Jump to content
inTank Media Baskets

Jnam's beta cube .7 gallons...


jnam

Recommended Posts

Jnam's contest thread



The Beta cube.

 

picowithLEDs.jpg

Mehn need to fix the white balance but here is the FTS

 

EmptyPico.jpg

What I bought last night, the small container on the top will be the fuge

 

EmptyPico2.jpg

So you can get a feel for the relative size of this little cube

 

If you would like to participate ------------> http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=296857

 

.7 gallons of sexyness. I am going the LED route and more than likely using my DIY controller on this one or building a new smaller version. The plan is for something very clean with nice straight lines. There will be a canopy and a base at some point. I dont plan on detailing to much of the goings on right away you'll just have to check back and see for your self =)

 

Equiptment

.7 Gallon Aquaculture Beta Cube

DIY .5 Gallon fuge

AC50 <----- may change based on asthetics

small return pump

Theo 50w heater

DIY LED lighting 1xCW 2xRB

DIY Arduino controller including ATO

 

Everything should hide will inside of the fuge except the AC50 which will be used mostly for flow

 

Stocking

<1lbs of LR

Who knows how little LS

The rest is Ninja status until it makes it into the tank =)

 

If anyone is interested in the breakdown of my DIY components let me know I am happy to provide schematics and coding or walkthroughs on creating your own.

 

Cheers all!

Link to comment

The controller

 

I will edit this post periodically to show the progress on the controller for this little tank.

 

Components

Arduino328 Nano usb

DS1307 RTC I2C

Dallas 1 wire Temp

16x2 LCD

2 switchable mains

Possibility of Blue Tooth serial conectivity.

 

Functions

The controller will display heads up information about the tank on the 16x2 screen: Temp, alarm states, diming percentages, overides and time.

The controller will be programed to fade on and fade off the LEDs on a full day cycle and then again for the moonlight channels.

It will also control ATO functionality as well as monitoring for alarm states like overfill on the ATO and water/led temps as well as failed restart or possible flood state of the pico.

Two controllable mains plugs will be available (possibly more) for switching on and off pumps for feeding time and dedicated ATO use.

 

Any other suggestions?

LED on off and fade rate will be editable natively within the controller and should be expandable through I2C for later use. This is all based off of my first controller but I want something with a signifigantly smaller form factor to match the theme of this pico.

picoconroller1.jpg

Soldering and internals contruction is about 80%

 

picocontroller.jpg

All lit up.

 

picocontroller2.jpg

What you see on the screen

ignore my crap soldering PLEASE I need a new tip on my iron but the joints get the job done lol

 

So what we have up and running:

LCD with display

Real Time Clock

Temperatures

ATO functions

I have the coding done for the on and off of the lights just not 100% on the fading

Water proofed the dallas 1wire sensor

 

What I have left:

Build the case

Build the powercenter

I cant decide if I want to incorporate the 110V into the box it self or do a stand alone. I am using SSRs

which are rather bulky so having a seperate "module" might be the best idea.

Finish the dimming for the sunrise/susent effect

Decide on user interface, do I want to do an IR remote or hard buttons on the controller?????

Create the menu functions to change values natively in the controller

Did I mention building a case... lol

I cant decide here if I want to just do a standard stand alone case or if I want to incorporate the display

and keys into the hood/base or if I want sitting to the side... decisions decisions

 

The Light

 

EmptyPico3.jpg

The components that will be canabalized to create the lighting and interface for the controller

 

 

 

EmptyPice4.jpg

Roughin of light mounting with the AC50.

 

 

The light needs to be changed slightly currently it has 4 CW from when it used to be over a planted FW tank. I am removing 3 of the CW and replacing them with 2 RB LEDs. 3 LEDs should be more than enough maybe even overkill still. And I am not dimming the LEDs on seperate channels so I want a more blue apearance.

Link to comment

The controller

 

I will edit this post periodically to show the progress on the controller for this little tank.

 

Components

Arduino328 Nano usb

DS1307 RTC I2C

Dallas 1 wire Temp

16x2 LCD

2 switchable mains

 

Functions

The controller will display heads up information about the tank on the 16x2 screen: Temp, alarm states, diming percentages, overides and time.

