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

[Gareth elliott]

Looking for parts guidance:

I'm in search of a 40mmx10mm fan that can be controlled via PWM. 5v or 12v would both work. I need a pair to put into my BC29 hood.

Anyone have a suggestion? Ones they've used?

If cant find one search for 4pin models if you dont get anything but the 20mm and 28mm when searching pwm. Dont have any advice on a particular fan though.

 

[Somnifac]

That’s a beefy power supply . I used something similar for my 3D printer. Unless you are powering led or pump directly, are you sure you need those ?

That has of yet been determined. I like the concept of doing so, I just need to see how doable it is.

But given that the 12V will be powering everything, I preferred to overestimate what was needed. I'd rather have an unstressed PS than one operating near its max output.

 

[Ranjib]

That has of yet been determined. I like the concept of doing so, I just need to see how doable it is.

But given that the 12V will be powering everything, I preferred to overestimate what was needed. I'd rather have an unstressed PS than one operating near its max output.

If I am not wrong that thing can power multiple 12v devices , each drawing 1-3 amps. They are very popular to power 3D printers, where those nema17 stepper motors draw a lot of current
I am not saying this is bad . I would agree this is future proof, you are unlikely to need any other psu, and your doser pump or 12v moon light or power head can use this. I myself pondered upon using a 400w atx smps

 

[Ranjib]

Looking for parts guidance:

I'm in search of a 40mmx10mm fan that can be controlled via PWM. 5v or 12v would both work. I need a pair to put into my BC29 hood.

Anyone have a suggestion? Ones they've used?

Almost all dc fans can be pwm controlled. You don’t need a dedicated pwm pin, we can control the power with two wires directly . Use the same circuit as lighting controller, except replace the npn transistor with something like a tip12o or a power mosfet, reef-pi bill of materials has a sample

 

[Somnifac]

Right, but is that not straight analog voltage control (vary it 0-12v to control the speed)? I have the parts to utilize a 5v PWM control signal, via the PCA board with no additional circuit needed. If I can get a fan to do this, why would I go with another method?

 

[Ranjib]

Right, but is that not straight analog voltage control (vary it 0-12v to control the speed)? I have the parts to utilize a 5v PWM control signal, via the PCA board with no additional circuit needed. If I can get a fan to do this, why would I go with another method?

because it might be harder to find a fan of a specific size that also support 5 pwm input. Most fans I am aware of are 12v. I think its just a personal preference on what you want to compromise.. with this approach you are reducing your choice of fans over circuit complexity, i prefer to deal with some additional circuit that is generic while retaining the ability to control almost any dc equipment (i.e. larger power source + voltage regulator [like lm2596] + a mosfet)

 

[Somnifac]

Again, I completely get what you're saying, but it seems like I'm either:

A: Taking a little extra time to find a fan to utilize a feature that is already available with no additional wiring needed

or

B: Taking the time to create the circuit to convert the 5v PWM to a 12v analog, in which I will have to purchase those components, plus the fans themselves.

Logistically they are a toss up to me, and a little Google-Fu has yielded: https://www.coolerguys.com/products/evercool-40x10mm-12v-dual-ball-pwm-fan-ec4010th12bp

A single 4 conductor stereo+mic jack would allow me to send power and independent control to each fan in the hood (which would be used in either case), and I don't lose any more room in my electronics enclosure.

I just wanted to see if there was a pressing technical issue that I was missing that would make one preferable to the other.

So far, I have 5 pins on the PCA board accounted for: 2 for lights, 2 for fans in the hood, and one for the enclosure fan (and 2 future reserved for dosing, if I understand it correctly). I look forward to the addition of functionality that will allow us to tie temperature readings to PWM outputs (that's why I've provisioned space for 2 temperature probes on my 3D printed "plug board", now slightly revised, see below).

By changing how the panel insets into the enclosure face, I am now able to have the text labeling printed in white on a black background for readability.

The fan bracket came out great first try. The fan slides in and lines up perfectly. Now to cut the hole in the cover for it.

 

[Flotto]

Dear all,

I need the dimmable LED lighting as fast as possible. My Cyprichromis leptosoma “utinta” - yes I’m not using reef-pi for reefing - are totally stressed by the abrupt on/off of the T8 tubes.

