geekengineer
Member
Hey thanks swope.. I thought you mentioned you were going to be away on vacation for a while? You do you have a controller to use for remote checking of it right?
Geeks DYI 29G tank build
- Thread starter geekengineer
- Start date
Swope2bc
New member
I have an apex but hasn't set it up for remote checking though... Unfortunately I need to update it but my computer is on the Frits...
geekengineer
Member
ah ok.. I decided to go this route cause I thought it be cheaper/fun but we will see. lol I priced it out and it was like $500 for a basic apex system with enough of what I want with it. Which that seems like a lot maybe I wasn't looking in the right places I duno. It sort of sucks cause the interface is proprietary right? I assume you can't make your own modules?
geekengineer
Member
well the box is close other than I need a top for it. I got it hooked up here for a test of the relay and turning on and off the LED from my computer etc.
This is my tank no water in it at the moment with the LEDs at max.
This is my tank no water in it at the moment with the LEDs at max.
geekengineer
Member
Ok so I been fillling up the tank with RODI which I not sure if it was a good idea yet. I don't have a very good RODI unit so it was a PITA. I'm hoping I getting closer enough to do that.
I still got to get the ATO tank and pump going and the emergency DT overflow switch in.
I got the controller seemingly working ok. I put the heater in to see how that works the PH sensor is in the water as well as the temperature sensor.
I worked on my top. I not sure if this is final or not but its a step better. lol I getting lazy and didn't want to throw away my work on my egg crate so sort of made a compromise between the two.
I still got to get the ATO tank and pump going and the emergency DT overflow switch in.
I got the controller seemingly working ok. I put the heater in to see how that works the PH sensor is in the water as well as the temperature sensor.
I worked on my top. I not sure if this is final or not but its a step better. lol I getting lazy and didn't want to throw away my work on my egg crate so sort of made a compromise between the two.
geekengineer
Member
I don't know if I going too fast but I starting to put salt in the tank now to let it get settled out for a day or two. I got to get it synced up with my 10 gallon tank's salinity. I hoping I can get the ATO and the emergency overflow put in by this weekend. Then I move my 10 gallon rock and inverts/corals over to the new tank. Supposedly as they tell me I should be OK as long as I do it fairly quickly and I have the salinity the same.
Everything is looking real good - your DIY controller is nice and compact and looks professional in its box. I didn't realize you were going for lights, temp, and pH. Nice job! :thumbsup:
Congrats on having water and salt in the tank now!
Is your top a mix of eggcrate and screening? Interesting idea - are those magnets on top?
Good luck with the 10 gallon move - I'm sure it won't be too big of a deal. Salinity and temp would be the 2 things I would have equal. Did the dry sand in the 40 make much of a dust storm when filling?
Congrats on having water and salt in the tank now!
Is your top a mix of eggcrate and screening? Interesting idea - are those magnets on top? Good luck with the 10 gallon move - I'm sure it won't be too big of a deal. Salinity and temp would be the 2 things I would have equal. Did the dry sand in the 40 make much of a dust storm when filling?
geekengineer
Member
oh hey I wondered what happened to you lol. I had put the dry sand in a while ago and did some tap water changes to get it cleared out took a while to get it cleared out. I had it empty and dried out again a bit there again when I was doing my controller.
Those things that look like magnets are plastic screws I 3D printed that hold in the netting. They are tight fit so they shouldn't move around too much.
I do have to do some work on my PH circuit as its got a "ground loop" issue so what that means is when my skimmer turns on the PH reading goes wacko. I have to make a little add on circuit that isolates the power to it so it can't pick up noise from power lines. I done it before with a hydroponics project I haven't finished. So I have the circuit and I know it works. I had to order a few more parts since I don't want to take apart my hydroponics board.
But yeah I forgot about temperature I have to make sure those are the same as well. I also didn't realize my 10 gallon got a bit higher salinity than it probably should have been.
Probably was creeping up from evaporation and me not replacing it enough. I trying to slowly work it down a bit so that it won't be so out of range lol. So far everything seemed like it was doing OK in there.
Those things that look like magnets are plastic screws I 3D printed that hold in the netting. They are tight fit so they shouldn't move around too much.
I do have to do some work on my PH circuit as its got a "ground loop" issue so what that means is when my skimmer turns on the PH reading goes wacko. I have to make a little add on circuit that isolates the power to it so it can't pick up noise from power lines. I done it before with a hydroponics project I haven't finished. So I have the circuit and I know it works. I had to order a few more parts since I don't want to take apart my hydroponics board.
But yeah I forgot about temperature I have to make sure those are the same as well. I also didn't realize my 10 gallon got a bit higher salinity than it probably should have been.
Probably was creeping up from evaporation and me not replacing it enough. I trying to slowly work it down a bit so that it won't be so out of range lol. So far everything seemed like it was doing OK in there.Yeah, disappeared into some of my other hobbies. lol I fly Rc heli's so had to dust off a summers worth of accumulation and go over all the bolts to make sure nothing flies off when I get in the air. :eek2:
I know your planning to do the swap this weekend but if something is not ready then hold off. Don't rush it just to make a deadline in your head. I've made that mistake before too.
Your netting looks nice and secure - don't think you'll have to worry about jumping fish in the future with it.
Sorry to hear about the line noise with the skimmer and your pH circuit. At least you know what the problem is and how to fix it.
Evaporation goes much faster in a 10 doesn't it? lol
I know your planning to do the swap this weekend but if something is not ready then hold off. Don't rush it just to make a deadline in your head. I've made that mistake before too.
Your netting looks nice and secure - don't think you'll have to worry about jumping fish in the future with it.
