Saint's 110g Reef Build - Another Break Down

[saintsreturn]

Great build! tons of DIY. Tell me about the raspberry pi controlled water station. How will you be using that to control it? Electronic valves??

Building my own controller would be out of the question but my father in law is big into this type of thing (Raspberry pi projects not aquarium related) Among others. I'm about to start building my water mixing station and wouldn't that be cool to press a button and out comes fresh or salt or refills mixing container.

A series of electronic valves will be controlled by the pi. What i have setup is a system they will fill my container for a set period of time, circulate said water to avoid it getting stale, drain into the mixing container, mix salt, bring to temp and circulate for times i need to hold the water. I have two out valves that either dump RO or SW to a hose line for filling. I also have a dosing pump that fills a test cup for me to check salinity.

What i havent figured out yet, is a way to add salt to the container to get close enough to be at the desired levels. I am working on a screw drive/timed system to work that in for me. But that will be a year out at best.

I will try to get some pics tonight, just know that this is a joint effort so the progress is not where i want to be before i start sharing to much LOL.

 

[JasonK84]

A series of electronic valves will be controlled by the pi. What i have setup is a system they will fill my container for a set period of time, circulate said water to avoid it getting stale, drain into the mixing container, mix salt, bring to temp and circulate for times i need to hold the water. I have two out valves that either dump RO or SW to a hose line for filling. I also have a dosing pump that fills a test cup for me to check salinity.

What i havent figured out yet, is a way to add salt to the container to get close enough to be at the desired levels. I am working on a screw drive/timed system to work that in for me. But that will be a year out at best.

I will try to get some pics tonight, just know that this is a joint effort so the progress is not where i want to be before i start sharing to much LOL.

Understood, sounds like it'll be amazing!

 

[saintsreturn]

I hope so!

 

[saintsreturn]

Really not ready to shown this off yet, but here is the WIP.

Understood, sounds like it'll be amazing!

 

[saintsreturn]

Started to work on the tank again last night and made some progress. However, i did get a little distracted by the tank itself and decided to take some pics for future comparisons.

White Zombie Rock:

Love these polyps, but not as much as i love this mushroom. It looks like i may need to separate them.

The polyps are still adjusting to the light and their new home, but this is my zoa mountain.

These little guys always peak my interest. They dont look like much in the white light, but look like they are glowing in the blues.

I am going to be sad when i have to give this fish back. Beautiful colors.

Reef safe puffer? Yup, never nipped a single coral.

Where is my food??? All the critters getting excited when i come near the tank

Got one of the batteries mounted up and ready to rock. Now i just need to buy the replacement for the other one.

Started switching everything over to the new box. This is just a rough draft and i mixed up some dimensions on it, so it looks... meh... but it will work while i finish the drawings for the new one

 

[saintsreturn]

Full tank shot [emoji3]

 

[SPR1968]

Full tank shot [emoji3]

Looks great Saint, very nice!

 

[saintsreturn]

Thanks bud!

 

[JasonK84]

Really not ready to shown this off yet, but here is the WIP.

Watermixing at the press of a button and a space saving design. Looks good.

 

[saintsreturn]

Thank you bit will be a barely used work of art but I can't wait to have it get to that point [emoji3]

Watermixing at the press of a button and a space saving design. Looks good.

 

[Victoria M]

I want a zoa mountain!

 

[saintsreturn]

I was super lucky to find that dry rock at the store. They had in on a pallet I was digging through

I want a zoa mountain!

 

[saintsreturn]

So plans changed a bit for me this weekend. I entered a charity raffle with the expectation of donating to charity, only to win the raffle. So I picked up a Uranium Bounce on Saturday and then worked on the tank tonight.

So I am very unhappy with my progress and how some of this did not come together as expected. So I am going to allow this to look like it does until I get some extra coin and time to redo all of the wiring. This will also most likely include cutting out all the excess wire and soldering into shorter pig tails. We will see.

But for now, here is the current state.

 

[dantimdad]

Did you ask your buddy about the 3d models of the skimmer parts?

 

[SPR1968]

Well it looks good to me

Without wishing to sound ‘thick’ what’s a Uranium Bounce ?

 

[Victoria M]

Well it looks good to me

Without wishing to sound ‘thick’ what’s a Uranium Bounce ?

I read that in Harry Potter voice, then saw you ARE in England. lol. I love the term "thick" .

 

[Victoria M]

your wire "mess" looks pretty good to me!

 

[saintsreturn]

Did you ask your buddy about the 3d models of the skimmer parts?

I did. He is slammed with work at the moment and has the link to come over and update when he gets to it. Not much more i can do at this time...

 

[saintsreturn]

Well it looks good to me

Without wishing to sound ‘thick’ what’s a Uranium Bounce ?

Thank you It would probably change your mind if i were to show you behind the box insert HAHAHA. But it is coming along and i appreciate the comment

Not at all, i actually wasnt aware of them before to long ago. They are a species of mushroom that is fairly slow growing that has a cancerous form of bubbles on it. These bubbles glow in a "uranium" like color. So they come in variations of colors and sizes, commonly referred to as "bounce" mushrooms.

They typically retain for around 2-250$ and can be found in auctions for around $180. I donated $10 and got it

 

[saintsreturn]

your wire "mess" looks pretty good to me!

Thank you! Long way to go before i am happy with it, but it will get there. couple notes on why i am unhappy:

1) needed help installing and went off my test lines, which lead to a 1/4" shortage in my gap, making it so the front plate no longer fits (easy fix but need another set of hands)
2) front plate was measured in a hurry so i decided to try to cut and fit... looks sloppy now, so i will speed up the custom mount i am having made
3) loooooooong wires for harnesses made a rats nest behind the plate that is blue. I will either have to run and tie or cut and seal to make them fit cleaner and be accessible in the way i want
3.a) I may rebuild the box now that the wires are off the gound and build a false floor to tuck everything in neatly, thats TBD though.
4) Tight fit of the box and the rails prevents the smooth slide of the box i expected and does not allow the soft close action i wanted... because its cool lol...
5) I tend to be over critical of things i see that no one else does HAHA.

seriously though, thank you