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

[Ranjib]

I would prefer not to run 120 AC into the housing I am working with, I can black box the outlets and have them mounted up out of the way. I was considering 2x 4 channel rather than one eight. Just a personal preference.

For smaller number of outlets there are few quality equipment from the digital loggers : https://www.adafruit.com/product/2935

 

[Ranjib]

I'm still looking for float switches and was wondering if they are all the same and all need resistors

i mostly use the dfrobot's photoelectric sensors. I have tested floatswitch , but i dont run them in tanks (just preference). The float switches were no name brands from amazon, whatever was available in prime and had good reviews

 

[AquaRaider44]

I would prefer not to run 120 AC into the housing I am working with, I can black box the outlets and have them mounted up out of the way. I was considering 2x 4 channel rather than one eight. Just a personal preference.

2x4 might be kinda cool.

 

[ChrisNH]

If the whole thing is 5V powered why you need the lm2596 IC?

I was considering powering with 12v based on some of the discussion above. Yes, I could leave the uln2803 in. I did not realize that it would serve in a 5v circuit as well. Makes sense.

 

[ChrisNH]

i mostly use the dfrobot's photoelectric sensors.

I just got a couple of these. If anyone is looking for an inexpensive source with low end shipping check out the Robot Shop, they are kinda pricey on Amazon and shipping from China was slow:

https://www.robotshop.com/en/gravity-liquid-level-sensor-fs-ir02.html

 

[AquaRaider44]

I just got a couple of these. If anyone is looking for an inexpensive source with low end shipping check out the Robot Shop, they are kinda pricey on Amazon and shipping from China was slow:

https://www.robotshop.com/en/gravity-liquid-level-sensor-fs-ir02.html

So are these from China? If so that sucks as I want some sooner. Thank you though.

 

[ChrisNH]

No, I was not clear. These come pretty quick from Robotshop, they are in Vermont.
DFRobot itself ships from China.

 

[AquaRaider44]

No, I was not clear. These come pretty quick from Robotshop. DFRobot itself ships from China.

Ok cool lol definitely I'll order there then thank you!

 

[AquaRaider44]

Maybe @Ranjib could use that link for the build guide as it's like 1/3 the price. The point of this is to be cheaper monitor.

 

[sergifed91]

I was thinking about doing something like this. mainly power my pwr heads, heater, powering my protein skimmer and sbreeflights turning on off and ramping up the intensity on the blues. I don't use the leds at all. pure blues. the only time I turn on the whites on the weekends so I can monitor the fish. I have one fish that doesn't like the whites. it stresses out when there on. then eventually ph probe, salanity probe and temp probe. I have looking at reefspy on you tube but not sure if his setup is completely safe.

 

[Ranjib]

Maybe @Ranjib could use that link for the build guide as it's like 1/3 the price. The point of this is to be cheaper monitor.

The point is not just cheaper but affordable , hackable and reliable.
A controller cost is not driven by these smaller components , it’s stuff like ph circuit, power bar etc that costs in tens or hundreds of dollars. That’s where I play the price argument, for small components cheaper alternatives does not bring down the cost significantly, but can jeopardize the reliability or user experience. We have seen this with power supply, sensors etc.
The made in China argument is just folks being naive, most things made in China , including Apple and ibm products. If we do our due dilegence around validation , we are guaranteed to get quality components from China as well. Albeit the sourcing issue remains, but cost might be lesser.
In some cases I have kept the bill of material in adafruit to support them and keep the sourcing place in a single point, I don’t think they change the price beyond a few dollars . This is as intended. The documented choices embody a balance of all these factors not just one .

 

[Ryan115]

I'm still looking for float switches and was wondering if they are all the same and all need resistors

All of the float switches will need resistors. These are to limit the current on the circuit. Without them you can blow out a GPIO pin.
I am using them on my system, I have not found much difference from different sources.

 

[AquaRaider44]

The point is not just cheaper but affordable , hackable and reliable.
A controller cost is not driven by these smaller components , it’s stuff like ph circuit, power bar etc that costs in tens or hundreds of dollars. That’s where I play the price argument, for small components cheaper alternatives does not bring down the cost significantly, but can jeopardize the reliability or user experience. We have seen this with power supply, sensors etc.
The made in China argument is just folks being naive, most things made in China , including Apple and ibm products. If we do our due dilegence around validation , we are guaranteed to get quality components from China as well. Albeit the sourcing issue remains, but cost might be lesser.
In some cases I have kept the bill of material in adafruit to support them and keep the sourcing place in a single point, I don’t think they change the price beyond a few dollars . This is as intended. The documented choices embody a balance of all these factors not just one .

Your link for the sensor is from amazon. I agree adafruit is very good to support and has great prices.

 

[AquaRaider44]

All of the float switches will need resistors. These are to limit the current on the circuit. Without them you can blow out a GPIO pin.
I am using them on my system, I have not found much difference from different sources.

