My 112G Cube Build Thread. I'm baaaaaaack!!

[dodgerblew]

You can turn switches off and on with a click of a button so I don't think it'll be an issue.

Hey Justin. What button? The buttons on the ATI are only used to switch into demo mode, change time, or to program it. I don't think there is an on/off switch anywhere.

Lets say my ATI program is set to have the lights all off between 1am and 10am. Now lets say I want to turn on the lights as 8am. I flip the switch on the Apex to turn it on but since the ATI isn't programmed to turn on until 10am, the lights remain off.

I have an ati dimmable sunpower and there are no manual buttons. Everything is programmed and if there is a way to manually turn on lights without having to reprogram, please inform me of how to do it

 

[MrSandman]

Yeah. Just confirmed from Reefgeek that there is no way to manually turn the lights on or off outside of the program. Lol. Pay this much money for a fixture you would think this feature would come standard. At least be able to upload multiple programs would be nice. Anyways thankfully it wasn't a reason I bought the fixture so it's not a deal breaker for me. I'll figure something out.

 

[sprinj76]

This build so far is inspiring. Subscribed.

I'm interested to see what you do with the herbie overflow. I'm not entirely sure teeing off the plumbing will work correctly... hopefully you find an easy solution. I'm deciding between the herbie style overflow and C2C bean animal atm for my next build

 

[MrSandman]

This build so far is inspiring. Subscribed.

I'm interested to see what you do with the herbie overflow. I'm not entirely sure teeing off the plumbing will work correctly... hopefully you find an easy solution. I'm deciding between the herbie style overflow and C2C bean animal atm for my next build

Thanks. Yeah, i am too also interested to see what happens if i tee off of it. I've started another thread here about it: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2323960

I'm not sure why the lack of responses unless i'm blazing a new trail here, but i seriously doubt it.

I just got back from vacation yesterday so i haven't had any time at all to work on things. I really gotta get my butt moving on this. :lol:

 

[MrSandman]

I have an ati dimmable sunpower and there are no manual buttons. Everything is programmed and if there is a way to manually turn on lights without having to reprogram, please inform me of how to do it

FYI, you probably already know this but after some further discussion with Reefgeek it sounds like the best way to run the lights will be to stick them on an outlet on the Apex to turn off for emergency purposes, but when this happens, the clock will reset and the schedule will be off. This is fine because i will only be turning them off in an emergency. To turn them on manually, i will have to just go into the ATI panel and change the time on the clock to the time the lights normally turn on.

Stupid workaround but i'm hoping that maybe the firmware on the ATI can eventually be flashed with a new program to allow manual operation. If ATI can fix this issue, i think this light will be perfect. Until then, its going to be a minor annoyance i'll have to deal with.

 

[xxvietxjustinxx]

Hey Justin. What button? The buttons on the ATI are only used to switch into demo mode, change time, or to program it. I don't think there is an on/off switch anywhere.

Lets say my ATI program is set to have the lights all off between 1am and 10am. Now lets say I want to turn on the lights as 8am. I flip the switch on the Apex to turn it on but since the ATI isn't programmed to turn on until 10am, the lights remain off.

Oh my bad, I misunderstood you. I was referring to the APEX. Why not just leave on the power of the ATI on at all times and let the APEX do the controlling 100%?

FYI, you probably already know this but after some further discussion with Reefgeek it sounds like the best way to run the lights will be to stick them on an outlet on the Apex to turn off for emergency purposes, but when this happens, the clock will reset and the schedule will be off. This is fine because i will only be turning them off in an emergency. To turn them on manually, i will have to just go into the ATI panel and change the time on the clock to the time the lights normally turn on.

Stupid workaround but i'm hoping that maybe the firmware on the ATI can eventually be flashed with a new program to allow manual operation. If ATI can fix this issue, i think this light will be perfect. Until then, its going to be a minor annoyance i'll have to deal with.

Just read this post, that's pretty stupid on ATI's part. Looks like you have it figured out though.

 

[reefish123]

Ramon I guess the only way of approaching the ATI's is to Program your lighting schedule to a computer/laptop(not sure if its tablet compatible) and if for any reason you need to turn off your lights load your saved settings. This was an issue for me too. BTW I was told from the ATI's tech not to connect to APEX??? lmk what you think.

