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10G Arduino controlled CRS playground! (56k) New Pics 8-11-2014

8K views 46 replies 9 participants last post by  Whiskey 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello all!
I haven't really been good about keeping a tank journal before, but I've found a couple other journals to be really helpful lately so I figured I'd make one and maybe someone will find mine helpful.

The tank in question is 2 years old now,.. I set it up as a shrimp tank, but always had a heck of a time keeping any shrimp in it, or keeping moss. The shrimp would breed, but I'd have lots of unexplained deaths, enough that the population would eventually die off.
Shot from around that time:

IMG_8168 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr


IMG_8263 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Recently I discovered that the Scuds I thought were so fun, AND that I tried so hard to make sure I took home from the LFS were the cause of my 2 years of trouble! Apparently not only do they eat Moss like crazy, but they also eat shrimp after molting.

So! Hungry for revenge due to all this suffering they caused I went on the war path. First I transferred the 2 shrimp I had in there to my work tank and tried a 15X overdose of Excel since I don't use it anymore and had some laying around. I did that just before leaving for work, and when I came home I found all the scuds out and playing, happy and free. Next I poured 2 cups of bleach in. After 10 min they were still alive, but not happy. I then sucked out all the substrate that was falling apart anyway and removed everything for a good wash in the tub.

Every plant, piece of drift wood, filter, and piece of equipment was bleached, rinsed and returned to the tank. Anything replaceable has been replaced, and the substrate has been removed.

The tank is now BB and I'm on high alert for Scuds. I have Amazonia coming in soon to replace the old Fluval substrate, and I intend to get some more drift wood.

For now the tank sits like this, starting a new cycle at 2 years old:

10G by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Thanks for reading! More progress to come.
Whiskey
 
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#35 ·
Arduino insperation.

This post was my start, I got the part numbers for the Fet's I used, resistors, and diodes, and basically copied all the physical control from this post. I started with basically what he has, and then expanded it with a screen because I wanted feedback.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showpost.php?p=4321993&postcount=175

Now,... I wanted temp control, I fiddled around a bit with analog thermistors but they were inaccurate with everything else going on. Finally I found this guy, waterproof and accurate. This website is great! Not only do they sell you the part, but they provide sample code and libraries. I used their sample, and put it into my code with a minor tweak to average 20 readings before displaying, and convert to degrees F.
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11050

And since I liked that site so much I picked up this screen. I later changed that to a I2C screen but I would not recommend it, I would stick with this style if you can.
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/709
Once again, I looked at their example and copied it. There documentation is really good.

As far as controlling the fan/heater goes, I flip the fan on the same way AnotherHobby flips on his lights, and I do the same thing for the heater except that the FET turns on a relay which switches a plug on and off. I then plug the heater in there.

Hope this helps!!! If you have any questions fire away.
Whiskey
 
#38 ·
I have great news!!!!!!

One of my shrimp is buried!!!! I'll try and get some pictures, but she seems to like to hide allot.

In other news, I am having temp problems. The tank is normally maintained between 74.0 and 75.0, but a recent heat wave has it reaching 76.90 for brief periods in the middle of the day. Because of the limitations regarding my hood I can't add more fans easily, so I'm trying to figure out how big of a problem this is.

Whiskey
 
#42 ·
I have more pictures!!!
OF BABIES!!!

Check it out. I have at least 8 because I've seen 8 at once, but I might have many more. They hide very well, and the tank is just packed with plants:
One of the parents:
_Parent1 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

I think this is the best shot, parent with Baby:
_Mom+Baby by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

This one is only a couple hours old:
_HoursOld by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Close up of baby on ADA SAND these things are small,..
_Baby by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Another one of the adults:
_Parent2 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Enjoy!
Whiskey
 
#43 ·
I put this up in the aquascaping section as well, but I figured I'd post it here too. These are updated shots of the tank.

What do you think? Would you enter this in the AGA competition?

Long story short, my high tech tank didn't work out this year, but I've wanted to enter the contest for a long time. Would you bother to enter with this shrimp tank? Or do you think everyone would feel like it was a waste of time?

I'm not expecting to win, and I don't mind negative commentary from the judges, I just don't want to be so far last people wonder why I'm even there. I would in fact consider it a victory if I got any comments at all, positive or negative.

If I did enter I would:
1. Take better pictures.
2. Pull the filter pump out.
3. Do something about the background, similar color but without the water damage.
4. Clean the glass.
5. Get more shrimp in the shot.

Here it is,.. What do you think? Would you enter it?
Front shot:
FrontView by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Side shot:
SideView by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Comments welcome! Advice as well.
Whiskey
 
#46 ·
Thank you Loriinpd!
No, I didn't do anything to it. It does leach ammonia for a while though, so you do need to cycle the tank for a bit longer. The results are worth it though! If you want to keep soft water loving shrimp with plants this stuff is amazing.



By way of an update, I dropped some food in yesterday and was amazed at all the little CRS teenagers that are in there. There are lots of babies, lots of midsize and only a couple adults. I love how quickly the population has grown, from around 5 to probably over a 100 already.

The tank is getting more and more active! :)

I am having temp problems though, the bedroom gets over 90 during the day right now and the fans are doing a fantastic job of keeping it under 80, but sometimes it does climb to 78.

I'm topping off about 3/4 gallon a day as well - I adjusted the Arduino program to topoff twice daily to avoid potential swings.

Whiskey
 
#47 ·
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