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

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ezo is a minimum of board and carrier board which is atleast $55. With the pre-built ones you support a follow member and don't have to deal with the ezo crapping out on you after a few months.

Not entirely correct, you don't need the carrier board to hook up the EZO, however it makes it easier. I looked at a pre-buit but I couldn't find any in stock. Anyone have any or know of any in stock?
 

NeonRabbit221B

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Not entirely correct, you don't need the carrier board to hook up the EZO, however it makes it easier. I looked at a pre-buit but I couldn't find any in stock. Anyone have any or know of any in stock?
At the very least you need a BNC, socket connectors (or risk voiding warranty) and resistors to make your own.
 
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Ranjib

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Does anyone know the positives and negative going with the ezo board vs one of the prebuilt ones?
Pro: three point calibration , ability to use with i2c or uart, support for temperature compensation etc.
Cons: double the price (including the carrier board)
 

Des Westcott

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Any chance anyone has a reef-pi image? I am not infront of my system away from home. My wife just told me the tank lights did not come on today. It appears the memory card has failed, starts to boot and then crashes. There is no way I will be able to walk her through a normal installation, but possibly image a card. Tank temp is down to 72, I had her move the heater over but I would really like to get this controller back running for ATO, lights etc. Thanks for direction

For situations just like this, I have a spare card in my cabinet set up just the same way as my main card. In the case of a failure, the replacement card is right there and I just need to swap them out and can be running again in 5 minutes. I learned the value of this the hard way.
 
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For situations just like this, I have a spare card in my cabinet set up just the same way as my main card. In the case of a failure, the replacement card is right there and I just need to swap them out and can be running again in 5 minutes. I learned the value of this the hard way.
I am recently tinkering with Raspberry Pi and SATA drivers. It is now relatively easy to just hook up a USB3-> mSATA/SATA3 adapter then use off the shelf mSATA/SATA3 drivers. The total setup should cost less than 40-50 USD and you'll have a 120G SSD thats much more durable. There will be some configuration work (pi will still boot from sd card, but reef-pi can be configured to keep its database on ssd), but i think this solves the sd card issue significantly.
 

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My pi is acting weird, one doser switched on at the desired time but didn't switch off, thankfully I was sitting there inspecting the doser at the time, that was last night, today it's working fine.

Then just now I initiated my 10 minutes feed macro which switched off the desired items, but didn't switch back on. I've just done a power off and on and it's working again.

So what I would like to do, as I do feel my sdcard is corrupted is set up a spare card(I did buy one for that purpose but ended.up in my daughters tab) is it possible to set it up on a different pi and then transfer it to my reef pi? I have a pi4 that I use for audio and my reef pi is a pi3 a+
 
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My pi is acting weird, one doser switched on at the desired time but didn't switch off, thankfully I was sitting there inspecting the doser at the time, that was last night, today it's working fine.

Then just now I initiated my 10 minutes feed macro which switched off the desired items, but didn't switch back on. I've just done a power off and on and it's working again.

So what I would like to do, as I do feel my sdcard is corrupted is set up a spare card(I did buy one for that purpose but ended.up in my daughters tab) is it possible to set it up on a different pi and then transfer it to my reef pi? I have a pi4 that I use for audio and my reef pi is a pi3 a+
yes. it should be possible.
Install the same version of reef-pi if possible on the new pi and just copy the db over. you should be able to dry run by turning on reef-pi on the new pi, without any thing attached (as long as you are not using wireless drivers).
 

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yes. it should be possible.
Install the same version of reef-pi if possible on the new pi and just copy the db over. you should be able to dry run by turning on reef-pi on the new pi, without any thing attached (as long as you are not using wireless drivers).

I'll be doing a headless install, hopefully that won't be a problem?
 
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Ranjib

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Still long way to go till old glory is restored , tanks are humming along. Got most of algae under control. Hopefully once the new house chores settled I’ll be able to focus more
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4AC7BCC1-E9C7-4B6B-A331-36E1EC09347C.jpeg
 

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Hi i I am receiving an {"error":"stats for id: 'X' not found"} | HTTP 404
started as X = '1' then '2' and now '3'

Any idea what this means and how to fix it?
I did find some reference at

But no answer...

Thanks
 

stefanm

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Hi i I am receiving an {"error":"stats for id: 'X' not found"} | HTTP 404
started as X = '1' then '2' and now '3'

Any idea what this means and how to fix it?
I did find some reference at

But no answer...

Thanks

You'll get the error because the pump is disabled and the dashboard is set to display the pump data, which it can't as there is no data being read. Do with s temperature sensor and you'll also get an error. If you are not using the pump then remove it from the dashboard.
 

AbjectMaelstroM

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please advise which PCB board is most feature rich that I should look at? there is a ROBO TANK. Leviathan .
any others one can buy ?

I'm currently running a RoboTank on my DT and ML's hat on my QT and Coral QT/Nano DT, for about 6 months now.