Sorry to hear about the line noise with the skimmer and your pH circuit. At least you know what the problem is and how to fix it.
Evaporation goes much faster in a 10 doesn't it? lol
geekengineer
Member
sigh.. I know I may not do it until the end of the weekend and sort of assuming I get the ATO done and the overflow detector working tank parameters close etc. I got the ATO cap close I show a picture of it when I am done here later.
RC heli sounds really fun. I got one of those small drones to fly in the house.. I haven't got the hang of flying it yet tho. Might be just cause it was a cheapo one too, but I wanted something I could bang up and not feel bad about first. hehe
RC heli sounds really fun. I got one of those small drones to fly in the house.. I haven't got the hang of flying it yet tho. Might be just cause it was a cheapo one too, but I wanted something I could bang up and not feel bad about first. hehe
geekengineer
Member
Thank god :bounce3:
I finally got the ATO and the emergency overflow working.. I thought I took a video of the emergency overflow working but somehow didn't work and I didn't want to mess with doing it again. lol
In the picture you can see the pipe I used to cause a potential flood and the little wire there I put the IR/prism sensor in the egg-crate. Seems like it fits there pretty good so why not. Maybe I do something different later I don't know. I guess I can check it and see that it is clean that way easy. Not sure if that will be an issue but I have to watch that.
I just need to get the PH power supply fixed but its not a total biggie I can check it manually for a bit. I just need to clean up a few things and make a holder for my PH probe. Then eventually I want to make a LED for my fugue instead of ghetto reflector for now. lol
So if the parameters are lined up OK I will conciser transferring my 10 gallon inhabitants over to the new tank.
And don't forget my mess of wires is complete now..
I finally got the ATO and the emergency overflow working.. I thought I took a video of the emergency overflow working but somehow didn't work and I didn't want to mess with doing it again. lol
In the picture you can see the pipe I used to cause a potential flood and the little wire there I put the IR/prism sensor in the egg-crate. Seems like it fits there pretty good so why not. Maybe I do something different later I don't know. I guess I can check it and see that it is clean that way easy. Not sure if that will be an issue but I have to watch that.
I just need to get the PH power supply fixed but its not a total biggie I can check it manually for a bit. I just need to clean up a few things and make a holder for my PH probe. Then eventually I want to make a LED for my fugue instead of ghetto reflector for now. lol
So if the parameters are lined up OK I will conciser transferring my 10 gallon inhabitants over to the new tank.
And don't forget my mess of wires is complete now..
geekengineer
Member
Ok for better or worse 10 gallon tank inhabitants have been moved over to the new tank. we see how it goes here.. :bounce1:
So far so good. the zoa seemed to be happy right away and the kenya tree was a bit Te'ed off with the move. The hermit crabs seemed ok just exploring now.
So far so good. the zoa seemed to be happy right away and the kenya tree was a bit Te'ed off with the move. The hermit crabs seemed ok just exploring now.
geekengineer
Member
Oh and I can access my reef controller from my phone remotely from outside my network. Downside is if my IP changes then I be screwed unless I know what it is.
csammis
Mental Institution
If the IP changes frequently and you need to access your network externally often then you might want to look into dynamic DNS for your network.
geekengineer
Member
Yeah I wasn't sure how go about that. I didn't think about DDNS as I not a network expert lol. I was looking so there are free ones out there any good ones? The free one I was looking at was saying it was only $20 a year for pay option which doesn't seem that bad.
Yeah i should have taken a new pic.. lol here you go.. I don't know you an really see anything. Crabs running around exploring I think and corals asleep. kenya tree fell over so I don't know if its worth fighting it yet or not. It might pop back up once it opens up.
Yeah i should have taken a new pic.. lol here you go.. I don't know you an really see anything. Crabs running around exploring I think and corals asleep. kenya tree fell over so I don't know if its worth fighting it yet or not. It might pop back up once it opens up.
geekengineer
Member
geekengineer
Member
well so far so good I just got home but crabs still going and corals seem ok so far. I had to go to a meeting tonight so didn't' get a lot of time to check on the tank but I could look at the tank status from my cell phone. lol I don't have a web cam yet I guess lol.
So I probably won't do much in the way of adding too much stuff until after Christmas I going on a vacation back home for a few weeks. Right now I got cheap stuff in the tank. So not much to look at. I maybe should have bought the red rock in hindsight, but I didn't realize they had that stuff until later on and figured I might as well stick with the same kind at this point.
I thought the first live rock I bought was already seasoned but I wonder it was just red rock as well. With any hope it will seed itself. I got some in I already starting to seed in the Fuge and I spread/ground some around from the 10 gallon tank a bit from just little bits of the sand that was covered with Coraline to seed things a bit. Duno if that help but figured couldn't hurt too much.
So I probably won't do much in the way of adding too much stuff until after Christmas I going on a vacation back home for a few weeks. Right now I got cheap stuff in the tank. So not much to look at. I maybe should have bought the red rock in hindsight, but I didn't realize they had that stuff until later on and figured I might as well stick with the same kind at this point.
I thought the first live rock I bought was already seasoned but I wonder it was just red rock as well. With any hope it will seed itself. I got some in I already starting to seed in the Fuge and I spread/ground some around from the 10 gallon tank a bit from just little bits of the sand that was covered with Coraline to seed things a bit. Duno if that help but figured couldn't hurt too much.
geekengineer
Member
Ok so some more pictures I not sure if my camera sees things a bit off I have to play with it. lol You can look at my cheap hermies and corals.
So I be open to new suggestions for what to put in the tank for the new year. :celeb3:
So I be open to new suggestions for what to put in the tank for the new year. :celeb3:
