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

[MaccaPopEye]

Hey all I’m thinking about going down the reef Pi for my next controller although I have 2 questions which may be show stoppers

1- for the power strip outlet I can’t seem to find a similar product for Australia 220v. Any Ozzies or UK on the forum with suggestions?

2- I can see dosing pump availability can be done with dc pumps but I would like to use stepper motors for water changes. I only found a few threads where users started it but doesn’t look like it was finished or working well. Has this been implemented yet?

looks like a very interesting project would be great to get on board

Had a quick search and these arlec smart power boards from bunnings *might* work. Would need @Ranjib or someone else in the know to chime in and confirm or deny, but it looks like they use the same wifi protocol as the kasa power boards that others have used - but I'm not sure what other requirements they would have to meet to play nicely with reef-pi.

{productName}

Find {productName} at Bunnings. Visit your local store for the widest range of products.

www.bunnings.com.au

 

[Michael Lane]

@Michael Lane or anyone that knows, am getting close to finish up my layout, on the dosing module, I'm sure I am missing something but the module has a 5 pin connector on it and the goby hat only has 4 pins. Do I take that 5 pin to ground or what is the proper way to connect from the hat to the dosing module? Will try to chase down the cut sheets but just not sure what to do with that fifth connector.

My first doser only had 3 ports, so that's why the goby board only has 4 pins. You can just use an additional PWM pin from another port to control all 4 doser pumps.

 

[Michael Lane]

Hi, I’m new to this thread.

I am hoping to get some help setting up a PH probe with Micheal Lane’s PH board. Everything seems to be connected correctly and I can see the board at address 45 using i2cdetect -y 1, but when I try to set up the driver for using PH board I get an I/O error indicating - Error: write /dev/i2c-1: remote I/O error both on the Reef-pi UI in a red box on the top right of the driver setup screen and in the Reef-pi Service journal.

Running Reef-Pi 3.1.1 on a RPI 3+ rev1.1

Unfortunately, I am not a python or C programmer and while I have an EE/CS degree from the 80s I never practiced so I am a bit dangerous when it comes to all this. worse, my kids are laughing at me but can't help either.

Once I get this working the next question is whether I am able to use the i2c bus to communicate with an Adafruit ADS to get and display data from a pressure transducer and if it's at all possible to communicate with a Pt100 temperature probe using the MAX31865 board and SCI bus. Crazily as It sounds for my first Rpi project I am trying to use reef pi to control an aeroponic system, hopefully someday to be extended into an aquaponics system as it has 90% of the functionality I need.

Thanks in advance

That pH issue sounds like a common problem with hexadecimal vs base 10. That's a UI issue that I'd like to address at some point when I get some time to work on software again. i2cdetect is showing hex addresses (0x45), but reef-pi expects a base 10 address (69).

Technically, you can use the same i2c bus to communicate with additional sensors and peripherals, but reef-pi does not currently support those. On the other hand, you could run additional software on the rpi to supplement reef-pi's features.

I'd love to get into aquaponics one of these days. It would be pretty easy to extend reef-pi for that domain. I would definitely follow a build log on that if you start one.

 

[Michael Lane]

Question about lighting. As I do my levithian build I have debated upgrading my Fluval Evo from the stock light to something a little better. From what I see the levithian board is based on only kessil lights but I was wondering if any other light could use the same setup without modifiying the board. If I do go with Kessil, would you go with the A80 or A160 if I wanted to branch into SPS? Tank is roughly 18"X11.5"X11

I can't find schematics for that board, but the kessil control is usually 0-10v analog. That board would most likely be compatible with any lights that use that style of analog control. @Schreiber designed that board, so he may be able to provide better advice.

 

[Schreiber]

Question about lighting. As I do my levithian build I have debated upgrading my Fluval Evo from the stock light to something a little better. From what I see the levithian board is based on only kessil lights but I was wondering if any other light could use the same setup without modifiying the board. If I do go with Kessil, would you go with the A80 or A160 if I wanted to branch into SPS? Tank is roughly 18"X11.5"X11

I can't find schematics for that board, but the kessil control is usually 0-10v analog. That board would most likely be compatible with any lights that use that style of analog control. @Schreiber designed that board, so he may be able to provide better advice.

^Michael's right. With so many different lights out there, it's hard to say for sure if it would be compatible. But as long as it uses the same control, it should be compatible.

