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

[Ranjib]

Been out of the loop for awhile. We bought our first house wo hoo! But a couple of months prior to settling and moving I had a strange crash. For no apparent reason all of my SPS just started to RTN. All parameters where within acceptable ranges but everything but soft coral and fish was dying. Knowing I was going to have to break down and move soon anyway I decided that chasing the problem was not worth it so decided to start over anyway when I get moved in. As I was breaking things down I found this!

All my other probes are encased in silicone but I decided to just drop this one in. It was the DROK probes that I installed April 1st https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MY8U394/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I am not sure if this was what cuased the crash but it was not only rusted but oozing something out the top. I will be coating all sensors in silicone from here on out.

But here is the man cave as it sits now with the life I was able to salvage in a 15 gallon holding tank. reef-pi is only controling the light on this one. My 150 lbs of rock is currently curing in a garbage can of bleach and will be coming out next week. This time around I will be breaking the rock up and doing a bare bottom epoxied together rockscape. I have some catching up to do to get my reef-pi updated and lots of planning still to go.

Sorry to hear about the stuff issues. New man cave looks fantastic .
Just rusting rarely cause problem, but if it also involved some other metal leaching , that can be problematic for sure .

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

What is the process of encasing the probes in silicone? Does it effect the accuracy of the probe?

 

[b4tn]

What is the process of encasing the probes in silicone? Does it effect the accuracy of the probe?

I just used my finger to put reef safe silicone all around the sensor and up the wire a bit. I have heard of others putting the sensor in a straw and sealing the ends with silicone as well. I noticed no difference in performance doing this.

 

[Jonathan Troutt]

@Ranjib is there a way to add a delay to a piece of equipment when reefpi starts up? For instance after a power outage i need my slimmer not to come in immediately instead i need it to delay for about a minute to allow the return pump to return the sump back to normal water level.

The way it is now cause my skimmer to overflow. Thanks!

 

[Bigtrout]

@Ranjib is there a way to add a delay to a piece of equipment when reefpi starts up? For instance after a power outage i need my slimmer not to come in immediately instead i need it to delay for about a minute to allow the return pump to return the sump back to normal water level.

The way it is now cause my skimmer to overflow. Thanks!

A time delay relay would do this.

 

[Jonathan Troutt]

A time delay relay would do this.

Thats fair. Although at this point if there was a software solution it would be easier for myself. But a time delay relay is something i had not thought about

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib is there a way to add a delay to a piece of equipment when reefpi starts up? For instance after a power outage i need my slimmer not to come in immediately instead i need it to delay for about a minute to allow the return pump to return the sump back to normal water level.

The way it is now cause my skimmer to overflow. Thanks!

Not that I can think of. This sounds like a good feature to have. I have some random delays (sub second ) before restoring relay states upon startup , but it’s not configurable. It’s there to avoid surge usage

 

[Ranjib]

just finished assembling an all in one controller for the upcoming 3.0 release. Check this out:
It’s almost 6.5”x3.5”, sleeker than all older builds.

It supports one water level sensor, one kessil control output and one temperature sensor. All exposed via audio connectors

It’s a two part enclosure . Power control will be done using Kasa smart powerstrip

I used the same build to test out pi pwm issues with reef-pi 2.4. Now the unit is going through testing against the garage tank. If I feel comfortable, I’ll swap the pico tanks controller with this one . I am thinking of creating a reef2reef specific build you own reef-pi with this unit . What you’ll think ? Good idea ?

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

@Ranjib looking good! Question about the TPLink/Kasa powerstrip; I know it tacks energy use via its own app...and I apologize if it's already been covered earlier (couldn't find via search), but can the reef-pi track power use on each socket?

Also, how is it connected to the Pi? Is there a write-up?

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib looking good! Question about the TPLink/Kasa powerstrip; I know it tacks energy use via its own app...and I apologize if it's already been covered earlier (couldn't find via search), but can the reef-pi track power use on each socket?

Also, how is it connected to the Pi? Is there a write-up?

