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Joys of DIY project
- Thread starter njtiger24 aquariums
- Start date
I agree! Club members only. Or at least use us as guinea pigs and we get to try the prototypes first...I'd settle for one built for club members
Great work!
thanks
Guys - I am doing some more work on my controller. I was wondering what options you, as a reefer, would look for in a controller if you were to purchase/build one?
I would look for
Salinity (SG)
PH
Temperature
Light controller (the one you mentioned with the weather cast)that's insane!
Wave controller
Specific dosing at set times?
ATO
Maybe just reminders to change carbon, filter pads, gfo etc at set dates.
Possibly send text messages to your phone if anything changes.wifi?
A camera for viewing when not home or away? Silly but cool.
Let's hear what others would like in the "njt24 control system" lol.
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Salinity (SG)
PH
Temperature
Light controller (the one you mentioned with the weather cast)that's insane!
Wave controller
Specific dosing at set times?
ATO
Maybe just reminders to change carbon, filter pads, gfo etc at set dates.
Possibly send text messages to your phone if anything changes.wifi?
A camera for viewing when not home or away? Silly but cool.
Let's hear what others would like in the "njt24 control system" lol.
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
@REEF DOCG Thanks for the input.
Let me address your comments
* Salinity(SG) - I did think of that and will look into it more
* pH - I already have a pH probe on my wish list (just costly right now)
* Temp - Already have it
* Lighting Control - Yes that would be cool but that would require custom lighting (which I might be open to down the road). Right now I have my blue lights on the system which set their schedule
* Wave controller - that would be cool. I might look into that
* Dosing - I did think of that as an option. Still 'mapping' that in my head
* ATO - not a bad idea
* Maintenance reminder - Currently have a maintenance schedule in the system. The user (me) can enter any item they want and the time frame of how often. I also have a weekly email (on Sundays at 8:00am) email that send a reminder what due the following week (I tend to do my stuff on Saturdays) This is also displayed on the dashboard if anything is due with in 7 days
* Email/Text alerts I have right now (beside the weekly maintenance) is when the temp is either higher or lower than a set range (which can be change in the settings). I get an email plus a push alert to my phone. I also get messages when temp goes back into range.
WiFi - currently is on wifi
Camera - I did think of that as well. I have a PTZ camera (not on my system) that I can use to look at my tank but I am thinking of adding more options with cameras.
Options that I have/working on
* Quick buttons - for feeding, maintenance, lights on/off, and all off. These buttons will do set options for example feeding will power off my skimmer and return pump for 10mins and then turn them back on. I will also be adding a 'delay' cause I know my skimmer likes the lower water so if both, skimmer and return pump, turn on at the same time my skimmer pulls a lot of clean water filling the cup.
* Backup - the whole system backs up to a network storage device (looking to add the option to be able to change the location) once a month in the chance of a whole system failure you can recover your data and not have to start all over.
Some ideas I have (still thinking of others)
* Once I nail down any reminding bugs with the temp sensor I am going to look into adding a second heater so when temp drops below the second heater kicks on plus the alerts and in the safe range the second heater turns off. Also when temp is too high it will turn make sure both heaters are powered off.
* water sensor on the ground - if this is trigger then my whole system will power off and send me an alert (would be use to determine tank leak/flood)
*water sensor for too low of water (to prevent the sump from running dry)
Again thanks for the input and once I get more done I will share with you guys
Let me address your comments
* Salinity(SG) - I did think of that and will look into it more
* pH - I already have a pH probe on my wish list (just costly right now)
* Temp - Already have it
* Lighting Control - Yes that would be cool but that would require custom lighting (which I might be open to down the road). Right now I have my blue lights on the system which set their schedule
* Wave controller - that would be cool. I might look into that
* Dosing - I did think of that as an option. Still 'mapping' that in my head
* ATO - not a bad idea
* Maintenance reminder - Currently have a maintenance schedule in the system. The user (me) can enter any item they want and the time frame of how often. I also have a weekly email (on Sundays at 8:00am) email that send a reminder what due the following week (I tend to do my stuff on Saturdays) This is also displayed on the dashboard if anything is due with in 7 days
* Email/Text alerts I have right now (beside the weekly maintenance) is when the temp is either higher or lower than a set range (which can be change in the settings). I get an email plus a push alert to my phone. I also get messages when temp goes back into range.
WiFi - currently is on wifi
Camera - I did think of that as well. I have a PTZ camera (not on my system) that I can use to look at my tank but I am thinking of adding more options with cameras.