Can you guys please help me choosing the correct transistors?
Is the IRLB8721 or maybe the IRFB3806 the best choice for following setup?
I will go with some 3528-stripes with 60 LEDs per meter. That’s 24W and 2A for 300 LEDs.
I‘m planning to fire a max of 60LEDs per MOSFET. That’s a max of 500mA.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Dear all,

I need the dimmable LED lighting as fast as possible. My Cyprichromis leptosoma “utinta” - yes I’m not using reef-pi for reefing - are totally stressed by the abrupt on/off of the T8 tubes.

Can you guys please help me choosing the correct transistors?
Is the IRLB8721 or maybe the IRFB3806 the best choice for following setup?
I will go with some 3528-stripes with 60 LEDs per meter. That’s 24W and 2A for 300 LEDs.
I‘m planning to fire a max of 60LEDs per MOSFET. That’s a max of 500mA.

Im not sure those leds are strong enough for anything but fowlr.

 

[Somnifac]

Im not sure those leds are strong enough for anything but fowlr.

Flotto is looking to use the reef-pi framework to light a freshwater (Tanganyikan cichlids) tank.

They're beautiful fish. I kept cichlids for years, but it was limited to Malawi and New World species.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Flotto is looking to use the reef-pi framework to light a freshwater (Tanganyikan cichlids) tank.

They're beautiful fish. I kept cichlids for years, but it was limited to Malawi and New World species.

Lol that explains a lot now, thanks.

I only ever kept sa cichlids didnt recognize the name

 

[Flotto]

Thanks @Somnifac for your explanation. In fact I’m keeping some beautiful endemic cichlids from east african lake Tanganjika.

• Cyprichromis leptosoma “utinta” red tail
• Neolamprologus leleupi „Lyamembe orange“
• Altolamprologus compressiceps “Kigoma”

@Gareth elliott Thanks for your advise. I actually had the same thoughts, but...
I hope to get some 3528 LEDs that fire at the upper end of the lm-range (3-8lm per LED). Otherwise my fish gonna have to live a while in the dark before I get more powerful stripes.
But I believe that the 3528 will Ben sufficient, since I’m going to add a few extra lm in blue and red.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Thanks @Somnifac for your explanation. In fact I’m keeping some beautiful endemic cichlids from east african lake Tanganjika.

• Cyprichromis leptosoma “utinta” red tail
• Neolamprologus leleupi „Lyamembe orange“
• Altolamprologus compressiceps “Kigoma”

@Gareth elliott Thanks for your advise. I actually had the same thoughts, but...
I hope to get some 3528 LEDs that fire at the upper end of the lm-range (3-8lm per LED). Otherwise my fish gonna have to live a while in the dark before I get more powerful stripes.
But I believe that the 3528 will Ben sufficient, since I’m going to add a few extra lm in blue and red.

I think the irlb8721 is fine, can handle 16 amps. Would go with what ranjib was discussing earlier with the psu and some form of step down to 3.3 logic between the light bread board and the pi. If its not planted, what ive seen in 95% of African cichlid tanks i think you are fine with anything you find bright enough to view the tank.
And for this could use a simple lumen calculator 100w incandescent is 1600 lumens as a reference. 1 3528 is 6-8 lumens so 300 leds is 1800-2400 lumens.

If wanted something with a sunrise/sunset mode preprogrammed around the same price as this build look up the vivagrow 24/7 at 40.95 for a 48” fixture.

I run something similar on my fw Gaupore river tank.

 

[Flotto]

I think the irlb8721 is fine, can handle 16 amps. Would go with what ranjib was discussing earlier with the psu and some form of step down to 3.3 logic between the light bread board and the pi. If its not planted, what ive seen in 95% of African cichlid tanks i think you are fine with anything you find bright enough to view the tank.
And for this could use a simple lumen calculator 100w incandescent is 1600 lumens as a reference. 1 3528 is 6-8 lumens so 300 leds is 1800-2400 lumens.

If wanted something with a sunrise/sunset mode preprogrammed around the same price as this build look up the vivagrow 24/7 at 40.95 for a 48” fixture.

I run something similar on my fw Gaupore river tank.