 

[MrSandman]

Nice looking design feels like watching an episode of tanked

LOL. Thanks. If only i could complete this build in an hour.

Ramon I guess the only way of approaching the ATI's is to Program your lighting schedule to a computer/laptop(not sure if its tablet compatible) and if for any reason you need to turn off your lights load your saved settings. This was an issue for me too. BTW I was told from the ATI's tech not to connect to APEX??? lmk what you think.

Yeah, one way would be to have a computer constantly wired to the ATI controller and when i do turn off my lights manually, i'd have to reload the program back into the unit, but that's just not realistic. I think that every time i unplug it, the clock resets and it goes straight into demo mode (i need to ocnfirm this later). So if for some reason my neighborhood has a rolling blackout or a power outage, the light cycles through demo mode until i can update the clock and change the program.

I was told by Reefgeek that connecting to an Apex would be fine and in fact one of the techs there told me he did that himself just for redundancy reasons. You never know. I always program my Apex to shut off the lights if the temperature was to ever reach a high value (e.g. 84F). The downside to this though might be when you reboot your Apex, all of the equipment might reset and you lose your settings on the ATI. I'd have to confirm this as well as its been a while since i've messed with my Apex.

 

[reefish123]

Youre right if it powers off It resets to default or demo mode. I have a laptop really close to my tank so its not a huge issue although, I would of wished an off button and turn on to the same settings. I will expect the power to go off in the comming raining season, so this will be an issue of some sort. Ill keep posted to see how you approach this. Good luck.

 

[xxvietxjustinxx]

It's sort of ridiculous that such an expensive product doesn't have a tiny battery and a little bit of RAM to save your settings in case the unit loses power. They must be kicking themselves for not including such an important feature that cost pennies on the dollar on such a luxury product.

 

[reefish123]

It's sort of ridiculous that such an expensive product doesn't have a tiny battery and a little bit of RAM to save your settings in case the unit loses power. They must be kicking themselves for not including such an important feature that cost pennies on the dollar on such a luxury product.

Very well said. This is my first T5 light fixture so didn`t know what to expect. Hopefully ATI takes action in the comming fixtures.

 

[MrSandman]

Ok, i just did some testing a few minutes ago and there might be some light at the end of the tunnel here. I unplugged the fixture from the wall, let it sit for about 5 minutes and then plugged it back in and it resumed at the program it left off on, and maintained the correct timing. So it sounds like there is an internal battery in the unit somewhere that maintains the time. As for how long that battery can maintain the correct time is beyond me so i've left it unplugged for the night and will plug it back in in the morning and will see what happens.

 

[reefish123]

ok let us know what happen?

 

[MrSandman]

Ok, plugged it in this morning and it didn't maintain the time. So it looks like there is some residual charge that remains in the controller for a short amount of time. Maybe its via a capacitor. As for how long this maintains a charge for, is TBD. At this point all i know is its somewhere between 5 minutes and 9 hours. I'll see if i can do some tests later tonight to narrow it down. If it can support it for around an hour, I think it helps as that will cover most minor power outages. I'm tempted to open this thing up to look at it in detail. :lol:

 

[MrSandman]

I've been trading emails with ATI customer support over the last couple days and have some new information that I haven't read anywhere else:

ATI Germany is now making units where the control box is able to remember the time for a short period of time in the event of a brief power outage. If you have a proof of purchase and it was purchased from an authorized dealer, they are willing to swap out your older box for a new one. So based on this info, it sounds like i might have one of the newer ones. I just did a test this evening and left it off for 25 minutes and it retained its memory. I have asked them to give me an estimate amount of time that this internal battery will last for. I will update to this thread when i hear back.

ATI is also planning to release a new version of the software to their website in a few days. As for a firmware update, i've asked about plans for that. Hopefully that can be done through the computer as well.

Lastly, they have no plans at this time to integrate with some of the existing controllers on the market. Bummer...as this could be a huge selling point for them that their competition is also doing.

 

[reefish123]

great info, thanks for going the extra mile on this.

 

[dodgerblew]

FYI, you probably already know this but after some further discussion with Reefgeek it sounds like the best way to run the lights will be to stick them on an outlet on the Apex to turn off for emergency purposes, but when this happens, the clock will reset and the schedule will be off. This is fine because i will only be turning them off in an emergency. To turn them on manually, i will have to just go into the ATI panel and change the time on the clock to the time the lights normally turn on.

