reef-pi :: An opensource reef tank controller based on Raspberry Pi.

[Michael Lane]

@Ranjib

I was wondering......... can I have more than one temperature control running off of one temp sensor? For example, Sensor1 runs heaters and 2 x fans (heaters come on at 25, fans at 26). But if the heat really climbs , I'd like to have a second temperature control running off Sensor1 with no (or phantom) heaters and be set to turn another two fans on at 27. If I can't get that right, I'll set up a second temp sensor to run just the second fans.

Going to play around with it now.

You can create an additional temperature control using the same sensor to control multiple items. I have a similar set up to turn on additional heaters if the temperature drops too low.

 

[Zippyfear]

Ok, so..My original one has been running for several months and I would like to build a second one with better wiring, boxes, soldering, and connectors, then pull my original and duplicate the effort for a second tank. I just realized how difficult it is to start over from scratch again (and I know a bunch of you have already done this a few times. I'd like to build this one more modular and solid. It's going to include temp probes, ATO, PH and lighting (kessil) in the end. and I didn't do it well the first time because every time I opened my box, my wiring was at risk of being broken (poor design on my part). I also didn't like the DB9's that I used (except for the power relay box) so I'm going to move most the sensors and probes to 1/8 inch headphone jacks, I also didn't like that I hardwired my power as opposed to a power adapter plug. lessons learned on that.

My questions now.. what's everyone doing for each of the additional boards. and is anyone mass producing any of the connectors to the Pi3 out to PCA9685 boards (this will be my first attempt at using one of those vs direct connections along with power converter and sensors? I'm basically going to build as much of both in duplicate at the same time if possible, but would love to see from the more experienced what your complete schematics look like along with any parts to make this all easier.

I know that's asking a lot. So thanks in advance!

 

[Bigtrout]

Ok, so..My original one has been running for several months and I would like to build a second one with better wiring, boxes, soldering, and connectors, then pull my original and duplicate the effort for a second tank. I just realized how difficult it is to start over from scratch again (and I know a bunch of you have already done this a few times. I'd like to build this one more modular and solid. It's going to include temp probes, ATO, PH and lighting (kessil) in the end. and I didn't do it well the first time because every time I opened my box, my wiring was at risk of being broken (poor design on my part). I also didn't like the DB9's that I used (except for the power relay box) so I'm going to move most the sensors and probes to 1/8 inch headphone jacks, I also didn't like that I hardwired my power as opposed to a power adapter plug. lessons learned on that.

My questions now.. what's everyone doing for each of the additional boards. and is anyone mass producing any of the connectors to the Pi3 out to PCA9685 boards (this will be my first attempt at using one of those vs direct connections along with power converter and sensors? I'm basically going to build as much of both in duplicate at the same time if possible, but would love to see from the more experienced what your complete schematics look like along with any parts to make this all easier.

I know that's asking a lot. So thanks in advance!

Make your life easier and buy a reef pi hat. Everything plugs into a Mike Lane hat with jst connectors...it has the uln2803 and pca 9685 onboard...saves a ton of wiring and soldering. The only extra board yout need is the ph board.

Depending on your needs Theatrus makes a hat as well. Each one is a little different depending on what you want to run with reef pi

 

[Zippyfear]

Make your life easier and buy a reef pi hat. Everything plugs into a Mike Lane hat with jst connectors...it has the uln2803 and pca 9685 onboard...saves a ton of wiring and soldering. The only extra board yout need is the ph board.

Depending on your needs Theatrus makes a hat as well. Each one is a little different depending on what you want to run with reef pi

Links to the locations of those boards? I believe I've heard chat about all of those and didn't really know what they were or how they worked. I think that's exactly the direction I want to move in for it!

Update - Here's the Reef-Pi Link
$30 each

ML reef-pi hat goby by ML Reefkeeping on Tindie

ML reef-pi breakout hat for aquariums (goby)

www.tindie.com

Bought 2, still looking for the others..

