Pearl Archipelago Reef

[yury88]

Hello everyone!

This is my 4th tank, but as a nomad, I can't invest too much. Therefore, I decided to go nano. It's kind of funny because my first tank was the biggest, and now they are getting smaller, maybe because they are burning a hole in my pockets

Now, let's get back to the topic:
1) Tank dimensions: 60x46x30 cm. Yep, metric system; hope you can handle that
2) SUMP dimensions: 40x40x30 cm
3) Lighting: HME Cetus2 + AI Prime 16HD
4) Automatic Fleece filter: ROLFIL 2500A
5)Return pump: Yee YLY-1200 DC 1200l/h
6)Wave maker: Jebao SLW-20M
7) Skimmer: Red Star Fish DCSQ-70, currently broken
8) 30W LED light for refugium
9) Reef-pi for automation, and I'm currently finishing up some cool features for it; it will be interesting

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Great looking tank!

 

[marinesnow]

It's beautiful!

 

[kevgib67]

Gorgeous!

 

[yury88]

Thanks, my tank is still maturing. Started it on last Christmas. So my tank is 2 month old.
So far my maintenance are:
Every day dosing 4ppm NO3, 0.1ppm PO4, 0.6 dKH(Limewater)

+ Once a week:
Changing 20L. Aquaforest reef salt
1ppm silica
5ml Marinium Iodide = 0.025ppm iodide
5ml Marinium Iron = 0.06ppm Iron, 0.04ppm Manganese, 0.006ppm Cobalt

And every other day feeding LPS with some powdered food.
Parameters are around 35ppt, 5ppm NO4, 0.02 PO4, temp 26-27, PH 8.0-8.4 Night-Day.

 

[ColorMeGone]

I see your using the Cetus 2 light and the AI prime. I didn't find much info on the Cetus so I just went with a AI Prime 16HD. Which do you like better and why have two different lights? Your tank looks fantastic by the way!

 

[yury88]

I recc

I see your using the Cetus 2 light and the AI prime. I didn't find much info on the Cetus so I just went with a AI Prime 16HD. Which do you like better and why have two different lights? Your tank looks fantastic by the way!

Thanks.

About the light, it's just an old light from my previous aquarium.

I bought HME Cetus2 for a small frag section in a SUMP. Light by itself is good- low noise, nice spectrum. But the biggest problem is the controller. It doesn't have a battery for the clock, so after any electric shortage, the light will not start automatically. So you need to connect the application to turn it on.

And you shouldn't buy AI Prime 16HD because of its extremely low-quality tech.

1) Lenses are burning after 3+ months. I threw it away and glued regular acrilic glass to it to protect diodes from salt.

2) The fan is loud! My Prime fan died after 1 year; it was an extremely cheap fan with sleeve bearings. And you can't easily change it because of its size and 5V power.

3) Light by itself assembled without even a drop of thermal paste! This was a reason for overheating and loud work; you have to fix it yourself.

In conclusion, definitely stay away from any AI light; in the long run, it's crap. Better look at Noo-Psyche

 

[ColorMeGone]

Oops.. I just got my AI light in the mail yesterday with shade and diffuser. I'll give it a go and hope for the best. Maybe I'll come up with a Sweet tank like yours someday!
Thanks

 

[yury88]

Oops.. I just got my AI light in the mail yesterday with shade and diffuser. I'll give it a go and hope for the best. Maybe I'll come up with a Sweet tank like yours someday!
Thanks

If you are going to use diffuser you can just remove lens, so it will not burn and melt diodes.
Others issues is not so critical, you can handle it later

 

[ColorMeGone]

If you are going to use diffuser you can just remove lens, so it will not burn and melt diodes.
Others issues is not so critical, you can handle it later

I have gotten mixed thoughts on using or not using the plastic lens with a diffuser, so I'll just have to try it once I get my tank set up. I'm waiting to sell my house before starting it up.

 

[yury88]

Hi folks!

In my case, I'm going to run this system primarily on limewater because my evaporation rate exceeds 2 liters/day, which allows me to compensate for about 2.3 dKH/day. From my experience, this is more than enough. However, there are some tricks for dosing more if needed, so it's not a dead end.

I want to introduce my small project to build a precise DIY continuous peristaltic pump based on a stepper motor.

I've seen multiple projects here; some are good, but the biggest problem is that they are always designed for hardcore enthusiasts.

Just one look at the stepper doser settings page in reef-pi gives me a headache...



I don't want to calculate microsteps and pulses when I want to change the pump speed and calibrate it each time. The software should handle this automatically. The only thing I want to adjust is the ml/min dosage.

Another common issue is the direct control of the stepper driver via PWM. It's not only risky but also unnecessary when we have smart stepper drivers created by professionals.

My solution includes the MKS SERVO42C Closed-loop stepper driver. Closed-loop is the "next-gen" of stepper drivers with active feedback, meaning it automatically corrects errors. Knowing the actual movement of the motor allows us to conduct auto-tests. It's more accurate, uses less power, and can be fully controlled through G-Code commands.


I've been running my tank on a fully functional prototype for over a week now. Currently, it's dosing 37ml/h of Limewater 24/7, and it works like magic.




Some specs:

1. Motor speed range from 0.5 rpm to 1000 rpm, with 0.1 ml accuracy throughout the range.
2. The driver and motor are completely silent, with only the tubing making noise.
3. The controller uses an ESP32-S3 with Micropython firmware, making it easy to maintain with high-level code and automated tests directly on the ESP32 board.
4. The core of this project is the numpy library, used for all mathematical calculations.
5. A Web API for control. Just curl "http://<doser ip>/dose?direction=0&volume=37&time=3600" to dose 37ml in 1h.
6. My MKS SERVO42C lib is universal and can be used in any boards running python.

Things to be done before release:

1. Reef-pi driver for integration.
2. Integration of the MQTT protocol with smart home systems.
3. Refined math for calibration point extrapolation. Some Machine Learning libraries can achieve this with greater accuracy.
4. OTA firmware updates.

 

[yury88]

Hello everyone!
I'm carefully preparing to add some Flasher/Fairy Wrasses. So I upgraded my jump guard net.
Bought it on aliexpress for about 15$. Its made from flexible magnetic plastic.
Actually not bad, I like how its looks and works, maybe only sticky layer should be stronger, but I can fix it myself with some 3M scotch



And I have very positive reaction on dead Skimmer- my KH consumption increasing every day.
Today I increased my Kalk dosing from 1dKH to 1.3dKH coz my KH falling under 7dKH

Some photos:

 

[yury88]

My aquarium still going without Skimmer and doing extremely well.
I have a theory that I don't need it any more because I'm keeping my PH 8.3+ 24/7 using Limewater.
So my KH is floating around 8dKH and coral growing and mechanical filtration is more than enough to keep water crystal clear.

I'm still working on my DIY projects -advance Kalkwasser Stirrer and Stepper motor Doser, after finishing I'm going to add more colorful Acropora.