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

[Tom Bishop]

I have a brand new 3a+ that I was able to score, if anyone is interested and needs one for a reef-pi project PM me. Only wanting someone that is looking to set up a reef-pi unit...not as cheap as a rpi zero w 2 but its not to bad, anyway throwing that out there. I am trying to pick some up to pass along at my cost plus shipping when I am able to score them, pretty slim pickens but just FYI...

 

[DWKDiver]

I had a diy controller that delayed items on restart. But I now use reef pi.

To emulate that on reef pi, I use a float for high sump level. If the power goes out the sump level rises. On power restored the sump float is high and that keeps my Skimmer and such from coming on until sump level is normal and it doesn't over flow.

Hope this may work for you.

 

[PlantedAquaChicago]

Hi. I purchased a Leviathan Reef Pi 1.1 board recently. I've tried for a week now to get the image that they have on their website working, but even after 6 different Raspberry Pi devices, 5 different SD cards and 4 different power supplies (all known working) I can't get it to load. I have gotten through a manual OS and vanilla Reef-Pi installation, however I'm curious about how to configure the Leviathan hardware in Reef-Pi. I've read through their documentation top to bottom, and it doesn't provide any sort of instructions, save for using their pre-built image that doesn't work.

Anyone have any ideas how I can get started here? I've purchased all the sensors listed from RPO to pH, temp, optical level, etc.

*Edit*
To be more specific, I need the list of connectors. There are no schematics I can see, and even if I had one I'd rather not dig through that trying to figure out what goes where. Hopefully someone else has used this setup and can give me a screenshot or basic guide on how their hardware and connectors are setup, inlets/outlets etc.

And yes, I did email leviathan through the website.

 

[Tom Bishop]

Hi. I purchased a Leviathan Reef Pi 1.1 board recently. I've tried for a week now to get the image that they have on their website working, but even after 6 different Raspberry Pi devices, 5 different SD cards and 4 different power supplies (all known working) I can't get it to load. I have gotten through a manual OS and vanilla Reef-Pi installation, however I'm curious about how to configure the Leviathan hardware in Reef-Pi. I've read through their documentation top to bottom, and it doesn't provide any sort of instructions, save for using their pre-built image that doesn't work.

Anyone have any ideas how I can get started here? I've purchased all the sensors listed from RPO to pH, temp, optical level, etc.

*Edit*
To be more specific, I need the list of connectors. There are no schematics I can see, and even if I had one I'd rather not dig through that trying to figure out what goes where. Hopefully someone else has used this setup and can give me a screenshot or basic guide on how their hardware and connectors are setup, inlets/outlets etc.

And yes, I did email leviathan through the website.

Welcome! Not sure if @Schreiber has any board specific documentation but at least for getting the software loaded and configured I would follow this guide - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t9majBpGlqKacDjkyEZ1HQNWsTRo3woZ/edit and towards the end there is a script that you can load and run that will guide you through initial setup and make sure everything is ready to go (the script will configure non robo-tank boards, highly recommended). Once you have done that I would then look at this manual - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tjz9fLcwKz_VgTcj1oM2Nvs4kynVYJLV/edit#heading=h.30j0zll and the adafruit user guides - https://learn.adafruit.com/reef-pi-installation-and-configuration

That should at least get you started and answer most questions.

 

[PlantedAquaChicago]

Welcome! Not sure if @Schreiber has any board specific documentation but at least for getting the software loaded and configured I would follow this guide - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t9majBpGlqKacDjkyEZ1HQNWsTRo3woZ/edit and towards the end there is a script that you can load and run that will guide you through initial setup and make sure everything is ready to go (the script will configure non robo-tank boards, highly recommended). Once you have done that I would then look at this manual - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tjz9fLcwKz_VgTcj1oM2Nvs4kynVYJLV/edit#heading=h.30j0zll and the adafruit user guides - https://learn.adafruit.com/reef-pi-installation-and-configuration

That should at least get you started and answer most questions.

Thank you! I have been through all the documentation provided by Leviathan and the Adafruit guides, but withouth a hardware list and schematic for this board, I was stuck at inlets and outlets. Hopefully this can auto-detect what I have and configure the board.

I'll try that right now and let you know how that goes. I have messaged the Leviathan board creator and it doesn't look like he's logged in for a few months so I'm guessing that's not a very common board. Hopefully someone has used it and can send me a screenshot of their connectors page so I can try to replicate it.

Thanks!

 

[Tom Bishop]

Thank you! I have been through all the documentation provided by Leviathan and the Adafruit guides, but withouth a hardware list and schematic for this board, I was stuck at inlets and outlets. Hopefully this can auto-detect what I have and configure the board.

I'll try that right now and let you know how that goes. I have messaged the Leviathan board creator and it doesn't look like he's logged in for a few months so I'm guessing that's not a very common board. Hopefully someone has used it and can send me a screenshot of their connectors page so I can try to replicate it.

Thanks!

I assume you have seen this documentation on his website? - https://www.leviathanautomation.com/manual

This manual looks like was updated in Feb and looks like it covers everything, he even has software image -

 

[PlantedAquaChicago]

I assume you have seen this documentation on his website? - https://www.leviathanautomation.com/manual

This manual looks like was updated in Feb and looks like it covers everything, he even has software image -

Yes, as I said I've read through all of their documentation many times, very thoroughly. It only provides instructions for using their pre-built image, which is non-functional. I've tried with half a dozen Pi boards, SD cards and power supplies (all known working) and it always fails at the same spot.

 

[Tom Bishop]

Yes, as I said I've read through all of their documentation many times, very thoroughly. It only provides instructions for using their pre-built image, which is non-functional. I've tried with half a dozen Pi boards, SD cards and power supplies (all known working) and it always fails at the same spot.

The configuration of the bits should be the same regardless of the image, thats all done in reef-pi, typically the order is add drivers that you need, then connectors etc...I would think he touches on some of that information in his documentation - are you looking for wiring diagrams or what specifically are you looking for?

What size SD card are you using, I just looked at his image and it needs to be at least a 32g SD card to handle the image. What were you using to write the image to the SD card?

 

[PlantedAquaChicago]

The configuration of the bits should be the same regardless of the image, thats all done in reef-pi, typically the order is add drivers that you need, then connectors etc...I would think he touches on some of that information in his documentation - are you looking for wiring diagrams or what specifically are you looking for?

As I said, the documentation doesn't cover any of that. It only references his pre-built image that already has the equipment and connectors already added. And as I said, yes - a wiring diagram would be great, although what would be best is:
Working image
Screenshot of connectors tab of reef-pi from someone who has this setup
Wiring diagram so I can figure out what goes where

 

[Tom Bishop]

I was able to mount the img and extract the database from the image, since you have a working image you can try to replace the database, not sure if he has things pre-configured or not but worth a shot. I do not have my testing unit up or I would try it and see what is configured. Will try to get it up and working later today and can try it then...if you want to wait.

The file will need to be renamed reef-pi.db, fyi...

 

[PlantedAquaChicago]

Oh my goodness, that's huge. Thank you so much! That's really above and beyond, thank you.

I will try it now and report back. Again, thank you so much!!!!!

 

[Tom Bishop]

Oh my goodness, that's huge. Thank you so much! That's really above and beyond, thank you.

I will try it now and report back. Again, thank you so much!!!!!

Like I said I'm not sure whats in the database configured since my testing unit is down, but thought it couldn't hurt to swap it out and see...

 

[Ranjib]

I was able to mount the img and extract the database from the image, since you have a working image you can try to replace the database, not sure if he has things pre-configured or not but worth a shot. I do not have my testing unit up or I would try it and see what is configured. Will try to get it up and working later today and can try it then...if you want to wait.

The file will need to be renamed reef-pi.db, fyi...

You are our guardian angel

 

[Tom Bishop]

You are our guardian angel

Eh just trying to help out when I can...

 

[Ranjib]

As I said, the documentation doesn't cover any of that. It only references his pre-built image that already has the equipment and connectors already added. And as I said, yes - a wiring diagram would be great, although what would be best is:
Working image
Screenshot of connectors tab of reef-pi from someone who has this setup
Wiring diagram so I can figure out what goes where

We hear you , but repeating yourself does not help us either. Start a dedicated thread, and be as specific as possible (e.g connectors configuration ) when seeking help. Screen shot of ui or hardware will help us diagnosing the issues .

 

[PlantedAquaChicago]

Disregard!

 

[Tom Bishop]

Disregard!

I was going to say to use the import function from the admin page...

 

[mpoltorak7]

I am having trouble figuring out how to add new charts to the dashboard. The UI Overview guide alludes to dashboard charts will be added automatically when new sensors are added? I have two temp probes and a ph probem. All 3 work and I can review the graph from inside of each device. i.e. from the temp or ph screens. How can I get the same graphs into the dashboard?

I also don't have a "customize" button on the bottom right of my dashboard. I only have a "configure".

secondary question. When I first added the PH probe it took a reading on the graph. It has not since. I have it configured to take a reading every 60 seconds. I am not sure this is working. I assume that the device can be monitored from the command line? Does anyone have a quick reference on how to find the PH probe from cmd and/or how to verify it is working.

When I hit the calibrate button I get the following error.
{"error":"strconv.ParseFloat: parsing \"3.\\xb8\\xb9\\xb8\\x80\\x00\\x80\\x80\\x00\\x00\\x80\\x00\\x80\\x80\\x00\\x80\\x80\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x80\\x80\\x80\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x80\": invalid syntax"} | HTTP 404

Hum I have never had a chart be created automatically on the dashboard. However it is added automatically to the dashboard configuration were you add the charts you want to see. The configuration button is the button you are looking for.

For your second question, after you added the device did you reload the config? I believe i have seen the same error and that was my issue. However just basing this off of the error you have posted it maybe the pH driver you are using.

Here is a link to a guide created by RoboTank I found much more helpful then the docs I found in the reef-pi document portal. Maybe helpful as it seems you are running into some of the same issue when I was getting started with my build. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tjz9fLcwKz_VgTcj1oM2Nvs4kynVYJLV/edit#heading=h.30j0zll
And here is a link to his website.

reef-pi Related User Manuals

Various reef-pi operating manuals covering the basics features including step by step user manuals to set up and operate Robo-Tank hardware.

www.robo-tank.ca

 

[mpoltorak7]

@Ranjib I was looking at the github repository for reef-pi and noticed that there is a docker file as part of the source code. Do you know if reef-pi can be containerized? I was looking a reef-pi build in dockerhub but do not see one?

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib I was looking at the github repository for reef-pi and noticed that there is a docker file as part of the source code. Do you know if reef-pi can be containerized? I was looking a reef-pi build in dockerhub but do not see one?

you should be able to do this as theres nothing explicitly that blocks containerization. I personally do not use it for development.