Reef-pi does not have a notion of power monitoring for sockets yet, but then TP-Link driver exposes 6 outlets and 6 analog inputs, which can be used to monitor the power usage as ph probes :-) , for the time being. Till I sort out what’s the best way to expose this.
Currently there’s no documentation yet, that will come in next couple of months once ui work is finished. I am using curl and api to create a TP-Link driver and then rest from the ui. Let me know if you want to test it out, happy to share the steps.

 

[Bigtrout]

Reef-pi does not have a notion of power monitoring for sockets yet, but then TP-Link driver exposes 6 outlets and 6 analog inputs, which can be used to monitor the power usage as ph probes :-) , for the time being. Till I sort out what’s the best way to expose this.
Currently there’s no documentation yet, that will come in next couple of months once ui work is finished. I am using curl and api to create a TP-Link driver and then rest from the ui. Let me know if you want to test it out, happy to share the steps.

@Ranjib
The tp link is a great add on. I know wireless control of outlets isnt the first choice(im a fan of direct wired myself) but it does prevent novices from having to deal with safety of messing with mains voltages. And an added bonus is the tp link unit is UL listed!

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib
The tp link is a great add on. I know wireless control of outlets isnt the first choice(im a fan of direct wired myself) but it does prevent novices from having to deal with safety of messing with mains voltages. And an added bonus is the tp link unit is UL listed!

Yeah, this is my observations as well. It’s a different set of compromises compared to the adj wired power strip or relay based scratch build. Couple of other nice things about the TP-Link power strip is we can manually override the outlets by physical button on the plugs , led indicators , current monitoring, ability to offload the timers on the powerstrip itself etc(not that we are exploiting that feature currently )

 

[Ranjib]

Yeah, this is my observations as well. It’s a different set of compromises compared to the adj wired power strip or relay based scratch build. Couple of other nice things about the TP-Link power strip is we can manually override the outlets by physical button on the plugs , led indicators , current monitoring, ability to offload the timers on the powerstrip itself etc(not that we are exploiting that feature currently )

There’s an amazon review post showing one of the hs110 unit burned out :-( . Funny that they are ul listed among all the options

 

[b4tn]

How do I associate reef-pi with the wifi interface on the command line? I used to run reefpi on a wired connection but dont have that option anymore. I used putty to get into the raspberry via the wired interface and IP and setup wifi in raspi-config. My router picks up the new IP and connection but when I try to SSH or connect to that IP it times out.

 

[Zippyfear]

Yeah, this is my observations as well. It’s a different set of compromises compared to the adj wired power strip or relay based scratch build. Couple of other nice things about the TP-Link power strip is we can manually override the outlets by physical button on the plugs , led indicators , current monitoring, ability to offload the timers on the powerstrip itself etc(not that we are exploiting that feature currently )

I have a wired relay strip for critical functions (Heating, cooling, pump, primary lights) , but the TP links are great for non-critical functions like alert skimmer, sump lights or dosing.. if it doesn't work.. not a major issue.. just saying.. My wired stuff.. love it, but I have a lot of wires around the tank.. it's getting pretty messy.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

@Ranjib I just got one of @Michael Lane 's HATs (v2) and hooked it up to my Pi 3, however, when I went into config tab (3.0.0-pre-alpha-2 ) there doesn't seem to be a way to enable the PCA9685? When I tried to add a PCA9685 driver (PCA9685 from dropdown, channel 68, freq1500) I received an error, which I'm assuming is due to PCA9685 not being enabled.

Is this something that needs to be done manually?

 

[Michael Lane]

@Ranjib I just got one of @Michael Lane 's HATs (v2) and hooked it up to my Pi 3, however, when I went into config tab (3.0.0-pre-alpha-2 ) there doesn't seem to be a way to enable the PCA9685? When I tried to add a PCA9685 driver (PCA9685 from dropdown, channel 68, freq1500) I received an error, which I'm assuming is due to PCA9685 not being enabled.

Is this something that needs to be done manually?

I don't see any of the pca9685 address pins soldered, so that means is it using the default address of 0x40. Instead of entering 68 as the address, please enter 64.

