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

[fulltang]

Welcome!

You can start here, but the easiest way is probably to buy from Michael Lane's Tindie store (his goby hat) or from Schreiber's current Leviathan Kickstarter.
Any of those options have readily-available plans to include temperature control, power control, and lighting. you'll need to be a little extra conscious of power consumption if you're expecting PG&E's extended outages, but @Ranjib (creator) is in the bay area, so I'm guessing he is in your boat as well

first tank as a pico, eh? pretty hard way to get started, best of luck!

Thanks!

I've seen those options and they all look feature packed, which is awesome, but I don't think that I'd be scratching the surface of their potential in my use case. @Ranjib 's mini on the otherhand looks like it's just using a base zero, which is slick given that I ordered a zero w earlier today, and I only really need temperature/smart plug functions.

You're spot on regarding the power consumption, that's a major factor in my choosing to go with a jar in the first place. I have a backup pump that can be powered via USB, which may suffice for the short ones. Being able to run the reef-pi on battery is really for peace of mind, so that if power goes off while I'm at work, I can monitor the situation remotely and decide if I need to cut out early to handle it. For the extended ones, I can empty a bit of water and drive it over to my brother's house 10 minutes away since he's on a sweet spot on the grid!

Regarding the challenge of starting with a pico, I've done a lot of research and after speaking with and following @brandon429 (the Jargod) I'm pretty confident that things will be fine.

Here's a few pics of my rig mocked up, yet to be finalized. Planning on ditching the inkbird for the reef-pi for reliability and wifi-reporting.

 

[burningbaal]

This looks better. I'll see if it actually lights up soon, but the config is there now!
I guess either the i2cdetect is required (it was new when I retrieved it) or I was just too blind to notice the other driver in the dropdown...Either way, I'm closer than I was!

update for any who are curious: This did fix my issue, except that I go from black to 100% brightness between 8-10%, I'm thinking my light might not be quite the type that benefits from the Mars Aqua adapter? No difference in visual brightness from 10 to 100% on either channel. Also a fade effect is observed when changing from 8 to 10%...seems significant. Occasionally when turning from 10% to 9% it will go to a partial brightness, others it flickers, others it just turns off.

 

[Ranjib]

Thanks!

I've seen those options and they all look feature packed, which is awesome, but I don't think that I'd be scratching the surface of their potential in my use case. @Ranjib 's mini on the otherhand looks like it's just using a base zero, which is slick given that I ordered a zero w earlier today, and I only really need temperature/smart plug functions.

You're spot on regarding the power consumption, that's a major factor in my choosing to go with a jar in the first place. I have a backup pump that can be powered via USB, which may suffice for the short ones. Being able to run the reef-pi on battery is really for peace of mind, so that if power goes off while I'm at work, I can monitor the situation remotely and decide if I need to cut out early to handle it. For the extended ones, I can empty a bit of water and drive it over to my brother's house 10 minutes away since he's on a sweet spot on the grid!

Regarding the challenge of starting with a pico, I've done a lot of research and after speaking with and following @brandon429 (the Jargod) I'm pretty confident that things will be fine.

Here's a few pics of my rig mocked up, yet to be finalized. Planning on ditching the inkbird for the reef-pi for reliability and wifi-reporting.

Just use zero and a temperature sensor and pair it with a hs105 smart plug. that should suffice your need.
For the emergency situation, I'll suggest using staright portable power banks (e.g. duracell) in conjunction with 5v usb driven air stone or submersible pump or both. They'll give you anywhere in between 5-24 hours of backup, depending upon which power bank you are using. I am assuming temperature (heating in particular), is not needed that time. I live very close (as you guessed) and your case is the exact reason i expedite the power consumption related benchmarking. I am moving out of bay area to pleasant hill and I would be more prone to these issues. Expect more IM (incident management) related features to land in reef-pi project.

 

[Ranjib]

update for any who are curious: This did fix my issue, except that I go from black to 100% brightness between 8-10%, I'm thinking my light might not be quite the type that benefits from the Mars Aqua adapter? No difference in visual brightness from 10 to 100% on either channel. Also a fade effect is observed when changing from 8 to 10%...seems significant. Occasionally when turning from 10% to 9% it will go to a partial brightness, others it flickers, others it just turns off.

You played with the pwm frequency?

 

[burningbaal]

You played with the pwm frequency?

No... Probably what I need to look at next, but I need to learn about it

 

[Ranjib]

No... Probably what I need to look at next, but I need to learn about it

My suggestion will be:

• Decide on a range (e,g. 20-1K)
• Test light at various points in between , say 200Hz apart, so 20, 220, 440, 800 etc. Set the frequeny under driver . and reload reef-pi in between.
• Once you have a working frequenyc, tune it further for +/- 100 Hz, if needed.

