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

[Martin Lowry]

Many dont, I sleep better at night coating mine with reef safe silicone. I have one that's lasted several years in silicone with no issue. Its not pretty though.

The IKEA reefpi upgrade build

How did I miss this thread since June! great build!

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks for the insight... I'm also kind of in the space of not wanting to introduce anything into the ecosystem that was not specifically design for the environment. And, yes! it's not pretty....

 

[Martin Lowry]

I have one that's uncovered and one that's encased in heat shrink with silicone inside. Both seem to function equally well.

Thanks Gary, Good idea using heat shrink with Silicone inside. Think I will do that with my probes. Can't hurt...

 

[Des Westcott]

I use Heat shrink and hot glue over the end of the probes

 

[Ranjib]

Finally finished my Reef-Pi build, well maybe nearly finished....

Thank you for sharing your build, i just read through it. Awesome build , so much cleaner than my first build . Congrats

 

[Ranjib]

Temp probes and Salt water?

I have these Stainless cased temp probes. I think they came from Amazon. These have not been in Salt water yet and I'm curious as to how they will stand up to the salt over time. Do they need to be encased in something? Calk, Epoxy?

I have used the ones from canakit and adafruit and none has shown rust yet. Folks are using silicon or liquid rubber to encase them for extra safety.

 

[elysics]

I shrouded the temperature sensors with pieces of wide black cocktail straws from before they were banned. The diameter fits almost perfectly and i filled the gaps with black aquarium silicone. Looks well enough in my opinion, and i was unsuccessfull in finding out whether the heatshrink i have is reefsafe (there apparently are a wide variety of chemicals heatshrink can be made of). The cable side is a bit botched with the silicone, but i was impatient.

I also took a few of them apart, they didn't give me the most trustworthy appearance, with some of them the contacts of the sensor wheren't fully encased and the sensors slipped out easily from their shell, others i couldnt get out at all without peeling away the metal with pliers bit by bit:

 

[Martin Lowry]

Thank you for sharing your build, i just read through it. Awesome build , so much cleaner than my first build . Congrats

I shrouded the temperature sensors with pieces of wide black cocktail straws from before they were banned. The diameter fits almost perfectly and i filled the gaps with black aquarium silicone. Looks well enough in my opinion, and i was unsuccessfull in finding out whether the heatshrink i have is reefsafe (there apparently are a wide variety of chemicals heatshrink can be made of). The cable side is a bit botched with the silicone, but i was impatient.

I also took a few of them apart, they didn't give me the most trustworthy appearance, with some of them the contacts of the sensor wheren't fully encased and the sensors slipped out easily from their shell, others i couldnt get out at all without peeling away the metal with pliers bit by bit:

I like the cocktail straw idea. Just checked with the Mrs. and we only have the white ones . Black silicone is a good idea. The back of my display tank is Black so even if my silicone job looks a bit messy it would likely blend in with the back of the tank.

 

[Martin Lowry]

Thinking about adding a 4th DS18b20 to monitor enclosure internal temperature. I have the @Michael Lane Goby Hat which has three connectors for temperature probes. I understand that many probes can be attached to the 1 wire interface, just wondering if I can hook up another to the Goby Hat and if the resistor is needed.

 

[stefanm]

There's a new update of the raspberry pi os, it appears to have been launched today.

It's late night/early morning in my part of the world, I'll most probably run it in the morning if I have time.

Just giving a heads up, hopefully some peeps will update before I arise and have some sort of feedback...

 

[Des Westcott]

I've just noticed something maybe @Ranjib can clear up for me...

In the Configurations > Settings Tab there is a checkbox for "Enable Notifications". Mine is unchecked, but I have notifications set up and they are working just fine.

*Edit* Actually, there are a couple of things on that same page I'm unsure about
- What does the "Address" box do?

What is that box for?

 

[Ranjib]

I've just noticed something maybe @Ranjib can clear up for me...

In the Configurations > Settings Tab there is a checkbox for "Enable Notifications". Mine is unchecked, but I have notifications set up and they are working just fine.

*Edit* Actually, there are a couple of things on that same page I'm unsure about
- What does the "Address" box do?

What is that box for?

Address there stands for web address in IPORT format. It allows you to configure reef-pi with non standard port (in case something else is using default port 80) or use 443 when using https. User can also use ip 127.0.0.1 to make reef-pi more secure, where it’s only accessible from the same host.

