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Too Old for these modern fishkeeping ways ?

dino21

Member
Joined
17 Mar 2020
Messages
321
Location
Derbyshire
Recently added a comment to this post by @noodlesuk about him doing a Reef Pi controller and mentioned we would be interested to see his results.
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/reef-pi.61921/#post-610643

Today @Niton has also replied saying he had one but was looking to replace it with Smart Switches.

From other similar posts seems Smart Switches are the flavour of the month, but its a bit beyond us as to why ?

When we do a water change, we are by the tank and just press a switch which cuts off the filters, circulation and heating.
Why do we need to go to a smart phone and use smart switches and all it wifi paraphernalia ?

Same with feeding, we again press a switch and it cuts off the circulation for 5 mins via a simple timer.

It always make us think we are missing out with all this modern tech, ..... but are we ?
 
It always make us think we are missing out with all this modern tech, ..... but are we ?

Just different ways to achieve the same thing that's all. Better? Probably not. More convenient? Potentially

Instead of fiddling about with multiple timers on multiple plugs, I can set a "routine". That routine can incorporate as many devices as I want, for example, one routine could be...
Daily
6am turn on co2
Wait 2 hours
Turn on led lights, power 50, colour blue
Wait 1 hour
Turn on main lights
Wait 1 hour
Turn off co2
Wait 6 hours
Led power 75 colour white
Turn off main light

This would take a few minutes to set up and no crouching in a cupboard fiddling with multiple timers

"Alexa, water change start"
Turns off filter, powerheads, heaters, main lights
Turns on led lights

"Alexa water change finish"
Turns them back on.

No different from doing it with timed switches or manually, but has the potential to make life a little easier.

By incorporating IFTTT (if this then that) then you have the potential for things to cause other things, for example, IF the weather is going to be over 30deg, THEN turn the main lights OFF.
 
Much easier for me to press a button on my phone than try and remember which plug to unplug and then unplug it every time.

Another feature of my powerboard I like is the ability to set unlimited timers by the minute. It means I can have a high dose rate on my CO2 which is ideal for getting the CO2 concentration to the right level rapidly before lights on. After that I can have it on for 20 mins per hour at lights on, 15 mins per hour a little later and 10 or 5 mins per hour at the end when the plants wind down. This way I can get a steady pH/CO2 level the whole day, instead of a high concentration later in the day.

It's almost like having a pH controller, and a side benefit is not having CO2 mist all day.

Would have been a nightmare to set up anything like that with my analogue timers 10 years ago. Even a digital timer would have been cumbersome.
 
I see the sentiment, there is a danger of being dettached from the experience, if it's all done at the push of a button. However most of the new technology automates the repetitive side of the hobby, hopefully giving us more time to appreciate the tank, or spend more time on the bits we enjoy, watching the livestock in their habitat, taking pleasure in a good tank tidy up etc.
 
As I mentioned in the other thread I had found the macro side of ReefPi to be its most useful feature for me.

I'm doing exactly as you suggested @dino21 these days and just turning devices on and off as needed by a manual switch at the moment. In the time of being doing that I've already managed to forget to turn filters back on after feeding my fish and forgotten to turn off heaters when doing water changes!

I'm maybe more forgetful than most but the technology available to add a level of safety to mundane tasks is also very useful, particularly when it comes to health of livestock.
 
When we do a water change, we are by the tank and just press a switch which cuts off the filters, circulation and heating.
Why do we need to go to a smart phone and use smart switches and all it wifi paraphernalia ?

My water for the water change is in a reservoir behind the wall - that means I would have to run around the basement wall while the tank is filling and hope I time it right (I use a pump to fill and drain) - or rinse and repeat micro adjustments. I used to run a SMART plug in it so I could just use my phone from the other side of the wall. Since then, I removed that and let my Auto top off finish the rest for me.

I moved that SMART plug now to my CO2 gas tank and can have CO2 come in at the exact time I want.

My auto doser is also digital (not wifi/phone though) and that is great.

Where this really shines it that I am currently pushing my photoperiod by 3 hours. So, I can now gradually shift all of my tech daily by 10 minutes, in about 10 seconds - my lights, my co2 timer, and my doser.

I like the tech.

My christmas lights and tree still run on an analog timer ... for that I am not so interested in the minutia.

Josh
 
Where this really shines it that I am currently pushing my photoperiod by 3 hours. So, I can now gradually shift all of my tech daily by 10 minutes, in about 10 seconds - my lights, my co2 timer, and my doser.
YAP! With day light savings it's really easy!
 
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