The controller will be programed to fade on and fade off the LEDs on a full day cycle and then again for the moonlight channels.

It will also control ATO functionality as well as monitoring for alarm states like overfill on the ATO and water/led temps as well as failed restart or possible flood state of the pico.

Two controllable mains plugs will be available (possibly more) for switching on and off pumps for feeding time and dedicated ATO use.

 

Any other suggestions?

LED on off and fade rate will be editable natively within the controller and should be expandable through I2C for later use. This is all based off of my first controller but I want something with a signifigantly smaller form factor to match the theme of this pico.

Sounds sweet! Following.

Link to comment
Awesome!

I have a Typhon controller (Arduino based) for my BC29 LED retrofit. All it does out of the box is control the lights but I know it is capable of so much more.

Link to comment

Yep plastic plastic cheapo walmart tank. Proof of concept more so than longevity of the tank it self. If I like the setup I will remove the cheap tank and make a glass one instead. Cheap tanks are fantastic for these subgallon picos if it crashes and gets nasty I can just huck the whole thing over the balcony. For the purpose of this competition it will suffice nicely. Although after pulling it from the box it does feel of higher quality than I was expecting.

 

I dont know much about the typhoon... but the Arduino328 is a very useful little device.

Link to comment

Woot! Looking good, i'm subscribed! Welcome to the contest, and Good Luck!

 

Contest Judge

Meta

Link to comment

I got some wet water into it today on lunch along with some base rock that I am not in love with. Still working out the lilly pipes for the overflow and return on the sump. What is everyone else using as bulkheads for these little tanks?

Link to comment

Cool Idea but the plastic on that thing is terrible, its like CD case plastic. Even acrylic cleaners will scratch it up bad.

Link to comment
Cool Idea but the plastic on that thing is terrible, its like CD case plastic. Even acrylic cleaners will scratch it up bad.

Yeah I agree but it's such a small water volume I'll just wipe the plastic off during water changes with a soft towel.

Link to comment

I have one of these, my brother scratched it with the lens of his camera trying to take a macro shot. :P But in reality, its an excellent tool for proof of concept as jnam stated. If successful, it would take no effort to swap this out for a glass version.

Link to comment

And if it crashes well then I am out 14$ Plus I plan on cutting into the plastic (much easier than glass). Lets call it a mock up shall we and move on.

Link to comment

Interesting! So do you plan on just stocking with hitchhikers (I assume that is what you alluded to by the "ninjas"?)

Link to comment

My stocking plans shall remain secretive for now...

 

PICTURES

 

picoconagua.jpg

Dont know how I feel yet about the rocks.

 

picoconagua1.jpg

A little closer.

 

Still waiting on the LEDs for the lighting. And Yes it isnt level as it is not in its final resting place yet.

Link to comment

Sweeet! I thought about buying that tank like 5 times, but can't get over the plastic...Good deal though, looks pretty cool all set up, can you fit a decent amount of stuff in the drawer?(thats a drawer, right?)

 

Is the stand not quite level? Looks like the water level is a little lower on the right side.

Link to comment
Sweeet! I thought about buying that tank like 5 times, but can't get over the plastic...Good deal though, looks pretty cool all set up, can you fit a decent amount of stuff in the drawer?(thats a drawer, right?)

 

Is the stand not quite level? Looks like the water level is a little lower on the right side.

 

Its not the actual stand that is going on just a little end table that is leaning from the weight of the water. The drawer is a joke but it is almost exactly the sized of a 16x2 LCD display and will hide my arduino stuff perfectly

Link to comment

Well, the the drawer is going to fit your arduino stuff perfecctly, it's not a joke, it's useful! Haha...Anyway, looking great so far!

Link to comment

A little snag, the RB LEDs I ordered happened to be white instead of blue... Dang lighting crap.

Got all the parts in for my controller and I will get this all wired up and coded ASAP like.

Link to comment
Got the LEDs in and hooked up

 

Sorry for the poor white balance on the iPhone shot

 

picowithLEDs.jpg

 

Thats at 20% roughly power

 

sweeeet! will follow. can we get a stocking list?

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...