Sweet thanks

 

[Zippyfear]

Wow, 540 pages to read through.. glad I finally found the active forum.

I have been wanting to get a saltwater tank up and running for years, and finally took the plunge - Currently cycling the 110 main tank with 20 gallon Sump and 20 gallon refugium.

I've been following several of the tutorials and have managed to get my Pi3 loaded with Reef-Pi 2.3 - Working LED controls, and 3 temperature probes as of today.. I used these from amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JKVRVNI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also I did order yesterday the same optical sensors from robotshop referenced above! 2 sensors for $20. Just want to say thanks so far for all that's been done, and looking to become more of an active user moving forward. I'll be sure to follow, read some of the back posts and post my progress and suggestions as I make progress.

Also, noticed that v3.0 beta code is on github, I did download it, but the build failed. does anyone have any clear instructions how to compile and install? is it recommended at this point to move past 2.3?

 

[Ranjib]

Wow, 540 pages to read through.. glad I finally found the active forum.

I have been wanting to get a saltwater tank up and running for years, and finally took the plunge - Currently cycling the 110 main tank with 20 gallon Sump and 20 gallon refugium.

I've been following several of the tutorials and have managed to get my Pi3 loaded with Reef-Pi 2.3 - Working LED controls, and 3 temperature probes as of today.. I used these from amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JKVRVNI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also I did order yesterday the same optical sensors from robotshop referenced above! 2 sensors for $20. Just want to say thanks so far for all that's been done, and looking to become more of an active user moving forward. I'll be sure to follow, read some of the back posts and post my progress and suggestions as I make progress.

Also, noticed that v3.0 beta code is on github, I did download it, but the build failed. does anyone have any clear instructions how to compile and install? is it recommended at this point to move past 2.3?

3.0 is beta, don’t use it unless you are actively developing or testing new drivers in reef-pi :)
Welcome to reef2reef, you’ll love it here. I’m glad you found the software useful. Let us know if you have any specific question. We love to read through build threads , in case you create one, do share it with us.
Stick to 2.x series for stability. I’ll release another minor release 2.4 in couple of weeks , there are few bugs that was introduced in 2.3 (accidents ).

 

[Ranjib]

I’m excited to report that the ph board driver is now running for almost a day, I believe what I’m seeing is a daily ph cycle, but represented in raw milli volts

Notice the initial fixed line which indicates the buggy driver that was not setting the board in continuous read mode, and the reading was not changing as a result. After I deployed the fix, I can see readings change, but now after several hours run I think it’s working as expected, since the curve represents very similar shape as my other ph probe (Ezo) in another tank . I don’t k so exactly what happened that in morning two hours there was no data, 10:00 to 12:00. I suspect router issues , but more on that later,
I also looked at the reef-pi app performance metrics , to verify if the new driver has any obvious performance issues, nothing suspicious yet, notice the elevated memory ,connection metrics during Late last night. That’s me tinkering with the build :-)

Now,,, off to calibration integration and testing

 

[AquaRaider44]

@everyone I hope people come to check out my build thread here https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-pi-the-all-in-one-pi-challenge.592733/ I hope it helps some new users as well! Maybe I'll even make it onto the GitHub one day :D

 

[theatrus]

I’m excited to report that the ph board driver is now running for almost a day, I believe what I’m seeing is a daily ph cycle, but represented in raw milli volts

Notice the initial fixed line which indicates the buggy driver that was not setting the board in continuous read mode, and the reading was not changing as a result. After I deployed the fix, I can see readings change, but now after several hours run I think it’s working as expected, since the curve represents very similar shape as my other ph probe (Ezo) in another tank . I don’t k so exactly what happened that in morning two hours there was no data, 10:00 to 12:00. I suspect router issues , but more on that later,
I also looked at the reef-pi app performance metrics , to verify if the new driver has any obvious performance issues, nothing suspicious yet, notice the elevated memory ,connection metrics during Late last night. That’s me tinkering with the build :-)

Now,,, off to calibration integration and testing

Looking good. I’m running burn in tests with the pH driver set for the base board firmware. I’ll add a PR to make a driver specific for the base board so we can avoid clashes of functionality between the two :)

My chart is a lot more boring as the probe is sitting in a pH 10 calibration solution.

This is a 5s read interval to stress everything. The small drift is a drop in temperature (pH probes have a temperate coefficient)

 

[PaulJ2303]

Yes. and thats exactly how I arrived at 12v, because light , peristaltic pump etc all require 12 or 10v. I later realized that starting with higher voltage also means i can get more power with less current, which is handy. Breadboard, jumper wires etc has 1-2 A current limit, and if you start with 5v then you may need more than 3A.

ah that's interesting. I'll go down the 12v route then i think thank you. also as you mentioned in another post less current equals more reliability from the relay's (hopefully).