You're correct that the most african cichlid tanks are not planted. I do have some plants in my tanks, but they do not need a lot of light. Nonetheless I decided to switch to brighter and more power consuming LEDs: SMD 2835 - which are meant to emit 14-60lm depending on the chip inside. That's 4.200-18.000lm and on Amazon they're advertised with 72W and 7.500lm. So if they only even consume about 50% (36W at 3A), I will still have 3.750lm for my tank and can run the LEDs dimmed down to 50%.

I ordered a PSU with 12V and 120W to have more than enough buffer on this end.

Thanks for the info for vivagrow 24/7. But actually I plan to integrate red and blue LEDs and mimic sunrise and sunset with reef-pi. I have more than enough PWM-Pins on my PCA9685-board to achieve this. And over the holidays I hopefully will have some time for this project.

 

[njtiger aquariums]

I have done that already, I didn't like the two button interface that I shipped with 0.9.1, though it made things more intuitive, its somewhat space consuming and redundant. So, four days ago I made another update in the equipment UI. In the new UI, equipment wont have on/off buttons, there will be only one button with equipment name as the label, and if that button is green ,. its on, if not its off. There is no more red color buttons, there is no more on/off text toggling. I hope you all like it, i for one, love this one

here is a screen shot:

What do you think?

I like that button design. Very simple and clean

 

[Schreiber]

@Ranjib , planning on adding to the documentation, specifically actual instructions on how to build a power control module. I followed most of your steps on how to edit the site, but I ran into a hitch here:

>

• Clone hugo-sustain theme

cd website
git clone git clone https://github.com/nurlansu/hugo-sustain.git themes/hugo-sustain

>

When I try just entering "cd website", I get the response-
"-bash: cd: website: No such file or directory"

I also assumed you only meant to type 1 git clone, so I only did that once.

I was able to get the reef pi site up on the local host link, but there were no edit options, just looked like the regular page. What am I missing here?

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib , planning on adding to the documentation, specifically actual instructions on how to build a power control module. I followed most of your steps on how to edit the site, but I ran into a hitch here:

>

• Clone hugo-sustain theme

cd website
git clone git clone https://github.com/nurlansu/hugo-sustain.git themes/hugo-sustain

>

When I try just entering "cd website", I get the response-
"-bash: cd: website: No such file or directory"

I also assumed you only meant to type 1 git clone, so I only did that once.

I was able to get the reef pi site up on the local host link, but there were no edit options, just looked like the regular page. What am I missing here?

You are right I meant only one git clone , that’s a typo, I’ll update the doc. I think you are trying ‘cd website ‘ twice , you only need that once , first command, not after cloning the theme.
In this approach, you have to edit the file (under content/ sub directory) using a text editor , and Hugo will re-render the website, and you get to see your changes instantly. You submit your patches by github workflow. If you are not familiar with these things, and prefer a webui, then just fork the website repo using github UI instead, and make changes using GitHub ui. It will be easier,

 

[olvr]

I am working on building this myself. I have Reef-Pi up and running on a raspberry pi now, and am going to be adding my temperature probes and heat control this weekend. I would like to add my lighting as well, however, I am not sure I am going to be able to use the Aquaillumination lights I currently have. Any advice?

AquaIllumination Sol Light: http://www.marinesolutionsinc.com/o...mination-sol-blue-lighting/related_product-10
I also have this, which I would love to use if I can: https://www.theaquariumsolution.com/resetting-ai-wireless-adapter-sol-or-nano

 

[JDowns]

Looking for parts guidance:

I'm in search of a 40mmx10mm fan that can be controlled via PWM. 5v or 12v would both work. I need a pair to put into my BC29 hood.

Anyone have a suggestion? Ones they've used?

Everflow R124010BU

 

[Somnifac]

Everflow R124010BU

Thanks. Looks like now it's a decision between the:

https://www.coolerguys.com/products/everflow-40x10mm-pwm-high-speed-dual-ball-bearing-fan-r124010bu

and

https://www.coolerguys.com/products/evercool-40x10mm-12v-dual-ball-pwm-fan-ec4010th12bp

I may be leaning towards the EC4010TH12BP, but mostly due to the more complete specs that seem to be available. I'm fine paying an extra dollar for a little more info, if only to better know what I'm getting.