Geeks DYI 29G tank build

oh I forgot I got my light mounted too.. lol

I think I do something different than the egg crate but that's just temporary for now.

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Hi geekengineer!

Thanks for the link to your build - I didn't realize you had a 29 in the works, thought just the 10. How exciting! You seem to be almost finished from the looks of it.

Any progress with the auto-shutoff circuit for your overflow system? I would probably make that my main priority before stocking the tank just to make sure you have everything together and working properly. Too easy to get sidetracked with other idea's and then you put if off too long and bam, flood.

Concerning your idea on a back wall - I'm including a link for a guy who did one on his 40 breeder out of foam. Start on page 3. It works for him as he did it on a tank with depth since he loses about an inch or so of space, but for your 29 its already narrow so you would lose precious landscaping space front to back.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2486801&page=3

I would hold off on stocking the 29 until you have your overflow failsafe in place (and tested several times) and an ATO figured out. Doesn't mean you can't fill it with saltwater and have it running to tweak things, but nothing alive that could clog your overflow before you have your failsafe setup.

I got some bad news concerning my timer ATO I was using so am presently inbetween methods on that. Better to have something in place before rather than having to rush something together after the tank is up and running.

BTW, the hanging pendant looks really good. I saw some guys that use a DIY screen cover for the tank that you may want to check out if you don't want to go with the eggcrate.
 
Thanks for the visit Aframomum. :)

I been working on the control system based on dohboy's controller. I'm not sure whether to put the overflow into the controller by adding code to do that or put a separate circuit for it. It be easier to put it in the controller since it has everything there and the status will be available remotely etc. I sort of just prototyping the whole setup here first before I make a circuit board for it. I haven't started much on the sensor for the overflow cutoff yet. lol I feel pretty safe right now as there isn't anything that could clog the intake. Need to work on the ATO.. sigh.. so much to do so little time time and got busy with something else tonight. So I didn't get much time to spend on stuff.

Oh I decided to nix the back wall also cause of the narrowness issue.. I don't know hopefully it work out OK.

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geekengineer said:
good question cause I just use the valve.. I not sure how else it should work. :worried:
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Hey Geek, the post you responded to is a BOT. The program quoted post number 2 of your thread. Don't worry yourself with it. I always report them when I see them..

Great looking build BTW! Feel free to check mine out if your not already following [emoji3].
 
Ah ok. I noticed Aframomum said something about that on his blog after I posted that lol. I always worried I missed something dumb at this point. I guess nothing perfect anyways or sometimes a bit of opinion etc.

I been working on mine a bit today some of the electrical setup. lol. Thanks for stopin by I check out your thread. hehe.
 
Yeah I didn't realize it was that bad.. I guess when somebody asks a seemingly dumb question I have to assume it is a bot. :hammer:

So electrical has been my relay box. I also have some separate power strips for breakout. One is for LED lights tied to one relay and the other is for power for the controller or power that isn't switched. I did power strips cause there cheaper than of those adapters. lol

So I ran out of space to really get the relay box on the back and be able to plug stuff in to it. :( So I put it on the inside. It shouldn't be an issue since if anything gets wet enough to short out for some reason it would trip the GFI. Its also got a circuit breaker built into it.

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Your wiring is cleaner than mine lol!! As for the bots, look for the name made of random letters.. They seem to always be close to that one too..
 
Ok so PC board progress not as bad as I thought it might be.. Granted I have a feeling I might be soldering wires on this one but hopefully it won't be too many. Nice to have in home PCB fab. Not totally I guess but close. :)

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And here I thought you were building a computer and not a reef tank. lol. :lolspin:

Your wiring is much more involved than mine. I'm just doing a simple plywood sheet with some outlets wired together in it so I can clean up all my plugs laying around in front of my tank. Mine is beginning to look like a rats nest. :p
 
Yeah well it be interesting how it looks when I get done . I feel like I'm over doing this a bit for a 29G tank. This is part of it I guess I'm more familiar with right now lol. I hoping it will be able to automate more than I have in the past.
 
This is the board with the solder mask.. I realized I made a mistake on one used the wrong connector on the RTC part. So I'm going to wire the RTC up with just the terminal block connection instead of the connector I was going to use. I sure I find other things wrong but hopefully not something that can't be fixed with a wire. lol.

I going to wire the board with jumper wires to the micro controller. So I should have some flexibility with connections. I was going to do it like a shield board but just seemed too tricky to get right in a reasonable amount of time. I may end up doing something different in the long run from the sounds of it if dougboy making a different design.

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OK so more progress with contoller..

I also bought a BRS media reactor on black Friday sale and well it was a lot bigger than I realize it be. :eek1: I think it will fit but its probably way overkill size. lol

Laying down the surface mount parts with solder paste.. Then putting in easy bake oven.. :)

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Ok I had a few snags I had to work out so far, but here is the board running now I just need to get a box for the controller and some more wiring setup. I haven't tested everything but I got the ATO,PH,Temp, and relay working.

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