An Engineer's first struggle with Life Sciences - BELATED UPDATE! Corals!

[mooker]

Ok! Ordered some Seachem Stability -- as well as the IM media basket and Hydor Flo I've had my eye on.

 

Fingers crossed it'll help!

[Mariaface]

Ok! Ordered some Seachem Stability -- as well as the IM media basket and Hydor Flo I've had my eye on.

 

Fingers crossed it'll help!

 

 

I think the inTank media basket might've been a better choice, not sure if you can cancel that or if you'd like to give it a try. Good luck!

[mooker]

 

 

I think the inTank media basket might've been a better choice, not sure if you can cancel that or if you'd like to give it a try. Good luck!

 

Typo on my part! I ordered the inTank media basket for IM Fusion 10/20/25:

 

(http://smile.amazon.com/Innovative-Marine-Fusion-Media-Basket/dp/B0178GRZQA?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00)

 

That's the right one, right?

[HarryPotter]

Typo on my part! I ordered the inTank media basket for IM Fusion 10/20/25:

 

(http://smile.amazon.com/Innovative-Marine-Fusion-Media-Basket/dp/B0178GRZQA?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00)

 

That's the right one, right?

Yeah!

[SantaMonica]

Just let the tank sit and develop good periphyton on the rocks. Each month that goes by it will get better.

[Cencalfishguy56]

 

Ok, will do.

 

Is there any specific brand of beneficial bacteria you recommend?

Dr.Tims, cycled my tank in a week and a half

[kimberbee]

Nice job so far!

 

What else do you plan on doing with the raspberry pi?

[mooker]

Nice job so far!

 

What else do you plan on doing with the raspberry pi?

 

Thanks!

 

Currently it's a glorified light timer, but I actually have a pretty long list of stuff I want to implement:

 

 

Sensors:

• Temperature
• pH
• Salinity
• Water level

ATO

 

Temporary pump shut off for water change/feeding

 

Automated feeding

 

 

We'll see how far I get - I'm a novice with software/electronics so I'm chipping away at this bit-by-bit (if you'll pardon the pun ). Long term I'd like to be able to see my tank status on my smartphone and be able to control lights/pumps etc.

 

If you have any ideas for other features to implement, let me know! I'm especially on the look out for (cheap) solid state sensors to grab useful data from my tank.

[teenyreef]

Following along! Looks like your learning a lot, which has always been half the fun for me

 

Rasberry pi + Linux == very cool

 

I've worked in Linux for as long as there's been Linux, but I haven't taken the plunge on the pi yet. It looks like a lot of fun to program and build, though.

[kimberbee]

 

Thanks!

 

Currently it's a glorified light timer, but I actually have a pretty long list of stuff I want to implement:

 

 

Sensors:

• Temperature
• pH
• Salinity
• Water level

ATO

 

Temporary pump shut off for water change/feeding

 

Automated feeding

 

 

We'll see how far I get - I'm a novice with software/electronics so I'm chipping away at this bit-by-bit (if you'll pardon the pun ). Long term I'd like to be able to see my tank status on my smartphone and be able to control lights/pumps etc.

 

If you have any ideas for other features to implement, let me know! I'm especially on the look out for (cheap) solid state sensors to grab useful data from my tank.

Nice! My BF is an electrical engineer and has talked about helping me out with automation.

 

At the top of my want list is a temp controller!

[mooker]

Following along! Looks like your learning a lot, which has always been half the fun for me

 

Rasberry pi + Linux == very cool

 

I've worked in Linux for as long as there's been Linux, but I haven't taken the plunge on the pi yet. It looks like a lot of fun to program and build, though.

 

I've been very impressed with the (hobby) development experience on rPI (not that I have a huge basis for comparison). I run my zero headless just using putty with tmux and VIM to hack my way through basic python programming. I/O stuff is super easy thus far. Pick one up! They're cheap!

 

Nice! My BF is an electrical engineer and has talked about helping me out with automation.

 

At the top of my want list is a temp controller!

 

I was planning on using it as a temp controller, but then I'd have to upgrade from the fixed temp heater that Harry gave me

[mooker]

Tank's been covered for three days, and it looks like the dino has significantly receded -- invisible to the naked eye, at least. And the snails are still alive!

