My reef-pi build freshwater style!

[Ranjib]

You know I wonder what if we wrap the tank with foam or insulating packaging material? i think it should reduce the rate of temperature loss. I want to dig deep into this (dealing with emergency), I think lot can be improved and done with frugal resources. I have few pointers to reduce the rate at which tank loss/gain temperature but nothing on how to increase/decrease temperature in absence of power.

 

[Bigtrout]

Well I have thought about this, there are methods that would work, but all a bit complicated. Add in the fact that with a sump you also lose circulation/aeration. With a generator I get it all.

So in my case its easier to make sure the generator will work. NON-ETHANOL gas, regular generator exercize and perhaps once a year, rebuild the carb whether it needs it or not.

 

[Bigtrout]

Just an update. NO deaths from thebpower outage and resulting temp plunge to 60 degrees. It did upset something though. Now dealing with a black beard algae mini bloom.

Did a major water change, trimmed all the algae ridden plants...

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

I’m still fighting mine. Peroxide helps a lot but I haven’t got rid of it yet. Lighting and nutrient changes didn’t really work. I light have different algae than you though. Mine is green and bushy.

 

[Bigtrout]

I’m still fighting mine. Peroxide helps a lot but I haven’t got rid of it yet. Lighting and nutrient changes didn’t really work. I light have different algae than you though. Mine is green and bushy.

Last time i dealt with it...i did a 75 percent change followed 3 days later with a second 75 percent water change...days after that it started dying off quickly

 

[BSA]

Adding A DS3231 Real Time Clock

Living in a rural area, I get frequent internet outages. With the raspberry pi having no clock other than getting internet time, I decided adding a RTC module is my best action to keep reef pi operational.

Here is how I did it. I decided on a ds3231 based clock because they are accurate and cheap. Look on ebay and they are less than $2, I bought one. These modules are marked ZS-042.

These have a few quirks. They are meant for a lir2032 rechargeable battery but seldom ship with one because of the air mail restrictions on lithium ion batteries. Mine shipped with a cheap chinese CR2032. They work with a cr2032 coin cell but you must disable the "charger circuit" to use a standard coin cell. If you use this module with a cr2032 without disabling the charging circuit, IT CAN EXPLODE and possibly start a FIRE!!!

So all we have to do to make this useable is to remove the resistor marked 201 circled in the pic below. I used a soldering iron, you can cut a trace between it and the diode as well. This disables the charging circuit only. The clock chip is still backed up by the battery.

So I am going to remove the resistor, put in a decent battery and wire this.
This runs on the i2c bus and simply uses 5v to VCC, GND, SCL and SDA.
Here is the resistor removed

Here is a good battery installed.

Here is the module wired ready to be installed into my reef pi setup

Once wired into my pi, I followed this adafruit guide to get it working:
https://learn.adafruit.com/adding-a-real-time-clock-to-raspberry-pi/overview

Once its working, to check the status of clocks on your setup run the command:
timedatectl status
This screen shows up

Tells me everything I need to know about the clocks on the pi.

Using the adafruit guide your pi will use the RTC when an internet clock is not available and will periodically update the RTC(Im not a linux guru yet so im not sure how often).

Here is a schematic of the module for anyone interested

First time pi & reef-pi user here, I follow all instructions of installing reef-pi in pi zero w. I know it was working as i can browse the dashboard but as you face problem due to frequent power failure i to was trying to install Ds3231, i follow the link on adafruit and the RTC is working well but my problem was when i reboot the Pi, reef-pi would not start, i got this message "
$ sudo systemctl status reef-pi.service
System has not been booted with systemd as init system (PID 1). Can't operate.
Failed to connect to bus: Host is down"
And also
"$ timedatectl status
System has not been booted with systemd as init system (PID 1). Can't operate.
Failed to create bus connection: Host is down"

but if check hardware clock
"$ sudo hwclock -r
2020-12-15 01:04:02.937259+05:30"

check date
"$ date
Tue 15 Dec 01:04:52 IST 2020".

