Aquarium controller users. I need your help

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

I'm in the process of creating a web monitoring site (http://www.mytankstats.com/) that will track apex gear as well as others (When I can implement them) over time so you can view all of your tank stats on the web without having to hit your system directly. This is what aqualog does currently, but for $20 a year. I plan on charging nothing for the service.

Right now I've got the temperature piece worked out (mostly), and I'm able to capture all probes and outlets. I just need to graph the rest of the data, create a login piece, add an api mechanism and a sexy interface to wrap it with..

My ultimate goal is to allow reefers the ability to post their results on forums, or just generally keep track of there data over the course of the tanks lifetime, without having to deal with the 7 day max data retention of the apex and other controllers. I'm also incorporating outside temperature readings based on zipcode, so you can see, over time how your tank is doing in relation to temperature outside.

Now.. here's what I need from you.

I only have a basic apex jr with only the temperature probe. I need folks with the other attachments so I can track and graph the data accordingly, or if you no longer have a need for your apex addons, and would be willing to donate them for a short period while I work it out the numbers, that would help also.

Here's how it currently works:

The customer forwards their home router to their apex and enable open feeds (They've probably already done this so that they can control it with their phones, etc), so we can access their http://IPADDRESSES/cgi-bin/status.xml feed. We pull the status.xml file at whatever interval you want and store the data in our database to graph later.

The page with my current temperature data is here http://www.mytankstats.com. As you can see, I've taken my tank average overall, it's 1 minute temperature and the max and min temperatures that i've come to understand. In the future, users will be able to specify their own max and min for each probe. I'm in the process of incorporating the outside temperature piece, so you may see that shortly. I know it's difficult to read, but as I get more information in the system, the graph will be much easier to read. Also, i'm leveraging the google charts api, so you can interact with the data.

Let me know if you're willing to help me out by either allowing me to pull your stats every few minutes, or if you have any apex gear you are willing to part with for a short while.

kthx,
HawtDog

 

*UPDATE*

 

We are in the process of building our own controller that we hope to keep below $100 for a sensor only model and under $200 for a sensor and outlet model (4 port). Here are a few sneak peaks on that endeavor.

 

 

*UPDATE 2*

TODO:

• Design descent looking page.
• Gather javascript for gallery, timeline, graphs etc.
• Create dashboard for all tanks
• Create journal entries
• Create measurements entries page.
• Create maintenance entries page.
• Add filtering to entries page
• Add mailinglist mechanism
• Add popular links to a page.
• Incorporate timeline into entries page for specific entries (to view already existing entires of that type)
• Added tabs to the the dashboard to switch between tanks quickly.
• Finish the image upload form for all entries.
• Thumbnails are automatically generated for uploaded images in both 420px and 100px. The original image is still stored for full effect.
• Lightbox is now used to display all images in the timeline.
• news on front page is now generated dynamically when news is added to the DB.
• The dashboard is no longer static with hardcoded tank values for user demo.
• Added Top off and Feeding for the maintenance menu.
• Add tank management piece.
• Convert all photo's to jpg
• Add a gallery for:
  • per tank
  • per user
• Establish points system for adding entries
• Fix filter bug with type and tanks
• Add critter menu item for adding critters to a tank.
• Build a forum signature, builder.
• Allow users to upload a background image for signature generator
• Add static graphs for use on external sites (Thanks to hey for the suggestion)
• Build indexes for tables before they get to big
• Finish building RSS/XML pull for devices. (Make it dynamic per user)
• Add tank selector to entries page (instead of the filter link on the side).
• Add daily reminders section that emails reminders
• Add maintenance reminder emails.
• Add restful api to handle both json and xml
• build My Details page (Bio, Password change, Tank Management, Suggestions/Bugfixes)
• add custom password to registration page
• add city/state to registration page for local weather polling
• Add recaptcha to registration page.
• Add password reset function.
• Add ability to convert temperature metric from F to C and C to F.
• Add controller tool tip to your details menu.
• Add message on dashboard when only one probe is available
• Link measurement events to graph data.

[ElmoC]

Just tried to visit your site and it looks like it is using a flash plugin so I can't see anything on my mobile device. Might want to reconsider this for the mobile users. HTML5 is replacing Flash on mobile devices.

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

@ElmoC,

 

Thanks for the input. you're correct. The mobile version (when I get to that point) will use another graph to display data over time, and will be less interactive, as interacting with tons of data on a tiny screen is painful.

 

thanks,

HawtDog

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

The username and password to use is demo/demo. You'll need that to log in as a demo user and see the statistics...

 

UPDATE:

• Added Dashboard with outlet status
• Added power outage stats
• Changed page layout to include a sidebar and a main piece.

[Kingsley (Ned)]

Cool idea

 

Have you taken a look at Reeftronics? (http://www.reeftronics.net/)

 

Russ (if you've had Apex problems, he's probably been helpful) runs that site. There is some additional functionality there like program listers and things.

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

No i haven't seen it. It looks pretty slick.. but overwhelming, display wise. Thanks for sharing. It appears he's doing something similair, but with all data available to everyone, and alerting.

 

interesting.