 

 

Decided to pull the shroud off and incorporate all the goodies that arrived today: inTank media basket, Hydor flo, and seachem stability. Went to the LFS to get more salt water, and they convinced me to pick up Chemi-pure elite for my new media basket -- because I'm worth it Let me know if that was a waste of money, I'm still not 100% sure whether or not to trust those guys...

 

The Hydor was a bit of a pain to install, as none of the fittings seemed quiiiiite the right size for my tank. Kinda jammed some stuff together and it seems to be working fine. I might 3D print a less janky connection at some point, but it's ok for now. Quiet as advertised, reduces the flow of my already meager stock pump, but seems to be doing a good job of varying the currents in my tank.

 

Tank levels before a 50% water change were .25 ppm ammonia 20 ppm nitrates. I did the water change and dosed the seachem as directed, here's hoping I have healthy and happy bacteria balance soon

[mooker]

I got kind of a cool shot today of one of my hermits hanging out on a snail:

 

[kimberbee]

That hermit is soooo tiny!!

[mooker]

Parts for ATO have been ordered! I can't believe my 10G goes through well over a gal a week due to evap. I'll post the build here, if it works.

 

Parts list (thanks, prime!):

 

 

The idea is to hook the ultrasonic ranging sensor up to the raspberry pi, and use it to monitor the level in the pump chamber. When the water level drops below a certain threshold, the pi will use the RF controlled outlet to turn the ATO pump on, then off again when the correct level is reached.

The float sensor will be placed in the ATO reservoir and attached to the pi to send an alert when the reservoir is running low. I'm using large tupperware for the reservoir so that it fits nicely into the bottom cubby of the Ikea Kallax that my tank is sitting on.

 

Writing that all out makes it seem a liiiiiittle over engineered.... we'll see how it goes!

[mooker]

Cycled!

 

 

After what seemed like forever (but was actually ~2 weeks), my tank seems ready for some new inhabitants.

 

Tinyreef's 10g made me really want lots of ricordia...

[HarryPotter]

That ultrasonic sensor does NOT look like it will appreciate some good ol' salt water and salt creep

[rolyat113]

Cycled!

 

 

After what seemed like forever (but was actually ~2 weeks), my tank seems ready for some new inhabitants.

 

Tinyreef's 10g made me really want lots of ricordia...

I love ricordia! I've been collecting it in the sandbed of my tank. I need to remove some of mine from plugs so they can be closer together and make a nice carpet.

[mooker]

Ok! Just ordered 2 "Oddball Rics" and a single Zoa head from KP

 

It's happeninggggg! Corals!

[mooker]

I love ricordia! I've been collecting it in the sandbed of my tank. I need to remove some of mine from plugs so they can be closer together and make a nice carpet.

 

Yesss I love the way they spread and cover. I was looking into placement today and read that they can be placed vertically! I almost never see that in tanks -- I'm hoping they'll take on the face of the big rock in mine.

[OsiViper]

That ultrasonic sensor does NOT look like it will appreciate some good ol' salt water and salt creep

 

I 2nd that, and speak from personal experience that they don't. And the problem is that they tend to fail on, causing pump to run continually.

[Sancho]

Well, it looks like the brown fuzz I was so excited about ended up being dino...

 

 

Currently weighing my options on how to deal with it. Leaning towards tearing everything down and re-starting, since I don't have any livestock aside from the snails.

 

Any thoughts on keeping my snails alive?

Might not be Dinos. Some Cyano will bubble like that.

[mooker]

 

I 2nd that, and speak from personal experience that they don't. And the problem is that they tend to fail on, causing pump to run continually.

 

yeah, I bought it mostly as an experiment -- I'll probably just end up using a float switch

[OsiViper]

I used a Rosemount Radar level transmitter I borrowed from work, it worked great.. But I'm not gonna a spend $7,000 for a fancy level controller, lol.

[mooker]

I used a Rosemount Radar level transmitter I borrowed from work, it worked great.. But I'm not gonna a spend $7,000 for a fancy level controller, lol.

 

Hahaha that's awesome. All I can "borrow" from my work are syringes, tubing, an luer fittings...