 

[Coastal Aquatics]

Welcome to the development thread of reef-pi, an open-source, affordable, modular DIY reef-tank controller based on Raspberry Pi.

If you are trying to build a reef-pi controller, please check out the build guides linked below. You can use this thread to seek help and to stay updated with the latest development.

reef-pi provides following functionalities:

• Equipment control or automated power strip (including digital timers to switch on/off equipment at periodic intervals)
• LED light control (24 hour cycle), diurnal cycle, fixed dimmig
• Auto Top Off (based on photoelectric water level sensor or float switch)
• Temperature monitoring and control (switch on/off heater & chiller)
• pH monitoring
• Dosing automation
• Macro (feed mode etc)
• And several other features like camera controls (periodic image capture and upload on google drive), telemetry (dashboard and alerting based on sensor values using adafruit.io), mobile friendly UI etc.

A beginner friendly list of reef-pi build guides are available on adafruit.io, if you are planning to build a reef-pi controller start with them.

1. Setup and installation
2. Power controller
3. Temperature controller
4. Auto Top Off
5. Light controller
6. pH monitor

Since reef-pi is modular and customizable, the cost of individual builds varies. In our experience reef-pi controller are almost always cheaper than the commercial alternatives and costs anywhere between 100 to 550 USD. An example bill of materials can be found here as amazon list. If you are building a reef-pi controller, I highly encorage you start a build thread and tag it with #reefpi to seek help with your build


--------------------------- Original thread start ---------------------
Hello friends,
I am starting a master thread for a DIY reef tank controller that is based on all opensource software and hardware. I had started with this project with following goals:
- Build an opensource software and hardware based reeftank controller that anyone can use and hack
- Keep the controller well tested against a set of standard equipment I use, while make it possible for other equipment to be used
- Maintain my own tank build threads and their evolution, backed by this controller.
- Learn electronics and reef keeping along the way (I am biologist by education & software engineer by occupation)

Following are the details of what I have developed & tested till now:
Controller software:
- The main controller software is called reef-pi. It is written in go, its fast and performant. It used embd for hardware communication. It also runs a little web server which provides the UI for the controller. UI is written in React , and can be accessed from anything that has web browser. As of now, the reef-pi supports following things:
- AC 110/220 V socket on/off (uses optocoupled relays underneath). This is used to remotely switch on/off return pump, LED bulb, heater etc.
- 0-20 Volt DC PWM. This is used to control things like dimmable LEDs, DC pumps. I use it to control my Kessil A80, A360. As well as a 5V DC pump (i use it as wave maker in one of my pico with SPS). PWM is done using PCA9685 breakout board from adafruit. This board supports 16 channels. I am using only 5 at max, as of now.
- Analog sensor support using MCP3008 analog to digital converter. This supports 8 channels. i.e. I can use up to 8 sensors/probes. As of now, I have only tested temperature sensor with it.
Other than the following basic hardware/equipment support, the controller software provides following additional features:
- Setting up daily/weekly/monthly scheduled jobs. Like turning on/off certain equipment. I use this feature to run my AC20 HOB filter nightly.
- Setting up dusk-to-dawn like lighting using PWM. The UI gives 12 vertical slider based 0-24 hours (each slider representing 2 hours gaps). I combine two of these two control the kessil LEDs.
- Authentication using Google OAuth. Since the whole controller runs on raspberry pi and provides an web frontend, security of one of my concern. To mitigate this, I have added google authentication support, which when configured will allow only certain users to log in (email specified in the configuration value).

This is the summary of the core controller software and what features it has as of now. I am constantly writing/improving things around it. As of now, I have two reef tank powered by this. I 'll have seperate threads on the individual builds that will include the housing and ancillary hardware in nano-reef.com, as my tank build threads are there, but I'll share all the controller specific common bits here, including UI screen shots, and tank pics :)

This is awesome thanks!

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

I don't see any of the pca9685 address pins soldered, so that means is it using the default address of 0x40. Instead of entering 68 as the address, please enter 64.

Sweet! Got it added.

 

[janos]

Hi to all just a fast Q: how to i2cdetect,try but got error.what i try :i2cdetect -y