Can you guide me how to install Ds3231 Please,

Sorry for my Bad English

 

[Ranjib]

First time pi & reef-pi user here, I follow all instructions of installing reef-pi in pi zero w. I know it was working as i can browse the dashboard but as you face problem due to frequent power failure i to was trying to install Ds3231, i follow the link on adafruit and the RTC is working well but my problem was when i reboot the Pi, reef-pi would not start, i got this message "
$ sudo systemctl status reef-pi.service
System has not been booted with systemd as init system (PID 1). Can't operate.
Failed to connect to bus: Host is down"
And also
"$ timedatectl status
System has not been booted with systemd as init system (PID 1). Can't operate.
Failed to create bus connection: Host is down"

but if check hardware clock
"$ sudo hwclock -r
2020-12-15 01:04:02.937259+05:30"

check date
"$ date
Tue 15 Dec 01:04:52 IST 2020".

Can you guide me how to install Ds3231 Please,

Sorry for my Bad English

This error is lower level than reef-pi. It means Linux itself is not loaded, so raspbian is running yet , let alone reef-pi. This could be due to busted sd card or some other important files being missing/corrupted . I’ll start with re-formatting the sd card and do a fresh install, if that doesn’t work try a new as card

 

[BSA]

This error is lower level than reef-pi. It means Linux itself is not loaded, so raspbian is running yet , let alone reef-pi. This could be due to busted sd card or some other important files being missing/corrupted . I’ll start with re-formatting the sd card and do a fresh install, if that doesn’t work try a new as card

OK i will try to buy other SD card but i still suspect that some file is not loaded, its the 3rd time i am re-installing from the beginning and still had the same error.
I am not very familiar with linux system, but i suspect that rasbian is not taking the system time from RTC and i loss here.
What actually is these script from adafruit.

Run sudo nano /lib/udev/hwclock-set and comment out these three lines:


#if [ -e /run/systemd/system ] ; then
# exit 0
#fi

Also comment out the two lines
/sbin/hwclock --rtc=$dev --systz --badyear
and
/sbin/hwclock --rtc=$dev --systz

I thought doing this it would work properly.

 

[Bigtrout]

No news is good news, tank running great, reef pi running great but....
My ph probe died. It lasted a few years and they are an expendable item. It wont move from a ph of 7.55 even being dipped into straight vinegar. And my spare? Yes i HAD one and just gave it to the kid down the street who has a workin reef pi, and who inherits stuff from time to time

 

[bishoptf]

No news is good news, tank running great, reef pi running great but....
My ph probe died. It lasted a few years and they are an expendable item. It wont move from a ph of 7.55 even being dipped into straight vinegar. And my spare? Yes i HAD one and just gave it to the kid down the street who has a workin reef pi, and who inherits stuff from time to time

Which brand PH probe have you had good luck with, I've tried several and not had good luck with the ones I've tried so far. Nice to help someone young out like that, I sure they appreciate it very much.

 

[Bigtrout]

Which brand PH probe have you had good luck with, I've tried several and not had good luck with the ones I've tried so far. Nice to help someone young out like that, I sure they appreciate it very much.

I have had good luck with a Milwaukee MA911B2 double junction probe

 

[Bigtrout]

New pH probe in place, calibrated and working great. Reef pi humming along. Not a bit of trouble in the 2+ years its been running so far.

For anyone that doesnt go thru all my posts in my build my reef pi does the following:
1. Runs 8 equpiment outlets
2. 3 temp probes
3 1 Ph probe
4. Runs 4 channels of lighting, 2 channels each in beamswork DA fspec 48' led lights.
5 added a Real Time Clock module to keep the reef pi file system from corrupting during combined power and internet outages.

The 8 equpiment outlets are for control of:
1. 2 heaters
2. return pump
3. Air pump churning k2 media in a sump section
4. My submersible pump running a homemade cerges style CO2 reactor
5. My co2 system solenoid.

In the future, if i added 3 items id would have a a close to an automatic tank as could be done so future plans as time allows would be:
1 ATO system to top off evaporation/and or a drip water change system. Not sure which may be better.
2. Automatic fish feeder
3 Doser for plant ferts.

 

[Ranjib]

Good to hear that it’s still humming along . Thank you for posting the updates

 

[Bigtrout]

Still humming along, with some changes. Got some new led lighting. Beamswork were good, but these Finnex ALC 24/7 lights are fantastic! So much better color and plants growing better and the lights make my fish POP.
These arent controlled by reef pi however...may delve into doing that in the future.

 

[Ranjib]

Still humming along, with some changes. Got some new led lighting. Beamswork were good, but these Finnex ALC 24/7 lights are fantastic! So much better color and plants growing better and the lights make my fish POP.
These arent controlled by reef pi however...may delve into doing that in the future.

Looking stunning