In the end they all do about the same thing. That being said, money no object, RoboTank get's my vote; especially if you want more of a Plug-And-Play solution. Tons of customization with minimal fiddling on the part of the user as most connections are baked in; comes in a nice case and has a bunch of expansions and a powerbar. Heck, it even works with ML's Viparspectra and Jebao slave doser adapter boards!

Now, if you're more of a DIY/fiddler guy/gal then it's pretty hard to beat ML's HAT. A lot of options in a small package that's inexpensive, but you have to come up with your own connections and enclosure, there's no pre-built powerbar.

There is also the Pico Board and the Leviathan, but I don't have experience with them.
 

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please advise which PCB board is most feature rich that I should look at? there is a ROBO TANK. Leviathan .
any others one can buy ?

They are all nice and will work well in the right configuration. With that said you need to look at WHAT and HOW you want to control. There are slight differences between each that may lead you down one path or another. Specifially how you want to control the switched power outlets. Make that decision and it will help narrow your path. On that note I may have an extra Leviathan board that I would consider getting rid off if your looking in that direction.
 

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I am not against the pre packaged builds but prefer to build mine on perma proto boards with modules. It does not look as nice and is not compact but it makes it much more scalable and easier to troubleshoot/replace parts, easier to modify as newer build options come out, and can customize it to your exact needs. My current build has 16 AC outlets, 8 DC outlets, 4 temp probes, ATO, autofeeder, 4 dosers, and plenty of room to add a PH probe or any other I2C enabled modules in the future.
pi.jpeg
relay.jpeg


 

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regarding the Reef-pi board..
no problem to build it with perma proto boards.
just though maybe some pre packaged build boards will make it simpler.
dont need boxes. plan to have my own acrylic box.

I got a feeling that the 4 doser ports is some kind of a "bottleneck" ? is it ?
need about 7 doser ports.
- 4 for chemicals
- 1 for AOT doser pump to push it far away
- 2 for auto water change system IN/OUT also far away

so it seams the Leviathan and ROBOtank are limited to 4.

also I want an option to have about 7-10 water level sensors (chemicals bottles, AOT and water changer , Sump etc)

QUESTION: can you guys give me a list of accessories that will use 16 AC sockets ? Why would I need 16 ?
 

NeonRabbit221B

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The problem is the control signal required for dosers. You can add additional dosers by using a PWM signal from a PCA9685 and motor drivers but it is likely less plug and play than one might want. Water level sensors and sockets are all controlled by the I/O of the raspberry pi so its doubtful you will be able exactly what you want without some additional wiring and PCA9685 boards.
 

Mikeneedsahobby

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regarding the Reef-pi board..
no problem to build it with perma proto boards.
just though maybe some pre packaged build boards will make it simpler.
dont need boxes. plan to have my own acrylic box.

I got a feeling that the 4 doser ports is some kind of a "bottleneck" ? is it ?
need about 7 doser ports.
- 4 for chemicals
- 1 for AOT doser pump to push it far away
- 2 for auto water change system IN/OUT also far away

so it seams the Leviathan and ROBOtank are limited to 4.

also I want an option to have about 7-10 water level sensors (chemicals bottles, AOT and water changer , Sump etc)

QUESTION: can you guys give me a list of accessories that will use 16 AC sockets ? Why would I need 16 ?

i don’t think that is true about the robotank. I’m pretty sure you can control more than 4 dosers. You would need to know what doser though for how to connect to it. Do you need variable dc, pwm, ac control, or etc?

Input sensors can also be extended to 10+.

I don’t have a robotank. (I have a ml hat and pico board). But these things are highly configurable. It is true that some are more plug and play than others though.

Head over to @robsworld78 website and ask. He is a pretty friendly guy.

As for ac control. It’s just for flexibility. I have 8 ac devices but I can see a possibility for several more. Or if someone were to run two tanks from one controller.
 

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regarding the Reef-pi board..
no problem to build it with perma proto boards.
just though maybe some pre packaged build boards will make it simpler.
dont need boxes. plan to have my own acrylic box.

I got a feeling that the 4 doser ports is some kind of a "bottleneck" ? is it ?
need about 7 doser ports.
- 4 for chemicals
- 1 for AOT doser pump to push it far away
- 2 for auto water change system IN/OUT also far away

so it seams the Leviathan and ROBOtank are limited to 4.

also I want an option to have about 7-10 water level sensors (chemicals bottles, AOT and water changer , Sump etc)

QUESTION: can you guys give me a list of accessories that will use 16 AC sockets ? Why would I need 16 ?

For 7 dosers assuming you don't need them to be bi-directional you will need 7 PWM outputs, 7 GPIO outputs, and 4 motor drivers (I use the MOSFET tb6612 which comes in pairs). This can easily be done on a single PCA9685 board which has 16 potential outlets. If it was me I would just round it to 8 dosers. But like mentioned above it is not plug and play anymore.

As for 16 outlets. I run an Algae scrubber, 2 reactors, 3 wavemakers, sump light, algae scrubber light, skimmer, return pump, 2 heaters and an ATO pump. Not quite 16 but I have 3 spare outlets left just in case I want to add something like auto water change pumps or additional wavemakers.
 
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