marketing BS and just an excuse to give yourself a monopoly-like position.

 

[theatrus]

It's hard to answer all questions, because there were a lot of them.

We have warehouse and distributors in the US - Champion Lighting, Aquarium Supply Distribution and Ultum Nature Systems. I am sure you can order from one of them to Canada, however we will be opening a warehouse dedicated to Canadian customers in few months.

Enviroment is closed to other brands, because our goal since day one, was to build complete system. We are close to that now, just lacking few devices. So far we have devices, ICP testing, automated dosing panel and reef care products released. In 2023 we will release reverse pumps, skimmers, roller mats, more reef care products...just to name a few.

Most of devices work on dedicated PSU, which in most cases is very small, but IMO it's pretty similar to have a central computer with ports and cables to every device.

Metrics and settings can be exported from the web app.

We've obviously derailed (we're deep in a DIY forum after all), but from a product perspective, consider either cloud or local device access to data and control signals on your devices via an API (export from the website isn't for automation). I realize this is probably something only 5% of your customers will care about, but they're also a vocal group. While janky, Apex has always allowed local data and control (XML!) from the controllers, well before there was an app and cloud component, and they were cramming this into a slow ARM7. I'm sure there is plenty of spare code space on your Wifi modules to add some sort of integration (HTTP endpoint, MQTT, etc).

 

[aleksanderalski]

Sry if I’m being overly honest, but that’s in my opinion marketing BS and just an excuse to give yourself a monopoly-like position.

We just believe that we can provide good quality devices and build all environment around it. It has nothing to do with monopoly etc., we just believe in what we do

 

[Sral]

We just believe that we can provide good quality devices and build all environment around it. It has nothing to do with monopoly etc., we just believe in what we do

That is evading the point ... if you believe to provide superior product, why not let the customer decide by opening it up to competition ? By closing it up you take the choice off of the customer, treating his interests as less important than the company's interests.

 

[ColoredRock]

We just believe that we can provide good quality devices and build all environment around it. It has nothing to do with monopoly etc., we just believe in what we do

It's a mind set.. that will hopefully go away.. it is going to limit your customer base..

I dont want to buy into a "walled garden" unless I can build a door to it. Look at IOT Device's and how you had to buy into Google/Alexa/Siri.. now they are working at a standard with Matter.. hopefully as Innovators in the reef hardware area you will keep that that in mind.

Sorry for the derail...

 

[Carbonator]

We just believe that we can provide good quality devices and build all environment around it. It has nothing to do with monopoly etc., we just believe in what we do

I'll lay out some arguments that you can bring to your product team in favor of opening an api (local or cloud) and form a bet on the outcome.

First, lets consider the profile of smart aquarium device user. This user is most likely a power user in many aspects of their lives. I for one would match this user profile. My home has over 40 devices connected to wifi, a home server, 6 computers, iot devices all over automating things, and interacting with each other. We also have money. We can afford a reef aquarium, and most likely are at least in the upper middle class, especially if we are automating our aquarium.

Now consider the decision flow of a user choosing which system to buy into. They are obviously going to narrow down to hydros, apex, reefpi and your product. This probably isn't their first rodeo, and they have an idea of how they want more IOT products to integrate into the ecosytem of things in their home. They might be using homeassistant, google home or homekit, but most likely they are annoyed to open multiple apps to get all the info they want. The exception would be things that are one-off setups, like an aquarium light. so, hydros is out, and your products are out too.

So here I am, i've got shopping carts with a reefpi setup and an apex setup and i'm only considering those. I don't want anything that requires me to monitor in it's own app. I want to integrate with homeassistant. So I cannot consider your devices. No matter how much you believe in them, or how awesome they are in every other aspect.


Now for the bet:
- I bet that having an open api of some sort would increase sales of power users. could be small, perhaps eventually you would see 3-5% of users using this feature
- The 'opening' would create free viral like marketing, because the power users are also in the forums promoting their favorite products. They will promote the open products even when that feature isn't a requirement. People will share what they build, how they 'turn on the room lights when temperature is too low'
- longer term, you would see mixing of apex, reefpi and your products. You will capture sales from apex and DIY users.


I think the cost of this feature would be very small, perhaps only 1-2 devs in a cycle or two.

Your call!

 

[Sral]

a wemos d1 hat would be awesome! pre-load it with tasmota and a printed case and batteries, and we're rolling!

Any progress on your front ? Have you decided upon a solution yet ?

I was thinking about such a board and what microcontroller one would likely put onto it. I was thinking about an ESP8266, since it has I2C and is relatively small.

How important would battery power be for you and what type of battery were you thinking ?

 

[theatrus]

Any progress on your front ? Have you decided upon a solution yet ?

I was thinking about such a board and what microcontroller one would likely put onto it. I was thinking about an ESP8266, since it has I2C and is relatively small.

How important would battery power be for you and what type of battery were you thinking ?

If you are doing battery and need RF, just go Nordic nRF and Bluetooth. RPis also have a BLE radio.

You can get some mileage out of ESP32 with the ULP coprocessor for interrupt-driven work, but turning on the Espressif radio is a massive power hog.

 

[Carbonator]

Any progress on your front ? Have you decided upon a solution yet ?

I was thinking about such a board and what microcontroller one would likely put onto it. I was thinking about an ESP8266, since it has I2C and is relatively small.

How important would battery power be for you and what type of battery were you thinking ?

I decided against a DIY solution. I don't have much time to tinker and problem solve this. I'm also really not good at making things like this look 'clean'. I went with an apex jr. It syncs up with home-assistant and fills most of the needs for now.

 

[theatrus]

I decided against a DIY solution. I don't have much time to tinker and problem solve this. I'm also really not good at making things like this look 'clean'. I went with an apex jr. It syncs up with home-assistant and fills most of the needs for now.

Nothing wrong with that at all.

What integration are you using with HA?

 

[Carbonator]

Nothing wrong with that at all.

What integration are you using with HA?

I haven't got to that part yet, but i plan on creating individual rest sensors.

 

[Ranjib]

Nothing wrong with that at all.

What integration are you using with HA?

+1 to that.