While I've got you here @Michael Lane , I've had some people ask about hooking your PWM converter into the Leviathan board. I couldn't find much info or documentation on exactly how your board is working, so I hoped you could shed some "light".

I had thought I'd be able to feed in a 5V PWM signal to one set of Ch1/2 connectors & get the analog voltage as an output on the paired analog output. However, I'm not getting any voltage output at all. Is there a good guide somewhere I can read on using the converter board?

 

[b4tn]

CRON job fail! I was trying to get my feeder to go at 1300 every Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. It fired today at 1300 but I forgot the asterisks is the minute field! So this in turn caused the feeder to fire at 1300 then every minute thereafter luckily I caught it about 10 minutes in

So if I put a 0 in the minute area does this look like it will work? I’m not sure now what to put in the day of the month field. If it’s An asterisks will it activate every day of the month after Tuesday at 1300?

 

[DaR333]

Been following this thread for a while and decided to join to say thank you for all the effort into this. We are constantly toying with the settings and things seem to be working great!

 

[robsworld78]

Change it to a timer that "turns on" then "Turns back off" after 900 seconds (15 min).

Why wouldn't setting up two timers work like @Twocorns did? Seems like either should work.

1- for the power strip outlet I can’t seem to find a similar product for Australia 220v. Any Ozzies or UK on the forum with suggestions?

I have a circuit board that you can solder 8 of these outlets to. Been selling them for years and quite a few use them with no issues, they are safe. It's basically an Arduino relay module but has a snubber for inductive loads. It has it's own AC/DC converter which powers up the relays. I've got a 3D case you can print as well.

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[robsworld78]

Why wouldn't setting up two timers work like @Twocorns did? Seems like either should work.

I think I can answer my own question. @b4tn opened my eyes.

@Twocorns I think your's didn't work because the on timer has the * for minute so it will run every minute on the minute until 7:00 pm or 19:00. After the next timer turned the outlet off the on timer was still set to run the next minute. If you had a 0 for minute it would have only run once.

CRON job fail! I was trying to get my feeder to go at 1300 every Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. It fired today at 1300 but I forgot the asterisks is the minute field! So this in turn caused the feeder to fire at 1300 then every minute thereafter luckily I caught it about 10 minutes in

So if I put a 0 in the minute area does this look like it will work? I’m not sure now what to put in the day of the month field. If it’s An asterisks will it activate every day of the month after Tuesday at 1300?

I wonder about day of the month too. * would imply every day of the month?

EDIT: Maybe this?

Question mark may be used to leave either day-of-month or day-of-week out of the timer

 

[EL_HARVEY]

That pH issue sounds like a common problem with hexadecimal vs base 10. That's a UI issue that I'd like to address at some point when I get some time to work on software again. i2cdetect is showing hex addresses (0x45), but reef-pi expects a base 10 address (69).

Technically, you can use the same i2c bus to communicate with additional sensors and peripherals, but reef-pi does not currently support those. On the other hand, you could run additional software on the rpi to supplement reef-pi's features.

I'd love to get into aquaponics one of these days. It would be pretty easy to extend reef-pi for that domain. I would definitely follow a build log on that if you start one.

Thanks Michael, I finally got it going! Now it won’t let me calibrate, the button is inactive. So I’m getting a reading ~366 when immersed in the fluid it was shipped in. I see others have had problems with calibration not working but I thought it had been fixed.

 

[robsworld78]

Thanks Michael, I finally got it going! Now it won’t let me calibrate, the button is inactive. So I’m getting a reading ~366 when immersed in the fluid it was shipped in. I see others have had problems with calibration not working but I thought it had been fixed.

You need to disable the pH first then you can calibrate it.

 

[EL_HARVEY]

Thank you, Rob! Progress - one step at a time. Unfortunately, I can't find any up-to date-instructions on all this and it's not as intuitive as it was for the other sensors. Last question for anyone. Now that I can use the calibrate button it looks like the only option is for a 2-point calibration, is that correct. If so what solutions do you typically use for Midpoint and 2nd test setting? I assume something like distilled water for the midpoint and then a lower PH for the 2nd run since I'll be trying o run my nutrient mix 5.5 and 6.5 ph for my system.

 

[bishoptf]

My first doser only had 3 ports, so that's why the goby board only has 4 pins. You can just use an additional PWM pin from another port to control all 4 doser pumps.

