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

[DirtDiggler2823]

Sorry if I missed it, but is the pH probe ready for testing?

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

I’ve been busy with the ph sensor support , particularly calibration for the ph board. Last week I got little distracted , with my old kessil controller build failing repeatedly . That made me work on the Prometheus integration. For the uninitiated , Prometheus is an open source metrics system that lets you store and query metrics. It’s one of the most popular and blessed by cncf (cloud native foundation ) project which makes it kind of de facto standard in software industry . In short it has a very nice ecosystem that we can leverage. So, I setup Prometheus server (to store and query metrics ), grafana ( to visualize those metrics ) and some coding work to expose reef-pi metrics (stuff like temperature , ph etc) , go runtime metrics (reef-pi software internals) and pi’s system metrics (Linux specific). The result was outstanding, now I have fully customizable (chart types, and metrics storage duration ) dashboard /metrics system. Very happy with the results, here are some samples

Reeftank charts

Go runtime metrics (how the controller software itself doing)

Pi metrics (Linux )

And this is just 1% of what’s available out of the box

Albeit this requires some additional setup/ hardware etc ... but for those who can do it, it opens up a host of possibilities. Due to limited hardware capabilities in pi and not having any cloud solution , reef-pi is limited and conservative about what charting capabilities it can offer. Those features will always be there, to preserve a minimal but effective out of the box user friendly experience , but this now opens up the metrics world for those who can set it up.

This is like watching an Italian movie. You have no idea what the characters are saying but the nudie scenes make you glad you watched the whole thing.

 

[crusso1993]

This is like watching an Italian movie. You have no idea what the characters are saying but the nudie scenes make you glad you watched the whole thing.

+1 - wonderfully stated!

 

[Ranjib]

Sorry if I missed it, but is the pH probe ready for testing?

No not yet. We have finished the driver development and its in master now, so you can hook up the probe and see readings in milivolts. I am working on the calibration support, which will add the logic to convert those milivolt numbers in ph values.. I'll keep you posted. But this is exactly what I am working on now,, its just I am also getting distracted with 2.0x bugs and some build issues sporadically..

 

[Michael Lane]

Just trying to understand which UI are you referring too, being tied to having to use winblows for development, ugh *shudder*. I'm sure ots just me but these days I'm only using Windows when someone is paying me to use it, but interested to understand why it's the only option.

Window is definitely not required for UI development.

The web UI for reef-pi is written with ReactJS and can be developed on Windows, as well as Linux ad MacOS. A lot of the back end bits were incompatible with Windows, but Go makes it feasible to implement OS-specific implementations pretty easily.

 

[bishoptf]

Window is definitely not required for UI development.

The web UI for reef-pi is written with ReactJS and can be developed on Windows, as well as Linux ad MacOS. A lot of the back end bits were incompatible with Windows, but Go makes it feasible to implement OS-specific implementations pretty easily.

That's what I thought but @Zekth comments threw me off, probably a joke in there etc and it flew right over my head, thanks.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

No not yet. We have finished the driver development and its in master now, so you can hook up the probe and see readings in milivolts. I am working on the calibration support, which will add the logic to convert those milivolt numbers in ph values.. I'll keep you posted. But this is exactly what I am working on now,, its just I am also getting distracted with 2.0x bugs and some build issues sporadically..

Thanks for all the work on this!

 

[Zekth]

That's what I thought but @Zekth comments threw me off, probably a joke in there etc and it flew right over my head, thanks.

Mmmm ? don't get it. For example i used to not be able to display some graphs on my windows dev env due to unavailable metrics. That's why i said that.

 

[Zekth]

WOAW i was too sleepy
" UI development can be done only on windows"
i was thinking ALSO. sorry guys

 

[b4tn]

Picked up some Drok temp probes to swap in place of the unknown brand I got.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MY8U394/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_3EpOCbXBKWZFA

The other cheap brand I got I covered in silicone just in case. I don’t think I’m going to cot these ones. Anyone else using the drok brand with just the ss casing exposed?

 

[Bigtrout]

I am but only in freshwater...but good since xmas

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Picked up some Drok temp probes to swap in place of the unknown brand I got.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MY8U394/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_3EpOCbXBKWZFA

The other cheap brand I got I covered in silicone just in case. I don’t think I’m going to cot these ones. Anyone else using the drok brand with just the ss casing exposed?

I have the t-pro brand that look identical to Drok on the outside. No complaints but I haven’t had it running long.

 

[Ranjib]

My two year old probes are still running fine ,

 

[b4tn]

I just finished adding them. I have 4 sensors total in parallel now using the standard resistor. So far no issues. I would have paid more for the drok sensors just for the cable quality and length! These sensors are solid. I now have a display temp probe, sump temp, sump ambient, and house ambient.

 

[Fishyj]

I have a question. What is the best way to handle water changes and reef-pi? Should you just unplug it or what?

 

[b4tn]

I have a question. What is the best way to handle water changes and reef-pi? Should you just unplug it or what?

I built two water change macros. One to turn off everything I want off and another to turn it all back on in the order I want it back on. You could also just turn it off with the macro and have it all come back on after a certain time but I wanted to turn it on when I was done. Not wait for a timer

 

[Fishyj]

Is there a tutorial on making a macro? This is a challenge area for me.

 

[rushbattle]

Is there a tutorial on making a macro? This is a challenge area for me.

I haven’t seen one, but think of it like a storyboard. First I turn off the skimmer pump, then I turn off the return and the power heads. Each step is another line in the macro.

 

[bishoptf]

Is there a tutorial on making a macro? This is a challenge area for me.

I can take some screen shots of what I have in mine, but they are pretty simple. Turn temp monitoring off, turn filters off, turn heaters off, etc. Then I have a corresponding macoe that turns everything back on. I also have one with a timer to turn the filter off for feeding, then it automatically turns the filter on after 5min.

 

[ChrisNH]

Prometheus integration

This is really great news. I am new to reef-pi but now I am even more excited to get it up and running. I think I will get it started on my daughter's freshwater tank while I wait for my reef tank to get going.