Robo-Tank Install Problems.... Possibly Broken Pi?

[Fish Fan]

Oh! And is there a "Feed Mode" option where I could press one button and it would stop equipment like pumps and skimmers for say 10 minutes and then - crucially - turn that gear back on?

Last I swear, what's with the moon on the Webserver, is there some kind of weather or moon phases I'm missing? How do I set that up please?

Sorry for so many questions, but I really am liking the Robo-Tank setup!

Thanks again, Rob!!!

 

[robsworld78]

Hello @robsworld78!!

Just an update here, but I officially and finally have had water in this tank for about 5 days now, no livestock yet. It took me a fair amount of fiddling with it, but the Robo-Tank system seems to be working well for me here. I can control my two Kessil lights, I just yesterday seemed to have figure out how to get the ATO system working, and of course I've got my pumps and other things plugged into the AC power bar. I also added a pH probe that seems to have calibrated and is working well, and I ordered a flow meter just for fun, but I don't know if I'll have enough room for it in this small tank; we'll see.

I do have a couple things I'm wondering about, nothing here is essential, but if you have any suggestions, I'd much appreciate it :)

For my ATO I'm using an optical sensor backed up with a float switch, but I have on hand a couple of the non-contact water level sensors. I would like to use these to monitor the water level in the ATO reservoir, but I'd have to extend the cable to a good 4 or maybe 5 feet in length. Do you see any reason these sensors will not work with Robo-Tank if I add that much extra to the cable?

I have all the various other adapters, controllers, the Robo-Tank system and everything electronic mounted in a small cabinet behind the tank. I am somewhat concerned that this cabinet will get hot, and may damage the electronics in the most extreme situations. I am considering installing a small muffin fan in this cabinet for ventilation, and I have a temp probe from the Robo-Tank in the cabinet now. It would be easy enough to use Robo-Tank to turn that fan on or off and some set temp, but I noticed there are now small fans that are PWM controllable. How hard would it be to set Robo-Tank up to control a fan via PWM and ramp the fan up/down as needed with the temp?

Is there a safe, secure, and easy way for me to view the Robo-tank webserver from outside my home network?

Is there an option for some kind of web camera to actually view the tank when not at home?

I really appreciate your help, thank you in advance!!!

Hi @Fish Fan glad things are coming along, Continue going slowly as you are until you get used to things.

You can extend the cable on any sensors, up to 25 feet should be no problem.

Sorry, today you can't control the speed of a fan based on temperature, only turn it on/off based on temperature. I will be adding that ability down the road. You can create a custom rule using a temperature sensor and have the fan plugged into a 12v DC port. Then have the custom rule turn the port on/off based on the temperature you set. You will need to create 2 custom rules to accomplish this, one to turn the fan on and another to turn it off.

At this time the safest method to connect remotely is to use a Remote Desktop program such as Teamviewer. You can install it on any computer in your local network and then access that computers desktop via Teamviewer or the like.

Currently you can't view a web camera in the app but that's something I will be adding. For now you would have to navigate to a webpage for the web camera separately.

 

[robsworld78]

Oh! And is there a "Feed Mode" option where I could press one button and it would stop equipment like pumps and skimmers for say 10 minutes and then - crucially - turn that gear back on?

Last I swear, what's with the moon on the Webserver, is there some kind of weather or moon phases I'm missing? How do I set that up please?

Sorry for so many questions, but I really am liking the Robo-Tank setup!

Thanks again, Rob!!!

You can do this using a custom rule and a momentary switch.

Connect a momentary switch (any switch will work) to a sensor port, these connect the same as a float switch.

Robo-Tank Sensor Module Wiring Diagrams.docx

Sensor Extension Wiring Diagrams Safety Reminder READ & FOLLOW ALL SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS DANGER Never handle electrical equipment with wet hands special care should be taken since water is employed in the use of aquarium equipment Do not attempt repairs to commercial equipment ...

docs.google.com

Then you need to create one custom rule.

1. In the custom rule select the switch you added. Be sure to add at least a 5 second delay before the custom rule triggers so the rule doesn't run during a reboot. This option is on the first page when you create the custom rule. This does mean you'll need to hold the switch for 5 seconds before it triggers.