Thanks more I thought about I realized that was probably what needed to be done unless I want to not be able to use one of the pumps. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[bishoptf]

latest build pics, see my build thread for additional pics...I think it should be called octopi for all the wires coming out of it...

 

[robsworld78]

Thank you, Rob! Progress - one step at a time. Unfortunately, I can't find any up-to date-instructions on all this and it's not as intuitive as it was for the other sensors. Last question for anyone. Now that I can use the calibrate button it looks like the only option is for a 2-point calibration, is that correct. If so what solutions do you typically use for Midpoint and 2nd test setting? I assume something like distilled water for the midpoint and then a lower PH for the 2nd run since I'll be trying o run my nutrient mix 5.5 and 6.5 ph for my system.

No problem and yes its one step at a time, same with reef-pi. Here's a manual I've been putting together that might help I just added the pH calibration instructions. If something doesn't make sense or missing select the text in question and a + button will appear on right side and you can leave a comment so I can try and clear it up.

Reef-pi User Manual.docx

Reef-pi User Manual May 25, 2020 – Version 1.0 Table of Contents Table of Contents2 1. Setup Reef-pi – Configuration4 2. Setup Reef-pi – Settings5 Advanced Settings6 3. Setup Reef-pi – Telemetry7 Adafruit IO Logging7 Email Alerts8 4. Setup Reef-pi – Authenti...

docs.google.com

 

[Bigtrout]

Slightly reef-pi related news here.

I have never fooled too much with linux until I built my reef-pi and used Raspian. Curiosity, troubleshooting the pi etc has allowed me to aquire some good linux command line skills. I have had computers since the Commodore 64 days and am pretty well versed in Windows from 3.1 on to Win10 and MSDOS etc for work related stuff.
The last 2 Windows 10 updates were atrocities! So I got ticked and installed Linux Mint 19.3 as my OS and managed to get my licensed Windows 10 install into a Virtual Machine in Virtualbox on my Linux box.
Wow, what a difference. Have had the linux install for 2 weeks now, what a difference in speed and ease of use. I can do everything I did in Windows with the exception of some weird work related programs which wont run in linux. So Windows 10 is in a Virual Jail for those.

AND IT ALL STARTED WITH REEF-PI and having to learn some linux command line skills!

 

[EL_HARVEY]

Thanks Rob this is super helpful. On item I not used in the section on ph drivers is that your instructions make the same mistake I made. The Addresses 41-45 are the hexadecimal address the UI takes

No problem and yes its one step at a time, same with reef-pi. Here's a manual I've been putting together that might help I just added the pH calibration instructions. If something doesn't make sense or missing select the text in question and a + button will appear on right side and you can leave a comment so I can try and clear it up.

Reef-pi User Manual.docx

Reef-pi User Manual May 25, 2020 – Version 1.0 Table of Contents Table of Contents2 1. Setup Reef-pi – Configuration4 2. Setup Reef-pi – Settings5 Advanced Settings6 3. Setup Reef-pi – Telemetry7 Adafruit IO Logging7 Email Alerts8 4. Setup Reef-pi – Authenti...

docs.google.com

Thanks Rob this is super helpful. On item to check I noticed in the section on ph drivers is that your instructions Seem to make the same mistake I made. The Addresses 41-45 are the hexadecimal address the UI takes base 10. I had to enter 69 to connect to mine at address 0x45.

 

[GaryE]

I tinkered with Linux since 1994, but always seemed to find a reason to not switch. Well, about 4 years ago that change. I made the switch to Kubuntu and have been very happy since. I also keep a couple VM's for Windows. And I dual boot for when I want to play one of the few games I ever mess with.. (rarely)

My desk is not this clean right now...

 

[bishoptf]

I tinkered with Linux since 1994, but always seemed to find a reason to not switch. Well, about 4 years ago that change. I made the switch to Kubuntu and have been very happy since. I also keep a couple VM's for Windows. And I dual boot for when I want to play one of the few games I ever mess with.. (rarely)

My desk is not this clean right now...

I've been using it since winblows xp days, migrated and never looked back, nothing is perfect but I can configure and install just about any version in a thrid of the time, and a whole lot more stable IMHO.

 

[GaryE]

I've been using it since winblows xp days, migrated and never looked back, nothing is perfect but I can configure and install just about any version in a thrid of the time, and a whole lot more stable IMHO.

I have had a few issues when upgrading major versions that have set me back a time or two, but nothing worse than the failures I have had with Microsux