Thanks!

 

[Ranjib]

Was wondering if anyone used the new aquarium safe temp probe from inkbird?

reef-pi uses ds18b20 probes which are different than the inkbird, as a result t

 

[Ranjib]

Links to the locations of those boards? I believe I've heard chat about all of those and didn't really know what they were or how they worked. I think that's exactly the direction I want to move in for it!

Update - Here's the Reef-Pi Link
$30 each

ML reef-pi hat goby by ML Reefkeeping on Tindie

ML reef-pi breakout hat for aquariums (goby)

www.tindie.com

Bought 2, still looking for the others..

Thanks!

Any powerstrip consideration? Use a HAT and ph board to simplify your wiring. Just the kessil 5->10V pwm related circuit needs to be done by hand

 

[Zippyfear]

Any powerstrip consideration? Use a HAT and ph board to simplify your wiring. Just the kessil 5->10V pwm related circuit needs to be done by hand

I used this one first time around, and was happy with it, will probably stick with it if possible.

 

[Zippyfear]

Any powerstrip consideration? Use a HAT and ph board to simplify your wiring. Just the kessil 5->10V pwm related circuit needs to be done by hand

Is it the same 5>12v pwm I used for the power strip? adjustable? so I'll need 2 of them for the lighting and power?

 

[Ranjib]

Is it the same 5>12v pwm I used for the power strip? adjustable? so I'll need 2 of them for the lighting and power?

Yes.. thats why I was asking about the ADJ powerstrip. if you plan to go with HS300 then you dont need 12v for it and less current requirement for the overall build (and some other nice features)

 

[JohnMzreef]

Hi, I am preparing to build my first reef-pi. I have been reading through the adafruit tutorials and have noticed some inconsistencies in the "reef-pi guide 5: light controller".
On the overview page it talks about using the "truelumen" moonlight which is a 24v DC fixture. However, on subsequent pages the moonlight circuit appears to be wired for 12v?
On the parts page the moonlight is referred to as a "coralife" fixture, not "truelumen".
Also, at the top of the parts page you talk about "one part of the build" which is an extension of the prior tutorials. However, you never revisit this and the tutorial seems to go straight to the "other build" which is a dedicated system.
Would you please edit this tutorial for clarity?
Thanks so much for all your efforts.

 

[Alaa]

HI
Congrats on reef-pi 3 release, and due thanks to @Ranjib and all the others for their effort
quick question regarding the supported power strips, is the Kasa Smart WiFi Power Strip by TP-Link the only supported strip or can i use any other with similar functions like this one
APC Smart Plug Surge Protector Power Strip

thanks

 

[Des Westcott]

You can create an additional temperature control using the same sensor to control multiple items. I have a similar set up to turn on additional heaters if the temperature drops too low.

Thanks Michael. Exactly what I want to do.

 

[Soulreefer]

Thank you. To name a few, following is our tentative goals for 3.0, that exploit this feature
- Support for multiple PCA9685
- Using PWM pins (pca9685 or pi) as outlets (cause they can be switched back and forth 0 or 100%)
- support for @Roberto_b's ph board
- support for @theatrus 's pico base board
- support of MCP23017 IO expander (more inlets & outlets)
- Probably support for smart outlets (strech goal)

hello @Ranjib or other friends , is this MCP23017 can still be input into reef-pi ?, sorry I need enlightenment because I read back there is rarely anyone talking about MCP23017, I just need an additional inlet for the Ato function.

Thank you very much.

 

[pies666]

Aaaahh. I think I get what you're saying now. Reef-Pi itself doesn't actually detect the screen. You have to run it in a browser.

I followed this tutorial https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-kiosk/ and now have my Raspberry Pi running in Kiosk Mode. The Raspberry Pi boots directly into Chrome and opens the page I specified (Reef-Pi). Works brilliantly for what I want.