 

[burningbaal]

My suggestion will be:

• Decide on a range (e,g. 20-1K)
• Test light at various points in between , say 200Hz apart, so 20, 220, 440, 800 etc. Set the frequeny under driver . and reload reef-pi in between.
• Once you have a working frequenyc, tune it further for +/- 100 Hz, if needed.

looks like the issue is that my light's drivers are meant to recieve the pwm directly, not through an analog converter. I've spliced the driver's vdim wire into the channel wire running to @Michael Lane 's Mars aqua adapter and it seems to be working correctly for the blues. I think I need to redo the soldering on the white as it is not always lighting up.

 

[Ranjib]

looks like the issue is that my light's drivers are meant to recieve the pwm directly, not through an analog converter. I've spliced the driver's vdim wire into the channel wire running to @Michael Lane 's Mars aqua adapter and it seems to be working correctly for the blues. I think I need to redo the soldering on the white as it is not always lighting up.

Keep us posted,

 

[afrorod]

Does anybody know if reef pi works with a Raspberry pi B rev2? I can get the web GUI running but none of the IO work. Not even test LEDs.

 

[burningbaal]

Keep us posted,

I think I might have blown the white's driver...they are "nlgi-70pc-063a", anyone have a suggestion for a similar replacement?

 

[Turners_aqua]

@Ranjib im having lots of issues at the minute. will reef-pi run on pi4? not sure if this is my issue!!
i keep getting telemetry errors 'please enter valid aio key' even when entered correctly
now the reef-pi shows fatal error and i can not reload

any help please ?

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Well dang, so going back to repeated probe failures that I had a while back that I attribute to a corrupted install.... I think I found the actual culprit.

One of the viparspectra lights wired for pwm is causing the issue, specifically, my wiring job for the plugs (I think).

I unplugged both lights and probes were reading fine. I plug one light in and it's fine; I plug same light into the 2nd port and all is fine; I plugged the 2nd light in to the first port and errors start. I then swapped the cables from the working light and no dice, errors still occur. So I'm thinking it's the aviation plug wiring on the light. Gonna take the light down and open it up see what's what. Weird thing is that the lights work as expected, turn on and off and each channel dims as it should... But the probes start throwing errors once the 2nd light is plugged in.

I'm exhausted ;Blackeye, might just buy a set of hydras and call it a day lol..... But not just yet.

 

[Bigtrout]

Well dang, so going back to repeated probe failures that I had a while back that I attribute to a corrupted install.... I think I found the actual culprit.

One of the viparspectra lights wired for pwm is causing the issue, specifically, my wiring job for the plugs (I think).

I unplugged both lights and probes were reading fine. I plug one light in and it's fine; I plug same light into the 2nd port and all is fine; I plugged the 2nd light in to the first port and errors start. I then swapped the cables from the working light and no dice, errors still occur. So I'm thinking it's the aviation plug wiring on the light. Gonna take the light down and open it up see what's what. Weird thing is that the lights work as expected, turn on and off and each channel dims as it should... But the probes start throwing errors once the 2nd light is plugged in.

I'm exhausted ;Blackeye, might just buy a set of hydras and call it a day lol..... But not just yet.

Thats how my beamswork lights acted...bad power supply was the issue. Maybe one of the led drivers is wonky. They dont exactly use any drivers with any kind of certification.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Thats how my beamswork lights acted...bad power supply was the issue. Maybe one of the led drivers is wonky. They dont exactly use any drivers with any kind of certification.

I thought about that as well, however, I noticed that probes were still throwing errors when the light was plugged in but powered off. Errors stopped when light was unplugged from the pi.

Though I suppose there may be something else in play... It's just an odd behavior.

Though I suppose I could pull the wiring from the first light and try it on the way 2nd to rule out wiring or actual light components.

 

[Bigtrout]

I thought about that as well, however, I noticed that probes were still throwing errors when the light was plugged in but powered off. Errors stopped when light was unplugged from the pi.

Though I suppose there may be something else in play... It's just an odd behavior.

Though I suppose I could pull the wiring from the first light and try it on the way 2nd to rule out wiring or actual light components.

The drivers may still be powered up but not doing anything. Depends how they wired them. Does the on/off switch definitely remove power from the drivers?

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

The drivers may still be powered up but not doing anything. Depends how they wired them. Does the on/off switch definitely remove power from the drivers?

Yeah it kills power to the socket via relay.

 

[skywurz]

Does anybody know if reef pi works with a Raspberry pi B rev2? I can get the web GUI running but none of the IO work. Not even test LEDs.

I think the pi B has different gpio drivers than recent models so it won't work. You can get pi zero w for $10. Less power more compact.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Those using @Michael Lane PH board, what address are you using?

Not getting a reading from my Milwaukee probe, trying to figure out if it's the probe or the config.

 

[raketemensch]

Those using @Michael Lane PH board, what address are you using?

Not getting a reading from my Milwaukee probe, trying to figure out if it's the probe or the config.

This post might help you.

 

[Bigtrout]

Yeah it kills power to the socket via relay.

Wow double check your wiring and grounds. This is very strange that the light does this without any power. Did you get a hot and neutral mixed up on the 120v outlet side maybe? I dont see how the light would cause this without any power going to it unless its getting a leakage current somewhere.