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Sciencing Daily
Very nice. You did a great job on putting this together, it should last a fairly long time in your home. One thing though, you put the opening on the bottom instead of the top, all the water is going to fall out.
Mountains of sawdust (360g plywood, LED, Arduino build)
- Thread starter der_wille_zur_macht
- Start date
Fantastic build thread so far DWIZM!!! The finished tank looks fantastic. As I was reading through your thread I kept thinking to myself how HEAVY that thing is going to be and wondering how you were going to fortify the floor. Sounds like you got that covered. :thumbsup:
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Yes Adrienne, I've tried to be thorough in my reinforcements, though it's probably overkill.
Oh, and since you asked back near the beginning of the project, the nano project I started back in Jersey is now a planted FW aquarium in my son's bedroom.
Oh, and since you asked back near the beginning of the project, the nano project I started back in Jersey is now a planted FW aquarium in my son's bedroom.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
One thing though, you put the opening on the bottom instead of the top, all the water is going to fall out.
NO WONDER why my leak tests have gone so poorly. :lol:
noobtothereef
New member
hahahaahaha :lol:
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
More progress lately but nothing really show-able in photos. I ran two 15A circuits from the main panel in the basement to the tank's area. They aren't connected to anything yet, but the copper is there. I'm trying to do prep work like this so that when the tank is done, I can just bang out the stand and put it in place, and all the supporting systems will be ready to go. In other words, I don't want to make a big ugly hole where the stand will go, and then "pause" progress to do wiring and plumbing. I'm trying to minimize the disturbance since this thing is pretty much right in the middle of our living space.
One of the new circuits will have outlet(s) in the basement for the ATO and water change station, and both will have outlets upstairs. I'm splitting things up on the two circuits, probably as follows:
Circuit A:
-return pump
-heaters
-Sump lighting (turf scrubber)
-ATO/waterchange station
Circuit B:
-Tank lighting
-Closed loop pump
-Arduino controller
Trying to split things to keep the load balanced, but also so if either circuit goes down, the tank won't "die" rapidly. My thinking is that anything in the sump should be on the same circuit as the return pump (because if the return pump's circuit goes down, there's no point in running things in the sump).
Still I've got to draw out a "logic map" or something to make sure it's all configured correctly. For instance, if the circuit powering the Arduino goes down, I want to plan any relays it controls such that they default to a "known good" state - i.e. I don't want the entire tank to just stop if the controller goes offline! But, I also don't want EVERYTHING to default to an "on" state (things like the ATO, waterchange pumps, etc. at least).
One of the new circuits will have outlet(s) in the basement for the ATO and water change station, and both will have outlets upstairs. I'm splitting things up on the two circuits, probably as follows:
Circuit A:
-return pump
-heaters
-Sump lighting (turf scrubber)
-ATO/waterchange station
Circuit B:
-Tank lighting
-Closed loop pump
-Arduino controller
Trying to split things to keep the load balanced, but also so if either circuit goes down, the tank won't "die" rapidly. My thinking is that anything in the sump should be on the same circuit as the return pump (because if the return pump's circuit goes down, there's no point in running things in the sump).
Still I've got to draw out a "logic map" or something to make sure it's all configured correctly. For instance, if the circuit powering the Arduino goes down, I want to plan any relays it controls such that they default to a "known good" state - i.e. I don't want the entire tank to just stop if the controller goes offline! But, I also don't want EVERYTHING to default to an "on" state (things like the ATO, waterchange pumps, etc. at least).
TheFishMan65
New member
It is harder and more expensive. Double everything
To return pump in series one on each circuit.
Half the lights on each circuit.
You get the idea, I think most of the item could be split pretty easily.
To return pump in series one on each circuit.
Half the lights on each circuit.
You get the idea, I think most of the item could be split pretty easily.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
That would certainly be the most robust approach but I'm not sure if I want quite that level of cost and complexity, and I've already made some design choices that would prevent that approach (i.e. number of holes in the tank and sump).
Plus, I work from home, so I'm pretty much here 24/7 in case something does fail. And, I'm planning on putting the Arduino on my network, so it can notify me if it discovers a problem. I'll probably set it up to twitter tank stats once an hour or something, and twitter a different account (which I'll have email triggers on) if an alarm condition exists.
Plus, I work from home, so I'm pretty much here 24/7 in case something does fail. And, I'm planning on putting the Arduino on my network, so it can notify me if it discovers a problem. I'll probably set it up to twitter tank stats once an hour or something, and twitter a different account (which I'll have email triggers on) if an alarm condition exists.
TheFishMan65
New member
Sounds good one of your checks (if you haven't thought of it) should be power on the other circuit. Don't wait for something to go too far off like temperature.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
I've thought about that in theory, but not practice. Ideally I'd like the Arduino to "know" when certain things were on or off, regardless of whether or not that thing was controlled by the Arduino.
In other words, I'd like it to be able to know when the heater was on, or when the return pump was on, etc.
I'm sure there's an easy circuit for this, but I just haven't put the effort into finding it out yet.
In other words, I'd like it to be able to know when the heater was on, or when the return pump was on, etc.
I'm sure there's an easy circuit for this, but I just haven't put the effort into finding it out yet.
customcolor
New member
how about a simple led for each
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Well, that would tell ME if they were working, but I want the controller to know.
TheFishMan65
New member
Well just have the controller watch the LED. Get a USB camera andsome software. A little pattern recognition. Simple.
Actually there are circuits that can monitor the current draw of an advice. Don't know it off the top of my head. Some of those on the ac plug and you could tell what is running and what is not.
Actually there are circuits that can monitor the current draw of an advice. Don't know it off the top of my head. Some of those on the ac plug and you could tell what is running and what is not.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
I suppose, but I'd probably need to mess with the signal to get it readable, and at that point I might as well go all-out and tear apart some kill-a-watt meters (as ladyada does for her tweet-a-watt devices.) I'm really hoping for something simple and elegant: 1 chip or device, couple bucks max, that gives a logic level on/off output I can connect to a GPIO pin. If I don't find something, I'll probably just relegate this to "phase II" and do it at some point in the future when I have more time to fool. I've already got like 5 or 6 critical things I need to fool with right now. 
Taqpol
New member
Hey DWZM, I skimmed back through your build quickly but I don't think I saw the information I was looking for. I'm looking at a potential upgrade to a 180g (72"x24"x24") in the near future and was also contemplating using LEDs. I've been going around the site trying to get all the LED experts opinions, and it looks like it might take a lot more LEDs then I was planning on to get good coverage yet also good penetration to the bottom of my 24" deep tank.
What is your plan for lighting this behemoth of a tank with LEDs? Like, how many LEDs will you use total, how many fixtures will they be spread across, will you mount them high or low and what type of optics will you use, if any. Lastly, do you plan on being able to keep any type of coral throughout the entire range of the tank, or keep high light corals isolated to certain areas?
Sorry for all the questions, but after going through a bunch of the various LED builds you seem to be the guy to talk to!
What is your plan for lighting this behemoth of a tank with LEDs? Like, how many LEDs will you use total, how many fixtures will they be spread across, will you mount them high or low and what type of optics will you use, if any. Lastly, do you plan on being able to keep any type of coral throughout the entire range of the tank, or keep high light corals isolated to certain areas?
Sorry for all the questions, but after going through a bunch of the various LED builds you seem to be the guy to talk to!
