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

[Erica-Renee]

Hey @Ranjib .. The maker beam stuff to build a Structure would prob hold your tank up fine. But.. Since you are going to have to put a skin on it anyway. My suggestion is Just build a Plywood stand, W 1x front ( popular oak Birch ) what ever is available in our area cheap even Pine would do. If you look at home a Kitchen Cabinet is assembled you will find its Quite easy and Will be WAY Stronger . My honest opinion on most Aquarium stands i see on here build out either steel or dimensional lumber then a Heavy ply shell around them is VERY Wasteful..
If you have or have a friend with a table saw to run the parts for you would be best. But you can do it with a Skill-Saw and Clamp guide . If you wanted something open or kinda industrial looking then i would say the allum slot stuff would be ok....

Hope this make sense...

Erica Renee..

sorry i have not been around much . I have been working on a Huge bid and spending my extra time Learning the 3d Printer.. ( GRRRRRRRR 3D Printing is far from Plug and play , But i am getting some success after 3 weeks of tinkering. Can print pla Perfect with factor settings Pet-g ABS AND Flex stuff well. they are all Animals ...

 

[Ranjib]

Hey @Ranjib .. The maker beam stuff to build a Structure would prob hold your tank up fine. But.. Since you are going to have to put a skin on it anyway. My suggestion is Just build a Plywood stand, W 1x front ( popular oak Birch ) what ever is available in our area cheap even Pine would do. If you look at home a Kitchen Cabinet is assembled you will find its Quite easy and Will be WAY Stronger . My honest opinion on most Aquarium stands i see on here build out either steel or dimensional lumber then a Heavy ply shell around them is VERY Wasteful..
If you have or have a friend with a table saw to run the parts for you would be best. But you can do it with a Skill-Saw and Clamp guide . If you wanted something open or kinda industrial looking then i would say the allum slot stuff would be ok....

Hope this make sense...

Erica Renee..

sorry i have not been around much . I have been working on a Huge bid and spending my extra time Learning the 3d Printer.. ( GRRRRRRRR 3D Printing is far from Plug and play , But i am getting some success after 3 weeks of tinkering. Can print pla Perfect with factor settings Pet-g ABS AND Flex stuff well. they are all Animals ...

No worries :-) , 3d printing skill will be very useful.
I want the makerbeam style stand mostly for aesthetics. Inline with other furniture that my wife is getting for the new apartment. .. according to her this is modern (meh..). I was planning to paint it as well (whatever the new color theme she chooses).
But I was also interested due to the modular nature which will help me rearrange it easily. I want to mount light, controller, powerstrip etc as well, with the brackets I think this will be easier and without involving any powertools. , i.e. its diy friendly.

 

[Ranjib]

Watchman goby, lubbock wrasse, and Solon wrasse

I love wrasses .. they are the best... best attitude, best movements, best pest eaters.. very nice fish.

 

[Ranjib]

I may misunderstand, but I can't image you can place the makerbeam brackets on the 'inside' of the enclosure. Quick picture:
View attachment 912343

I'm less concerned about strength but more about wobbling, especially with a filled aquarium on top of it. Red Sea reefer nano is claimed to be 180kg/400lb in total. I have no experience with this but would not feel comfortable with 1515 alu and brackets (I mainly use 3030 and that's stable but have never put such weight on it).
What definitely would help is to have wooden plates connected to the alu profiles, but that's why I think there is a conflict with the brackets.

Thank you for pointing out. You are right. But will this matter a lot ? I was thinking that the plywood cover coreners can be cut (i have a scroll saw.) to adjust those corners. .. you think that will look ugly ? :-(

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

I love wrasses .. they are the best... best attitude, best movements, best pest eaters.. very nice fish.

These are fairy wrasses so im not sure of their pest eating abilities, but they are beautiful.

 

[Ranjib]

By the way, I found there's nano beam as well.. I am definitely going to try this in future to build a housing for one of the reef-pi modules. http://www.nanobeam.us/

 

[Ryan115]

By the way, I found there's nano beam as well.. I am definitely going to try this in future to build a housing for one of the reef-pi modules. http://www.nanobeam.us/

Wow...M1.2 fasteners? Those are tiny.
What thickness panes would that hold to make an enclosure?

 

[Ranjib]

Wow...M1.2 fasteners? Those are tiny.
What thickness panes would that hold to make an enclosure?