2. When you select the equipment you want to control you can toggle each icon until it turns red/green or green/red, this will allow you to turn the port on and off using the same custom rule.

3. After you select all the equipment to control the next page will allow you to set delays, if you want AC outlet 1 to turn off immediately leave the OFF delay to 0, then set the ON delay to when you want it to turn on. For example, if you want to turn OFF for 5 minutes you set the ON delay to 300 seconds. This timer starts once the rule triggers so after 300 seconds that outlet will turn back ON.

4. When you set a delay you'll see a new option appear at the top of the page, select "Let custom rule finish" which will allow the custom rule to run through even after the switch resets.

That should get you going. As always be sure to verify everything works as expected, test it a few times to make sure nothing unexpected happens. It's also a good idea to reboot the controller to make sure nothing unexpected happens during the startup.

 

[Fish Fan]

@robsworld78 thank you very much for all the info!

Yes, I'm liking the Robo-Tank system very much, but I am taking it slowly as I am also completely new to aquarium controllers in general. But things seem to be working well so far :-)

I do have a switch in my electronics bin to try the "feed mode", seems easy enough.

I'll look forward to seeing a webcam and some other features hopefully in new versions of Robo-Tank when you have the time to add them.

Thanks again, I really appreciate your help getting my system going!

 

[robsworld78]

@robsworld78 thank you very much for all the info!

Yes, I'm liking the Robo-Tank system very much, but I am taking it slowly as I am also completely new to aquarium controllers in general. But things seem to be working well so far :)

I do have a switch in my electronics bin to try the "feed mode", seems easy enough.

I'll look forward to seeing a webcam and some other features hopefully in new versions of Robo-Tank when you have the time to add them.

Thanks again, I really appreciate your help getting my system going!

No problem, if you need anything else let me know.

 

[Fish Fan]

Hey @robsworld78! Everything is still working well with my Robo-Tank systems; really liking it so far :-)

I'm still working on some of the improvements mentioned above, like getting those non-contact water level sensos on my ATO res, but hopefully tonight or this weekend I'll be working on it all again.

But I have to ask: what's with the moon on the Robo-Tank homepage? I've looked, and I see old posts and videos of yours where you've added some weather info, maybe?? But I'm not seeing any option in the settings with the current version to do anything with the moon or weather. Is this feature still available, what does it do, and how can I set it up?

Thank you in advance, I really appreciate your help here!

 

[robsworld78]

Hey @robsworld78! Everything is still working well with my Robo-Tank systems; really liking it so far :)

I'm still working on some of the improvements mentioned above, like getting those non-contact water level sensos on my ATO res, but hopefully tonight or this weekend I'll be working on it all again.

But I have to ask: what's with the moon on the Robo-Tank homepage? I've looked, and I see old posts and videos of yours where you've added some weather info, maybe?? But I'm not seeing any option in the settings with the current version to do anything with the moon or weather. Is this feature still available, what does it do, and how can I set it up?

Thank you in advance, I really appreciate your help here!

Hi @Fish Fan glad to hear you are enjoying it. Currently that section with the moon does nothing, eventually that will work with the light modes and the local weather. Those old videos you see are when I was using an Arduino for the controller, eventually everything you see in them and more will be available for the Raspberry Pi. I'm hoping in the next month or so I can get back to working on the app.

 

[Fish Fan]

Hi @robsworld78! My Robo Tank system is still working well for me :)

I extended the cable on my non-contact water level sensor, and now have that on my ATO res. I was wondering if there's a way to add an audible alarm for when the reservoir water level is low. I ordered a simple 12v buzzer, I thought I could connect that to a Robo Tank DC port and use a rule to power on the DC port when the sensor detects low water. Does that seem like a plan?

I managed to fit a flow meter in the plumbing of my rather shallow AIO. From the description of the flow meter I thought it would be waterproof. It worked and gave reasonable numbers for an hour or two, and now it's entirely flaky, reading from 200 to 17,000 gph and everything in between. I'm guessing these meters are not really waterproof lol!

Robot or human?

