Tank pump control and maybe more...

[eartaker]

I want to build my own power head controller to let me simulate a reef surge like the vortech systems. Also going to be adding a feeding mode to shut down all pumps and maybe a few other things like an auto feeder for flake and pellet, change my ATO, who knows. Anyway I have had little time to work on this the past few days but I did get a test done.

 

[Peppie]

That is awesome.
You have to be carfule about what you are posting here. You will have so many requests for your services that you wont be able to find the time to work on your own projects. LOL

 

[mercenary-grunt]

Lol. Right dave. Awsome tho.

Sent from my MB525 using Tapatalk 2

 

[user 26995]

LOL...you are freaking out your poor little hippo tang! The poor little guy is doing his best to hide.

Oh, nice job on the pump control.

 

[senji]

verry neat but for the tangs sake use a bucket of water ur gunna stress him to death

 

[eartaker]

Haha thanks guys, I'm always willing to help. Its a work in progress and have big hopes for it. As for the tang, he lays like that 90% of the time. Add food and he pops up and darts around... very odd personality, He is in QT for Ich right now and truthfully would like to get rid of him. You are right I should have used a bucket though.

 

[user 26995]

Haha thanks guys, I'm always willing to help. Its a work in progress and have big hopes for it. As for the tang, he lays like that 90% of the time. Add food and he pops up and darts around... very odd personality, He is in QT for Ich right now and truthfully would like to get rid of him. You are right I should have used a bucket though.

Thats actually normal behavior. He is trying to hide when he's doing that. Do you have any large pieces of pvc you can put in there, like a 3" elbo or T. He will like that.

 

[eartaker]

Hmm didnt know that... No PVC but I have a 4" plastic flower pot I'll put in there. Thanks for the tip.

 

[eartaker]

Well this project got out of control really fast... I have powerhead, skimmer, and circulation pump control taken care of with timing options on the powerheads. Now I'm working on ph and temp monitoring, changing over the ATO to the micro controller, lighting, auto feed, AND making it all web assessable. Awesome part is I only have $70 tied up in this project since I had most of the stuff already =]

 

[fulkerl]

I would like to see a update on the PH probe when you get that far along.. I have been looking in to this also. What did you use to drive your auto feeder?

 

[eartaker]

I will def post up some pics and schematics when I get around to drawing them. As for the feeder I plan on using a small stepper motor.

 

[Katchupoy]

dont forget the diodes... I have the same setup on my wavemaker... just my two cents...
Relays- especially "the diode"- An introduction to using them with microprocessors- relay

also put a resistor on the arduino pin side so that you dont go beyond the 40 ma max of the pins....

hope this helps.

 

[eartaker]

My relays a 12v relays needing 100ma on the coil so I'm using 2n2222 transistors to power the relays with a 12v circuit. I have the diodes on them to prevent them from killing the transistors but the mcu will be fine. Also for the circulation pumps that will constantly be switching on and off I'm using solid state relays for that.

 

[eartaker]

Little update of how things are going and how out of control it will be...

 

[eartaker]

Well it happened I added much more. I am finally at the point where its time to start building my PCB's and put it all in a box. I got the surge pump control done with being able to vary the times each pump is on and off and the time they are both off. I also have it setup so i can control all of my pumps and lights via a local interface and LCD or over the internet. On top of that I added temperature and PH monitoring. The next step is to cleanup all of the code and to add e-mail/txt alerts. In all this has been fun and still have more to go. The best part about all of this is I can add and change anything as my tank grows.

Here is a pic of the mess and a web interface screenshot.

 

[eartaker]

Here is a little video explaining it all.

 

[Katchupoy]

I really like where this is heading... very cool... will be following closely.

 

[eartaker]

Thanks, I was keeping in mind trying to replicate the Neptune system but also add on. Right now I also have most of my HTML ouput stored on a SD card that tha arduino reads and was thinking about a real time clock. but for right now my lights aleady have a built in timmer so no real need for it. I can always add on later though. I just got done finishing up the code for scrolling through the LCD menu and now just making my menu's. I need to order 2 more solid state relays since I likked my last 2. I really dont need the clicking of relays for my power heads.

 

[TJL]

A BIG thanks for sharing this amazing project with us all, so very very cool.... way way over my head but still love to learn what can actually be done by ourselves in this hobby. So in theory could someone build components to add to thier Neptune or DA controllers at very little cost ??? I am very interested in knowing if you/a person could build a compatible VDM unit to a Apex system. I know it posible but how feasable for a DIYer ??? Will be following along and learning what I can, so once again thanks for sharing.

Cheers, Todd

 

[eartaker]

A BIG thanks for sharing this amazing project with us all, so very very cool.... way way over my head but still love to learn what can actually be done by ourselves in this hobby. So in theory could someone build components to add to thier Neptune or DA controllers at very little cost ??? I am very interested in knowing if you/a person could build a compatible VDM unit to a Apex system. I know it posible but how feasable for a DIYer ??? Will be following along and learning what I can, so once again thanks for sharing.

Cheers, Todd

Todd, from the looks of the Apex VDM unit, it seems that it outputs a 0-10v PWM signal to the LED driver to control the brightness of the LED's If that is all the VDM module does then it would not be hard to make a module for a DIY controller like the one I have made. however to make the module and integrate it into the Apex system is over my head due to now knowing how the Apex system communicates with the VDM unit. If we knew how the Apex system sends out information to the VDM then it would be possible, but that would defeat the purpose of a proprietary design. Make any since lol?