Any changes in configuration tab will require a reload to take effect

 

[Dukereefnz]

My Reef-pi - Robotank build is working, it just ran my dosing pump sitting on my deck but I can no longer assess it on my PC or tablet. PuTTy does not connect ether.
I accessed my router and it shows that it is wifi connected.

Any idea's where to start? I have not powered in down by pulling the plug as I do not like doing that if i do not have to.
thanks

LOL - re-powered the router and bingo... up and running...
cheers

 

[stefanm]

My Reef-pi - Robotank build is working, it just ran my dosing pump sitting on my deck but I can no longer assess it on my PC or tablet. PuTTy does not connect ether.
I accessed my router and it shows that it is wifi connected.

Any idea's where to start? I have not powered in down by pulling the plug as I do not like doing that if i do not have to.
thanks

Check the IP address on your router, it might have changed for the pi.

 

[Dukereefnz]

Check the IP address on your router, it might have changed for the pi.

Thanks - i did that and it was OK, rebooted router and bingo... all good to go.
I should have done that before posting a thread!
thanks for the reply.

 

[JFReyes]

Is there a way to make the temp charts have a min other than 0? Back in the day, I could specify a min and max, but those options are gone now. Does it happen automatically? I'm on 4.0...

Hi:

I prepared a modified version of reef-pi that allows for custom ranges in the temp & pH charts. You can find it at Robo-Tanks's forum here.

 

[bishoptf]

Man get busy and blink and reef-pi is out with v4, congrats. Where can I go to find the release notes in the threads, anyone have that handy? Found it...wish my tank looked as nice as your @Ranjib I'm currently in Dino hades. Things are running so well on 3.x that I am always reluctant to mess with things.

On another note, I am wanting/needing to start dosing Kalk and I do not want to run it in my ATO, I have @Michael Lane hat and dosing module hooked up to a jaebo doser but having second thoughts on using the Jaebo. Thinking of going with w/ a BRS doser controlled by reefpi on a timer. What is everyone using for dosing, I have a Nano tank and overdosing is much easier to accomplish, I've given a lot of thought to try to make it as fail proof as possible just looking for some advice.

Thanks

 

[b4tn]

Man get busy and blink and reef-pi is out with v4, congrats. Where can I go to find the release notes in the threads, anyone have that handy? Things are running so well on 3.x that I am always reluctant to mess with things.

On another note, I am wanting/needing to start dosing Kalk and I do not want to run it in my ATO, I have @Michael Lane hat and dosing module hooked up to a jaebo doser but having second thoughts on using the Jaebo. Thinking of going with w/ a BRS doser controlled by reefpi on a timer. What is everyone using for dosing, I have a Nano tank and overdosing is much easier to accomplish, I've given a lot of thought to try to make it as fail proof as possible just looking for some advice.

Thanks

I have been using the Jaebo doser for several years without a hickup. Its super easy to integrate into reefpi and replacement heads are like $20. You dont even really need to use the jeabo heads. You can get replacement pump/head assemblies for like $10. I daily dose 30ml of Alk and Calc, 3ml of magnesium, and 2ml of nitrate.

 

[bishoptf]

I have been using the Jaebo doser for several years without a hickup. Its super easy to integrate into reefpi and replacement heads are like $20. You dont even really need to use the jeabo heads. You can get replacement pump/head assemblies for like $10. I daily dose 30ml of Alk and Calc, 3ml of magnesium, and 2ml of nitrate.

Yeah I have it already setup and ready to go but I read all the horror stories and it freaks me out, very new to reefing, only had my 30g nano going for 5-6 months, tank is a mess atm due to Dino's but a pump staying on and dumping a bunch of limewater into the tank, shudder.

 

[b4tn]

Yeah I have it already setup and ready to go but I read all the horror stories and it freaks me out, very new to reefing, only had my 30g nano going for 5-6 months, tank is a mess atm due to Dino's but a pump staying on and dumping a bunch of limewater into the tank, shudder.

I was a bit nervous myself. But honestly if the pump stays on thats a reefpi issue not doser issue and would happen controlling any brand pump. The only thing you really need to be concerned about is if the head or motor stops operating.

 

[92Miata]

The biggest issue with the jebao dosers is that the pump controller/interface is awful - and completely unintuitive. I'd guess a significant percent of the failures are really configuration problems, or the terrible advice of putting your dosing container above your sump - where a failed head leads to siphoning.

You're shortcutting most of the problems controlling it via reef-pi