Stupid workaround but i'm hoping that maybe the firmware on the ATI can eventually be flashed with a new program to allow manual operation. If ATI can fix this issue, i think this light will be perfect. Until then, its going to be a minor annoyance i'll have to deal with.

I've been trading emails with ATI customer support over the last couple days and have some new information that I haven't read anywhere else:

ATI Germany is now making units where the control box is able to remember the time for a short period of time in the event of a brief power outage. If you have a proof of purchase and it was purchased from an authorized dealer, they are willing to swap out your older box for a new one. So based on this info, it sounds like i might have one of the newer ones. I just did a test this evening and left it off for 25 minutes and it retained its memory. I have asked them to give me an estimate amount of time that this internal battery will last for. I will update to this thread when i hear back.

ATI is also planning to release a new version of the software to their website in a few days. As for a firmware update, i've asked about plans for that. Hopefully that can be done through the computer as well.

Lastly, they have no plans at this time to integrate with some of the existing controllers on the market. Bummer...as this could be a huge selling point for them that their competition is also doing.

just came back into this thread Ramon so haven't been caught up until now. I don't run a controller, Apex or any other, on my tank. It's only a nano and with weekly WC's, can't justify adding a several hundred dollar controller to monitor so not an option for me. I must have one of the older versions as mine resets time to default immediately if I unplug and replug in. It only defaults time of day though but not my settings if I remember correctly. So, I just need to contact Reefgeek and they will swap out old for new? Do I need to take down to their location and they open up the unit and swap out or do they just give you a newer unit?

 

[h.cordero]

Really great info in this thread!! Top quality work in every aspect from the stand, sump to the tray. Don't know if you already decided what skimmer are you going to use? Another aspect that it was no clear is use of cheato? Or are you only using those bio-blocks?

 

[MrSandman]

just came back into this thread Ramon so haven't been caught up until now. I don't run a controller, Apex or any other, on my tank. It's only a nano and with weekly WC's, can't justify adding a several hundred dollar controller to monitor so not an option for me. I must have one of the older versions as mine resets time to default immediately if I unplug and replug in. It only defaults time of day though but not my settings if I remember correctly. So, I just need to contact Reefgeek and they will swap out old for new? Do I need to take down to their location and they open up the unit and swap out or do they just give you a newer unit?

I was told to make this request directly through ATI North America. Their email address is customerservice@atinorthamerica.com and they will route you through the correct parties. In the end it may be Reefgeek or their Clear Point company that handles returns/warranties but ATI NA triggers the request. How old is your unit? I'm not sure they do this for everyone, especially if the unit is older but its worth asking i suppose.

Really great info in this thread!! Top quality work in every aspect from the stand, sump to the tray. Don't know if you already decided what skimmer are you going to use? Another aspect that it was no clear is use of cheato? Or are you only using those bio-blocks?

Thanks. I have an SWC 160 cone skimmer from my previous setup that worked quite well for me so i am going with that initially. I might choose to upgrade later, but a skimmer isn't too important in the early stages of the tank since bioload will be quite low. I was initially planning to run chaeto in the refugium section of the sump, but after getting these detox blox, i am having second thoughts. Running a fuge in a sump just makes things extremely messy in the sump with algae growth and corlaline all over the place. So i'm going to try it iniailly with the detox blox and see how that goes.

I received another response from ATI.
-They confirmed that when the time goes out due to being unplugged, you shouldn't lose your programmed settings.
-As long as the unit has been plugged in for more than 24 hours, the control box should have a full charge and should be able to hold the time for up to 12 hours. Of course, my testing showed that it held it for some time less than 9 hours but i'll re-confirm this again tonight. Either way, i think this is good news.
-The new version software to be released on their site in the next few days will not be Mac compatible and there are no plans to release a Mac compatible version yet.

 

[dodgerblew]

I was told to make this request directly through ATI North America. Their email address is customerservice@atinorthamerica.com and they will route you through the correct parties. In the end it may be Reefgeek or their Clear Point company that handles returns/warranties but ATI NA triggers the request. How old is your unit? I'm not sure they do this for everyone, especially if the unit is older but its worth asking i suppose.

Purchased from Reefgeek. Unit is about 60 days old