That's what my Raspberry Pi boots into . I'm assuming that's what you want?

Not exacly. I did have similar setup (toouchscreen with Kiosk Mode) but I have switched to official rpi screen. As long as I read here reef-pi has some sort of support for this (and only this) touchscreen. You can enable it in configuration->settings-> display. This is exacly what I'm asking about.

For some reason I'm stuck with this error: "{"error":"strconv.Atoi: parsing \"108\\n\": invalid syntax"} | HTTP 404 ". Number "xxx\\n\" depends on brightness level.
I wonder if reef-pi got any other support for official rpi touchscreen or just the brightness control.
If the only advantage of having official rpi screen is brightness control I will stick with non-official (cheaper one) in Kiosk Mode.


Also still can't get those lightning graphs to work. No matter if I use a single or dual PWM control I can't get them to render. Electrically everything works perfect - only light graphs on dashboard are blank.

 

[Ranjib]

Not exacly. I did have similar setup (toouchscreen with Kiosk Mode) but I have switched to official rpi screen. As long as I read here reef-pi has some sort of support for this (and only this) touchscreen. You can enable it in configuration->settings-> display. This is exacly what I'm asking about.

For some reason I'm stuck with this error: "{"error":"strconv.Atoi: parsing \"108\\n\": invalid syntax"} | HTTP 404 ". Number "xxx\\n\" depends on brightness level.
I wonder if reef-pi got any other support for official rpi touchscreen or just the brightness control.
If the only advantage of having official rpi screen is brightness control I will stick with non-official (cheaper one) in Kiosk Mode.


Also still can't get those lightning graphs to work. No matter if I use a single or dual PWM control I can't get them to render. Electrically everything works perfect - only light graphs on dashboard are blank.

I’ll cross check the display thing, from the error it appears there is a new line character that’s causing the issue.
The light graph is as expected, we are yet to add chart support for different profiles. During 3.0 pwm profile rewrite this was broken

 

[Blaxkin]

Ok i think the Problem is gone. I installed a separate LM2596 for the Temp Sensors Only.

But now can you tell me why one Graph begins at 0 and the other at 21 ?

 

[dmolavi]

Ok i think the Problem is gone. I installed a separate LM2596 for the Temp Sensors Only.

But now can you tell me why one Graph begins at 0 and the other at 21 ?

You can set the min/max display range for each sensor. I've noticed that even after doing that, it can occationally take a "little while" before it kicks in. I'm not sure if it's a log out/in thing, closing my browser, etc, nor can I quantify the time or reliably reproduce the behavior. It's a minor nit, and since I use Adafruit IO mostly, nothing I'm too concerned about.

 

[Blaxkin]

You can set the min/max display range for each sensor. I've noticed that even after doing that, it can occationally take a "little while" before it kicks in. I'm not sure if it's a log out/in thing, closing my browser, etc, nor can I quantify the time or reliably reproduce the behavior. It's a minor nit, and since I use Adafruit IO mostly, nothing I'm too concerned about.

Yes but only in the version before 3.0 ?

 

[dmolavi]

Yes but only in the version before 3.0 ?

I've seen it in the 3.0 alpha release...

 

[Ranjib]

Ok i think the Problem is gone. I installed a separate LM2596 for the Temp Sensors Only.

But now can you tell me why one Graph begins at 0 and the other at 21 ?

This is an annoyance introduced in 3.0. In 2.0 we used to get a bogus error of utilization data not found upon creation of new sensors . This is because the sensor had not been monitored yet. To suppress that I introduced a change that will initialize a zero value utilization for new sensor . This is a visual /eye sore and should not trigger any control logic
In retrospect, this is a poor workaround and I should have initialized an Empty utilization data instead
I’ll make sure to address this in next minor release. Thank you for calling this out. Now that 3.0 is out of the door I’m sitting back and using the controller and also discovering bunch of such minor nuisances . I expect them to settle after a couple of minor releases