I don’t know for sure , I was thinking of plexiglass . I am also thinking, do we need panes ? Like what if we just mount the pi / hat / PCb straight on the frames and do very good job of wire management, but no walls

 

[LionHeart2017]

I don’t know for sure , I was thinking of plexiglass . I am also thinking, do we need panes ? Like what if we just mount the pi / hat / PCb straight on the frames and do very good job of wire management, but no walls

I'd worry about corrosion with an open housing, unless it was a more remote location to the tank

 

[Ranjib]

I'd worry about corrosion with an open housing, unless it was a more remote location to the tank

Fair concern, the controller will be inside the stand. I have two backup controller built using uxcell plastic enclosures . .. for the new stand I,lol use those . I could reuse my existing controllers , but since they won’t be together any more , the current setup won’t work ( they share a single Kessil controller ) . I am also aiming for but harder livestock , thinking of seriously giving across a try in one of the pico tank.

 

[theatrus]

Fair concern, the controller will be inside the stand. I have two backup controller built using uxcell plastic enclosures . .. for the new stand I,lol use those . I could reuse my existing controllers , but since they won’t be together any more , the current setup won’t work ( they share a single Kessil controller ) . I am also aiming for but harder livestock , thinking of seriously giving across a try in one of the pico tank.

Time to add your own LED build to the project!

 

[Ranjib]

Time to add your own LED build to the project!

Totally , are you still selling the AcroStar led strips ?

 

[theatrus]

Totally , are you still selling the AcroStar led strips ?

Strips needed a re-design to be viable, so I pulled them for now. Always happy to add some of the original models though since I do have the parts. Most people liked the dense pucks, which would be pretty nice for a pico tank :)

 

[Ranjib]

I am already seeing the issue with kessil a360 in my biocube29. Though the acros are growing , they all seems to creep towards the light source and increased shading downwards . I am thinking of adding 10/15w lights in every corner, or put 4 one foot led strips in each side

 

[theatrus]

I am already seeing the issue with kessil a360 in my biocube29. Though the acros are growing , they all seems to creep towards the light source and increased shading downwards . I am thinking of adding 10/15w lights in every corner, or put 4 one foot led strips in each side

Makes sense - let me see what I can whip up for this with a large diffuser plate. If you know the overall surface area of the aquarium for the light it would help :)

 

[Ranjib]

Strips needed a re-design to be viable, so I pulled them for now. Always happy to add some of the original models though since I do have the parts. Most people liked the dense pucks, which would be pretty nice for a pico tank :)

I have kessil a80 already which should be ample (that’s what I felt ), at 15w, but I thinks it’s too spread out , and the pendant effect is another worry . But for pico form factor this may be ok, and in that case I need something with narrow focus like 40 to 50 degree

 

[Ranjib]

Makes sense - let me see what I can whip up for this with a large diffuser plate. If you know the overall surface area of the aquarium for the light it would help :)

The pico tank is 11 x 9 inches

 

[ScottBrew]

...and now for my next trick... hacking an eheim feeder to run off reef-pi! :D

 

[b4tn]

I got a lot put together tonight and there is a lot going on in this pic lol but the PCA9685 is working as expected, doser pwm is working, all my gpio pins trigger like they are supposed to. But of all things the stupid relays I added are not working.

They are 12 volt opto isolated relays that have jumpers for both high and low level trigger. Since it’s running directly off the gpio I have the jumpers on the relay set to high. The relay shield has power and lights up. If I switch the equipment tab in reef-pi to on, the led on the relays light up but no click. If I change the jumpers to low level trigger they turn on and click as soon as the RPI has power I tried another relay shield same brand and get the same thing. Any ideas?

 

[Ranjib]

I got a lot put together tonight and there is a lot going on in this pic lol but the PCA9685 is working as expected, doser pwm is working, all my gpio pins trigger like they are supposed to. But of all things the stupid relays I added are not working.

They are 12 volt opto isolated relays that have jumpers for both high and low level trigger. Since it’s running directly off the gpio I have the jumpers on the relay set to high. The relay shield has power and lights up. If I switch the equipment tab in reef-pi to on, the led on the relays light up but no click. If I change the jumpers to low level trigger they turn on and click as soon as the RPI has power I tried another relay shield same brand and get the same thing. Any ideas?

Can you check with multimeter that outlet on/off working as expected on the connector pins in the relay (i.e. you are getting 12v or on at the other end of the connector wire, right at the junction of the relay)?
Next check if the relay works with everything else unplugged .