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

Made some massive changes to the site. Added a heater watch widget. depending on the number of heaters you have, you'll see more than one. Graphs now work on mobile devices, though the site doesn't change to be mobile native. I'll work more on that later. Next i'm going to tackle multiple tanks per user, image uploading and then manual measurements and a timeline.

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

Added the timeline section of the page, now. Username/Password: demo/demo

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

Added a few things. Timelines now support photo's with lighbox support. Added the ability to add metrics for maintenance and measurements. Will be adding the image upload part to the entry form soon, for all entries. Will also be adding dosing to the menu.

 

Site now support multiple tanks, but the tank creation page hasn't been finished yet. I will try to get to that this week.

 

username/password: demo/demo

[hey]

I really like the layout thus far. Have you looked at apex fusion yet? It will most likely eliminate the need for services like this although if it doesn't I am definitely interested.

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

@hey,

 

Yes i've seen it and am tailoring ours to be easier to use, sexier in appearance and support devices other than the apex. It will also revolve around forum users who want to post their information. Apex fusion is nothing but their web information pushed to a site and stored for a short period of time so the owner of the apex, can view it. Our site will be geared towards sharing information with others, as well as viewing your tank information locally. Apex fusion will also not provide daily journaling/diary functions to let you track manual parts and pieces.

 

Just my 2 Cents. ;P

 

Honestly, I was worried when I heard about it, but now i'm not.

 

On another note. I'm working with several folks on building our own opensource aquacontroller that will be based on the raspberry pie. It's initially only going to be probes, but will eventually move into controlling (outlets) as well. This device will PUSH information to our service, vs us pulling it as many others do, and will be in the price point of $100 or less to start (with only probes), but ultimately stay below $150 for the controller aspect (probably 4 ports) as well as coming with a temperature and ph probe to start.

 

We are already working with a manufacturer on affordable probes, and have several test builds complete and working for our aquarium probe setup. Expect a kickstarter to pop on that soon

[hey]

Sounds great, along with sharing graphs for forums is there going to be a way to link graphs to webpages that will update instead of just show the image?

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

@hey,

 

I can make that happen pretty easily. The only current issue is that it's a google graph that being generated, which makes it interactive. I can make a static graph that will automatically update, that isn't interactive but can be shared.

[hey]

@hey,

 

I can make that happen pretty easily. The only current issue is that it's a google graph that being generated, which makes it interactive. I can make a static graph that will automatically update, that isn't interactive but can be shared.

 

That would be ideal... specifically I want to host my own site basically just to show a webcam image of the tank but I would like graphs in semi real time to display aswell. I can do that parsing the xml data and putting it into a google graph and it works somewhat well but visually it isnt appealing.

[malawian]

hey man if you want to start working on backend for Reefkeepers im your man. I got all kinds of data I want you to log

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

@malawian,

 

GREAT! Are you able to provide me access to remotely pull statistics from your reefkeeper? I don't have one so i'm not sure how it exposes the information. does it provide xml data like the apex?

[malawian]

XML and RSS but I dont really know enough about RSS and XML to tell you more than that.

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

XML and RSS but I dont really know enough about RSS and XML to tell you more than that.

 

Are you able to provide me remote access to your xml data? It looks like the information on it is here:

http://www.digitalaquatics.com/downloads/RKM-NET%20User%20Guide.pdf

 

You would need to create a forwarder in your router that exposed your controller to the internet and then I could easily pull the information. The good news is, it's just like the apex.

[malawian]

http://peluche399.hopto.org:12522/xml/data.xml

 

is that all you need?

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

perfect. Do you only have a temperature sensor?

I also need help finding an xml/csv/excel document with common freshwater and saltware fish simple names and scientific names if someone can help me out with that. I really don't want to have to scrape a page to pull the data. a nice ascii doc or database file would rock

[malawian]

i have a temp sensor and a pH sensor. I also have a float switch that I like to keep track of too.

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

You'll have to see about having them report also in that xml file. Currently all I see when i visit the link is the temperature sensor.

 

<System>
<Slot ID="8">
<Module>
<ID>02</ID>
<Name>SL1</Name>
<CustomName/>
<Sensor>
<Name>Temp</Name>
<CustomName/>
<Value>78.5</Value>
<Units>F</Units>
</Sensor>
</Module>
</Slot>
</System>

[malawian]

oh i see, the XML output has all of the things I tell it to output, not a different XML for each one. anyway that xml link should now contain a pH probe, float switch and temp sensor. I could add other things like my pumps (which I log to make sure the wavemakers work correctly) or amp output.

[HawtDogFlvrWtr]

oh i see, the XML output has all of the things I tell it to output, not a different XML for each one. anyway that xml link should now contain a pH probe, float switch and temp sensor. I could add other things like my pumps (which I log to make sure the wavemakers work correctly) or amp output.

 

If you wouldn't mind, can you output everything? The intent is to get as much information as I can so I can cover it all. As more users begin using it, new information is going to trickle in, but If I can get as much in now, I'd be further ahead.

 

AKA: the more i can get now and write the code to read, the less I will have to do on the fly later.

[malawian]

there you go. thats everything I datalog. cant think of anything else meaningful to log.