Options that I have/working on
* Quick buttons - for feeding, maintenance, lights on/off, and all off. These buttons will do set options for example feeding will power off my skimmer and return pump for 10mins and then turn them back on. I will also be adding a 'delay' cause I know my skimmer likes the lower water so if both, skimmer and return pump, turn on at the same time my skimmer pulls a lot of clean water filling the cup.
* Backup - the whole system backs up to a network storage device (looking to add the option to be able to change the location) once a month in the chance of a whole system failure you can recover your data and not have to start all over.
Some ideas I have (still thinking of others)
* Once I nail down any reminding bugs with the temp sensor I am going to look into adding a second heater so when temp drops below the second heater kicks on plus the alerts and in the safe range the second heater turns off. Also when temp is too high it will turn make sure both heaters are powered off.
* water sensor on the ground - if this is trigger then my whole system will power off and send me an alert (would be use to determine tank leak/flood)
*water sensor for too low of water (to prevent the sump from running dry)
Again thanks for the input and once I get more done I will share with you guys
I am sure you had all these ideas already. you're an IT guy!
I do like both water sensors. A+++
The feeding I was actually thinking of, but I know most feed live or frozen food. I figured the dry food dispenser would be to lame as many do not feed dry? IDK I'm a noobie please ignore me if I don't make sense. I just am so blown by what you did.
I do like both water sensors. A+++
The feeding I was actually thinking of, but I know most feed live or frozen food. I figured the dry food dispenser would be to lame as many do not feed dry? IDK I'm a noobie please ignore me if I don't make sense. I just am so blown by what you did.
thanks and don't worry. I do feed dry but I am toying with with making my own fish food. As a chef I'm sure you understand (better that I do) a well balance diet. I would say the same goes for our fish/corals. I feed my tank a mixture of food. I went from doing flakes once a day (mon - fri) and frozen food (mix selection) once a day sat - sun. I now am working on seeing what 'fresh' seafood I can get and making my own food. I'm on my second attemt. The first attempt I did a mix of shrimp, scallops, flounder, seaweed, and seachem vitamins. I noticed the fish eating some but not all so I figure I would build and see what they do/don't like. Second round if just frozen shrimp. They eat it but I learned I need to grind it up more some of the chunks are to large. Side note I noticed my skimmer is going nuts with bubbles but not dirty water so I need to keep a closer eye on that.
Haha . that's funny! I do a mixer of fresh shrimp, calamari, scallops and clamps purred real y fine. I then add spirulina, nori,carrots and broccoli for color enhancement (also pureed super fine). And everytime I get fresh lobsters in, I always save the roe (eggs) from the female and add that in as well. I did notice that if I let the mixture drain in a sieve over night it helped with the skimmer not going crazy. But I change my skimmer cup every day. If we ever meet I can give you a bag if you like.
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Thanks might take you up on that.
When you say you let it drain is that after you make it or after you pull it out of the freezer? My method right now is I take the shrimp mix and put it in small ice cube tray and place in the freezer. The night before I want to feed them the mixture I take one cube out place it in a small dixi cup (with lid) in the fridge. When i go to feed them I take some tank water and put it in the cup and mix everything up.
I drain soon after I puree everything to get most if not all the water out. I then portion the mix in half sandwich zip lock bags, flatten then pout taken all the air out and freeze. When I want to use all I do just before feeding I break a piece off (very easy to do when thin like that) and put in a cup of tank water and it's ready in about 5 minutes.
Remember any food (raw) left out (even in fridge) will start to grow bacteria after 15 minutes. (You should know this as a chef)
I'm not saying it will go bad,that's takes days, but any bacteria I can save from adding to my tank I will do so. Trust me I had the worst experience in algae and bacteria bloom if you remember my first posts.
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Thanks and I didn't realize about the "15min" thing. Still learning this homemade food stuff lol.
as far as both of us being in the food industry, i just cannot see my fish eating better than me. my wife would kill me if she knew i was buying seafood that wasn't going to be for her
Well I broke down and changed out my touch screen for the true raspberry pi screen and glad I did. I have full touch control over my system now. The new screen is much cleaner looking and larger than my other one. I also picked up a "rain drop/snow sensor" design for weather stations. My hope is to make this into a leak detector. I have a buddy with a 3D printer and he might be able to print me out a case for the sensor which will collect any leaks allowing the sensor to read it. I hope to have the sensor send me an alert to my phone once it detects water and if too much water is on the sensor it will kill the whole system.
I been working on my 'quick' buttons and hopefully will work out the bugs with them shortly.
I been working on my 'quick' buttons and hopefully will work out the bugs with them shortly.
That's why you do it at work and just tell her a fellow reefer gave you a sample. Or you won it at the county fair. Or your local fish store had it at 50% off!
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Man this gets crazy good each time. That's awesome!
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thanks man.