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

[Des Westcott]

I think that the support of some sort of easy GPIO expansion card is fast approaching for some of the more complex builds. I know that I'm at the point where I would like more GPIO's.

I know that the PCA 9685 can be used to turn equipment on and off by setting channels to 0 or 100%, but that doesn't seem like a very elegant solution. Will equipment controlled that way show up in the equipment tab?

 

[BenB]

Is there a way to collapse the table of the PH to display between 7.5-8.5 only?
The 0-12 seems excessive

5 - 9 is beter, including freshwater users

 

[b4tn]

I've had the RODI connected to the ATO for a while. I used a 12V DC actuated normally closed solenoid valve on the inlet to the RODI unit.

I have AWC done and working. Manually triggered macro and with timer triggering in reef-pi. Theres been a few posts about it.

Over the next few days I plan to have a test of a Physical Button that I can assign to trigger macros etc. I'll post details here when I have it done.

I like the idea of a solenoid on the inlet keeping pressure off the unit. I would probably put a float valve on the line entering the tank as an extra measure of redundancy in case the solenoid fails though. How do you have it plumbed so that you can also fill a reservoir for making saltwater?

I will search for your auto water change details. Thanks.

 

[Des Westcott]

I like the idea of a solenoid on the inlet keeping pressure off the unit. I would probably put a float valve on the line entering the tank as an extra measure of redundancy in case the solenoid fails though. How do you have it plumbed so that you can also fill a reservoir for making saltwater?

I will search for your auto water change details. Thanks.

I have a tee in the outlet of the RODI unit with 2 x valves. One going to the kalk reactor and to the tank and the other to a container with a float valve. I have the valves on the tee biased to fill the container first. When the container is full the float valve shuts and water only goes to the tank. So the container only fills when the tank is topping up, but when it needs to be filled, it gets priority.

Make sense?

 

[bishoptf]

2.5 amps should be fine. Each pump used at mos t 150 mA when I measured my doser, but you usually don't dose multiple elements at the same time.

@Michael Lane or anyone that knows, am getting close to finish up my layout, on the dosing module, I'm sure I am missing something but the module has a 5 pin connector on it and the goby hat only has 4 pins. Do I take that 5 pin to ground or what is the proper way to connect from the hat to the dosing module? Will try to chase down the cut sheets but just not sure what to do with that fifth connector.

 

[EL_HARVEY]

Hi, I’m new to this thread.

I am hoping to get some help setting up a PH probe with Micheal Lane’s PH board. Everything seems to be connected correctly and I can see the board at address 45 using i2cdetect -y 1, but when I try to set up the driver for using PH board I get an I/O error indicating - Error: write /dev/i2c-1: remote I/O error both on the Reef-pi UI in a red box on the top right of the driver setup screen and in the Reef-pi Service journal.

Running Reef-Pi 3.1.1 on a RPI 3+ rev1.1

Unfortunately, I am not a python or C programmer and while I have an EE/CS degree from the 80s I never practiced so I am a bit dangerous when it comes to all this. worse, my kids are laughing at me but can't help either.

Once I get this working the next question is whether I am able to use the i2c bus to communicate with an Adafruit ADS to get and display data from a pressure transducer and if it's at all possible to communicate with a Pt100 temperature probe using the MAX31865 board and SCI bus. Crazily as It sounds for my first Rpi project I am trying to use reef pi to control an aeroponic system, hopefully someday to be extended into an aquaponics system as it has 90% of the functionality I need.

Thanks in advance

 

[Twocorns]

Hey guys,

How do I use tiners to turn on/off lights? Set a test timer to turn on at 6PM and turn off at 615pm. They turn on and off, but then turn back on like 2 mins after 615pm and stay on.

Also, what pins on the pi do I use for float switches and temp probes?

 

[Twocorns]

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Question about lighting. As I do my levithian build I have debated upgrading my Fluval Evo from the stock light to something a little better. From what I see the levithian board is based on only kessil lights but I was wondering if any other light could use the same setup without modifiying the board. If I do go with Kessil, would you go with the A80 or A160 if I wanted to branch into SPS? Tank is roughly 18"X11.5"X11

 

[GaryE]

I think that the support of some sort of easy GPIO expansion card is fast approaching for some of the more complex builds. I know that I'm at the point where I would like more GPIO's.

I know that the PCA 9685 can be used to turn equipment on and off by setting channels to 0 or 100%, but that doesn't seem like a very elegant solution. Will equipment controlled that way show up in the equipment tab?

I setup an "outlet" to use pca9684 channel 0, then setup an outlet to use that outlet channel. I have a fan for cooling my reefpi box on that channel. Seems I can control it now with my internal temp sensor...

 

[thaistalyn]

Hey guys,

How do I use tiners to turn on/off lights? Set a test timer to turn on at 6PM and turn off at 615pm. They turn on and off, but then turn back on like 2 mins after 615pm and stay on.

Also, what pins on the pi do I use for float switches and temp probes?

