Considering getting back into the hobby

[OfficeReefer]

Hey @PicoSavvy I too was most annoyed by what people want for the Reefbot and Trident (which requires I buy something Apex as a head unit). I read over on Reef2Reef some disconcerting matters with the unit but it looks fairly sweet and might work out sooner than later. I have a different journal going with a Red Sea MAX Nano and I can afford the entire APEX system but I don't like wasting money on hardware that I really don't need. How many times do you really expect to test for more than KH regularly? 

 

 As for all of that automation mess. you might want to tune in to what I will probably do in the next couple of weeks. I'm a turnkey person but when I reverse engineer, I do it with a lot of TLC. I did this with an associate of mine whom is a brewer on a PicoBrew Pro I picked up for $300 (already a great deal IMHO). Most people don't have a lot of knowledge on that matter and after a few traffic sessions being observed on the network, dumped packet captures and opening the unit up. I found it's basically similar to what's in an Apex head unit per se and was actually able to find some of the developers code to test responses against. In the end, the company had seen my tweet about releasing my findings and offered the brew-your-own option thereafter.

 

As for what I expect to do soon is my own controller. I will probably license it Creative Commons and provide 3D STL files along with ready to buy parts list for plug in play. There are solutions out there like ReefPi if you don't mind going through some DIY with 110-220v and loading up some open source code. I've seen some other projects similar to this as well and what software libraries were used. To get the "cloud" functionality and get a mobile app built for iOS/Android is an undertaking in itself but is doable. I just don't want another "pet" that I must care for in the community. As for my solution, I'm hoping to offer at least what Apex does, possibly more and be about as turnkey to the aquaculture world as can be.

 

 There is something I do recommend you check out, which is the Leviathan if you want something with ReefPi and can't get away from Kessil lighting or other solutions that require you have some other software to get the most from them. In my case, I had hoped for the AI Prime HD version of lighting on my Red Sea but instead have the ReefLED50. It's not bad but it's a Red Sea app that has nothing else useful in it for me really and the only telemetry it offers is to the Reef Beat app itself. Based on watching it install firmware update, I essentially have to pretend or masquerade (impersonate is a better fit here) as the LED web browser which then lets me see what the app sees. I may also just take another approach and just scrape data from the app. I dunno yet. As for my powehead (Koralia Aqamai) and my new Jebao 2019 Wifi dosing pump, I'll need to see what those do, what API may be available if any what interfaces they have, etc. The goal is to get them all in the same software and I think that is a doable thing, although I might have to work at it slowly and who knows, some vendors may be cool with that for integrations. I expect mine to integrate with two more dosing pumps for AWC or 2 part dosing regardless of the Jebao. The water testing is something I have been on the fence about for the past week. I have at least three designs I have seen someone else RE, one was likely the prototype for the Reefbot. I may leverage some basic AI with the Nvidia Jetson or being that we are using reagents, the data model required to train and use the as Pi 3 as such may actually be doable. 

 

 Nevertheless, do not fear as the automation reef station is near....

[PicoSavvy]

@OfficeReefer

I think the reason I was annoyed with the pricing for water tester like Reefbot is that I know the components that are being used in it. It basically a linear slide with a smaller y slide to move the syringe up and down finally with another stepper for moving the syringe plunger. Then some pumps for flushing the vials and getting tank water. All controlled by a raspberry pi. There are smaller bits like a magnetic stirrer and the colorimeter which itself is a very simple thing. My reason for wanting to do it myself isn't because I can't afford stuff like the apex system I just prefer to tinker and make my own version of things. Of course, the added benefit of having more time to watch my tank and not checking and adjusting is greatly welcomed. I have come across Leviathan before but admittedly never looked much into it. As for the lighting strictly speaking of my pico tank it has just been easier and cheaper to do my own lighting and control them with a cheap Arduino then buy more expensive prebuild. The easiest solution I found for awc in the case of pico is to have one pump for pumping new saltwater into the tank and a bulkhead from the bottom to drain the old saltwater out very simple and never have to worry about pumps getting horribly out of sync or messing with the ATO to much because of that. What design have you been looking at for water testing if you don't mind sharing? The reefbot design including the pro model is easy to replicate but I love the trident for its simple design just waiting to see more people's experience with it to see how reliable it is long term. Training something like the raspberry pi with Calibration Fluid is a much easier approach in my opinion. Working in automation is common for me especially in the mechanical side, the programming side of things is where I am a bit limited but know enough to get basic stuff up and running.

[OfficeReefer]

It does have some of those yes. I'm not done building it and I'm not sure how I want to license it. I'm kinda in the middle of working with a bunch of malware so once that is done and my tank has cycled, I'll move on to that. The controller has to be done first which are the two pieces I'm working on now. I also have to get them working in Azure correctly and figure out what I want to be the front end for the iOS app (sorry no Android support yet). Once that is done, then I have to work on the Alexa and Siri skills...

 

It's a really big effort man. If anyone here has any experience in Python/.NET, ReactJS and/or thermal plastic molded injection - please PM me. As I stated earlier, you can follow mine journey and I will eventually show the controller - once that is complete, I'll demo the tester once I determine if I want to make it free or take it on shark tank. Frankly, I'd rather just patent and sell the rights to it. I may do open source but again, I don't want a pet and I don't write code for a living. Stay tuned to that journey if interested.

[PicoSavvy]

I will keep an eye on your build @OfficeReefer. What I have in mind is a bit less complex since it is made for pico in mind which is one if not my favorite niche of this hobby. Well, I just bought the first reef related item in a couple of years found a seller on eBay selling Jebao DP-4s slave unit for a cheap price(42 USD), if anyone is wondering why I bought the slave unit instead of the main unit it is because I will have no use for the control of the main unit. I plan to do a custom controller either esp32 or raspberry pi based. What do I plan to do with it? Make an ATO, AWC unit based on an optical and float switch water level. I know those plastic head on the jebao arent design for continues use but considering it is for a pico it won't need to be on to long 

[OfficeReefer]

I'm waiting on the 2019 version of that with wifi and some app control. I expect to inspect it over the network and see if I can remotely control it. The Red Sea ReefLED50 requires some funny stuff to impersonate the app.