There's seven bucks I'll never see again lol!

Fortunately, I don't have any livestock in this tank yet, but I'll do a full water change and run some carbon in case that flow meter leached who knows what in the tank.

And I did add a momentary switch to try to create a "feed mode" where the circ and return pumps will stop for a period of time. The problem I'm having is that in the setup up there's no option to specify a momentary switch. I can choose a toggle switch (or even a float switch), but then when I try to create the rule I have only a delay "off" and not a delay "on" option (step #3 in your reply above). I think this is because I can't specify a momentary switch in the setup, possibly? The switch does "work", if I set it up as a toggle switch or a float switch, when I press the button it changes on the Robo Tank dashboard from "off" to "on".

It's not the biggest deal, but if you knew anyway to get that "Feed mode" switch working, I would really appreciate it :)

Thanks very much, I really appreciate your help here!

 

[Fish Fan]

Hey @robsworld78!

Any idea why I can't get that "feed mode" momentary switch working for me? It looks like there isn't an option to choose a momentary switch specifically, can this be setup as something else, or is this a feature you hope to add in future releases?

Thanks very much for your help!

 

[robsworld78]

Hey @robsworld78!

Any idea why I can't get that "feed mode" momentary switch working for me? It looks like there isn't an option to choose a momentary switch specifically, can this be setup as something else, or is this a feature you hope to add in future releases?

Thanks very much for your help!

Hi @Fish Fan very sorry for taking so long, I never got an alert of your previous message, I did get one for Monday but for some reason I wasn't able to access R2R.

Yeah unfortunately those flowmeters aren't water proof, I'm surprised it worked for a couple hours, it was a good idea to do some water changes, never know.

For the momentary switch you can use the normal switch or float switch as they are the same. It sounds like when you selected the equipment to switch you didn't click it 3 times, the first click is on (green icon), 2nd click is off (red icon) 3rd click is on/off (green/red icon) and the 4th click is off/on (red/green icon). Then after selecting the equipment the next screen will show all the equipment you selected and allow you to add the delay. As an example, if you selected Outlet 1 (on/off) you will see Outlet 1 twice on this screen, one for on the other for off. This is where you set the delays for switching them.

 

[Fish Fan]

Hi @Fish Fan very sorry for taking so long, I never got an alert of your previous message, I did get one for Monday but for some reason I wasn't able to access R2R.

Yeah unfortunately those flowmeters aren't water proof, I'm surprised it worked for a couple hours, it was a good idea to do some water changes, never know.

For the momentary switch you can use the normal switch or float switch as they are the same. It sounds like when you selected the equipment to switch you didn't click it 3 times, the first click is on (green icon), 2nd click is off (red icon) 3rd click is on/off (green/red icon) and the 4th click is off/on (red/green icon). Then after selecting the equipment the next screen will show all the equipment you selected and allow you to add the delay. As an example, if you selected Outlet 1 (on/off) you will see Outlet 1 twice on this screen, one for on the other for off. This is where you set the delays for switching them.

Hey, Rob! No worries at all, thank you for getting back to me here :)

Yeah, the flow meter was an $8 flop, and I should have known, but the description kind of made it sound like it would be waterproof. That clearly was not the case, but I plan on having the flow meters in-line on my next build.

I will try the momentary switch again setting it up like a float switch. When I tried this before, it gave me an option to delay turning the equipment off, but not one to turn the equipment back on, which would be ideal for what I'm trying to do here. But I'll try to look at it again and see if I'm missing something, like not clicking the equipment three times.

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it!

 

[robsworld78]

Hey, Rob! No worries at all, thank you for getting back to me here :)

Yeah, the flow meter was an $8 flop, and I should have known, but the description kind of made it sound like it would be waterproof. That clearly was not the case, but I plan on having the flow meters in-line on my next build.

I will try the momentary switch again setting it up like a float switch. When I tried this before, it gave me an option to delay turning the equipment off, but not one to turn the equipment back on, which would be ideal for what I'm trying to do here. But I'll try to look at it again and see if I'm missing something, like not clicking the equipment three times.

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it!

Sounds good, let me know how it goes.