Change it to a timer that "turns on" then "Turns back off" after 900 seconds (15 min).

 

[Twocorns]

Change it to a timer that "turns on" then "Turns back off" after 900 seconds (15 min).

Thanks for the help! I had a feeling that's what I had to do, but figured I'd ask to make sure.

Anyone know what PINS to use on the PI to hook up my temp probe and float switch?

 

[Des Westcott]

Thanks for the help! I had a feeling that's what I had to do, but figured I'd ask to make sure.

Anyone know what PINS to use on the PI to hook up my temp probe and float switch?

Adafruit Learning System

learn.adafruit.com

There are the Adafruit guides written by Ranjib

They list GPIO 4 as the temp pin and GPIO17 as the ATO.

 

[Des Westcott]

I setup an "outlet" to use pca9684 channel 0, then setup an outlet to use that outlet channel. I have a fan for cooling my reefpi box on that channel. Seems I can control it now with my internal temp sensor...

Hmmmm. So are you saying it may be an idea to hand off the controlled circuits to the PCA9685 and keep the remaining pins for manually controlled equipment? That would free up a few pins.

 

[GaryE]

Hmmmm. So are you saying it may be an idea to hand off the controlled circuits to the PCA9685 and keep the remaining pins for manually controlled equipment? That would free up a few pins.

Seems possible

 

[Dave's Reef]

I think that the support of some sort of easy GPIO expansion card is fast approaching for some of the more complex builds. I know that I'm at the point where I would like more GPIO's.

I know that the PCA 9685 can be used to turn equipment on and off by setting channels to 0 or 100%, but that doesn't seem like a very elegant solution. Will equipment controlled that way show up in the equipment tab?

I agree this would be awesome. I have used all the available GPIO.

 

[Des Westcott]

I agree this would be awesome. I have used all the available GPIO.

Iam running one of @Michael Lane 's hats which has a PCA 9685 built in for lighting control. I'm Playing with getting those pins which I'm not currently using to work as equipment control. I know it can be done, I want to play around with it and see if I can get it right.

 

[scottrotton]

Hey all I’m thinking about going down the reef Pi for my next controller although I have 2 questions which may be show stoppers

1- for the power strip outlet I can’t seem to find a similar product for Australia 220v. Any Ozzies or UK on the forum with suggestions?

2- I can see dosing pump availability can be done with dc pumps but I would like to use stepper motors for water changes. I only found a few threads where users started it but doesn’t look like it was finished or working well. Has this been implemented yet?

looks like a very interesting project would be great to get on board

 

[Des Westcott]

Hey all I’m thinking about going down the reef Pi for my next controller although I have 2 questions which may be show stoppers

1- for the power strip outlet I can’t seem to find a similar product for Australia 220v. Any Ozzies or UK on the forum with suggestions?

2- I can see dosing pump availability can be done with dc pumps but I would like to use stepper motors for water changes. I only found a few threads where users started it but doesn’t look like it was finished or working well. Has this been implemented yet?

looks like a very interesting project would be great to get on board

There was another Aussie that built one in the early days. Made a very nice 3d printed enclosure

Found him @MaccaPopEye

I know a few have been playing with stepper motors and drivers as you say, but I'm not sure if anyone's completed dosing with them.

I'm in South Africa and made my controller with basic 5V relays connected directly to the Pi via one of @Michael Lane Hat boards.

there are other Hat boards available now as well which may help.

Finally there is the option of using the various wifi plugs that reef-pi supports. Kind of does away with the need for power strips altogether, as well as adds in functionality like power monitoring.

Good luck.

 

[MaccaPopEye]

Hey all I’m thinking about going down the reef Pi for my next controller although I have 2 questions which may be show stoppers

1- for the power strip outlet I can’t seem to find a similar product for Australia 220v. Any Ozzies or UK on the forum with suggestions?

2- I can see dosing pump availability can be done with dc pumps but I would like to use stepper motors for water changes. I only found a few threads where users started it but doesn’t look like it was finished or working well. Has this been implemented yet?

looks like a very interesting project would be great to get on board

Thanks @Des Westcott

@scottrotton you can build a DIY power strip to work in Aus like I did here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/3d-printed-reef-pi-build.494515/

My 220V DIY power strip is functional and works fine, although there is relay boards that work better with reef-pi than the one I used and I would highly recommend not going down this path if you aren't comfortable working with 220V mains

But I still haven't gotten around to finishing the whole build since life got in the way a couple of years ago.

If you can find an Aus wifi power board that works with reef-pi like Des suggested that would likely be a MUCH better option. That wasn't a feature when I started my build (it's amazing to see how far reef-pi has come since I put my build on hold - awesome work Ranjib!!!!).

Edit: speaking of how far reef-pi has come, is there an up to date guide anywhere? I was going to go away for a week in July but now with covid I've had to cancel the holiday but still have the time off work, so there is a chance I might be able to quickly finish this project off (maybe, no promises )