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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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#2 · (Edited)
Vital stats

Equipment:
10G tank

Eclipse hood with bio-wheel removed to reduce splashing.

Temperature maintained at 74-75 by Arduino which controls heater and fan

Fuge Ray LED lamp retrofitted into Eclipse Canopy in place of Florescent light. Also controlled by Arduino. If I had to do it again I would choose something with more red. This lamp is run at 70% full output due to it being so close to the water in this hood.

RO water re minirlised using the Fluval shrimp product. Target 120 TDS.

I plan to expand the Arduino's code to include Auto Topoff to avoid TDS fluctuations but I'm having a bit of trouble finding a float valve that is hidden. If anyone has done this tips are VERY welcome :)

The plan is to make this low maintenance, as automated and quiet as possible.

Thanks for reading! Comments welcome.
Whiskey
 
#3 · (Edited)
Goodies have arrived!!!

First,.. here is my Arduino readout - it tells me what the current status of the tank is.
FL = Fan on Low - it can also display "HT" for the heater, or FH for Fan High. The last reading is "Ok" for all temp control off.
The Fan and Heater on time is how many hours the particular device has ran in the last 24 hours. Helps me to spot if the tank is not able to cool or heat.

IMG_0854 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

And for the goodies - My ADA soil has arrived!

IMG_0839 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

I won't put it in quite yet though, I'm going to keep looking for Scuds and I need to find a little more drift wood first.

Whiskey
 
#4 ·
More stuff!!!

I got some driftwood on the way home from work today. My plan is to use this with what I already have to create an "Island" scape. If possible I'd like to hide the filter pump as well. I don't have much room, but I'll play with it.

Once I get the tank setup, I'll have at least 30 days cycling time where I get to play with the Arduino code to add a menu that will allow me to do things like kick on the lights full blast for 10 min to help with photography.

Here's the new wood!

Driftwood-Post by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Whiskey
 
#5 ·
I set out last night to create the perfect scape! Sadly I found myself wishing I was working with a 20 Gallon tank and not a 10. I think I greatly overestimated the tank size when buying the wood, though it was the smallest pieces they had.

I tried a number of different options:
This looked like someone was building a campfire in my tank:

IMG_0866 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

This had potential in person, but on film it kinda looks like an uninteresting pile:

IMG_0872 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

This was the GF's favorite, but it also didn't translate to the camera well:

IMG_0879 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

I kinda liked this one, but I didn't like how you were pushed out of the tank by it.

IMG_0870 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Finally I found one I could be happy with:

IMG_0883 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr


IMG_0886 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

What do you think????

I have it planted already, the plants needed their water back, but only a teaser pic of that since the AS made the water black.

IMG_0895 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Comments welcome!
Whiskey
 
#7 ·
Thanks for jumping in beedee!!!

I do have some pics with it flooded I took this morning. They also have a background that I'm trying which fades from blue to white. I thought this would give the impression of being underwater and the bright light at the surface.

I have to get a little work done then I'll go to the other computer and post them up.

Whiskey
 
#9 ·
I have a slightly better pic, the water has cleared up mostly now.


Better10Gpost by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

What does everyone think of that background? I like it because it has good contrast with everything that will go in there, but on the other hand, from across the room, my tank kinda looks like a swimming pool.

Whiskey
 
#10 ·
I have a small update, I thought I was getting diatoms but as it turns out it's just aquasoil dust.

Otherwise the tank is not doing much, crypts are melting a little bit, everything else is settling in. I saw a snail - apparently it came over with a plant I transferred from my 75. I thought about pulling it out but decided not to. I need something in there that will keep the aquasoil dust at bay. Maybe once he has a few buddies in there they will take care of that for me.

Whiskey
 
#11 ·
I plan to put a guppy in here for a little while once the tank is ready. I figure that will help build up some mulm and bio film for the shrimp and stabilize the tank.

I tested the water yesterday to see how close I am and Ammonia was 4. Yikes. I hesitate to bring in filter media from any other tanks I have though because at one time they all had scuds and I don't want to re introduce those, so I will wait.

Whiskey
 
#13 ·
Welcome aboard Speed!!

The Arduino is something I was introduced to by the Fallen Tree branch journal, he did a fantastic writeup. It's basically a small microprocessor that you can program using code very close to the "C" language. It has pins that can read analog inputs, or digital outputs, and Pulse Width modulation pins as well that you can use to do things like vary light brightness after going through some device like a FET (power transistor) that can handle the juice. I have mine controlling lights, monitoring temperature and switching fans, or heater, Dosing which will soon turn into an autotopoff to keep my TDS stable, and outputting current tank conditions to a display.

I have to take it apart soon, because I'm going to switch the display for a serial display that is 4 lines rather than just 2. I intend to use this to output temp high and lows as well. I also intend to put in some buttons that I can use to control functions, but that requires some more complex code I don't understand yet. I'm NOT a programmer lol.

I have to take it apart soon, I'll snap some shots of it if you would like.

It's a really fun tool, but frankly probably would have been cheaper to buy an aquacontroller by now, but I enjoy it so I'm doing it this way instead.

Whiskey
 
#14 ·
Wow you sure know your stuff!!! Ill definitely want to have a look. I am on the search of something that could help me automatize my tanks so that i can enjoy them without the hassle. Specially the dosing and water changing. So any stuff you have please share it!

Thx
 
#16 ·
Will do!

I didn't end up working on this today because of a minor disaster here at the house. I tried to cook chicken thys on the bbq last night by putting it on the lowest heat possible and waiting 20 min to check it. It must have had far more fat than drumsticks or breast because the grill caught on fire! And I didn't notice because I was playing Guitar Hero with the GF. I don't know how bad the fire was, only that it blistered all the paint off the bbq lid, and melted all my flippers and spices and stuff that were on the wings. It also put soot all the way up the side of the house,.. this big black band of it.

So I spent the day scrubbing stucco, and BBQ is now a monitored activity. (Also I feel pretty stupid)

It looks perfect again though! If anyone ever does this, Oxy Clean works wonders at getting soot off stucco.

Whiskey
 
#15 ·
Looking good. In your first pics with the driftwood, I was thinking "eh, looks OK". The last choice is really great though.

How easy was it to pick up Arduino? I have 3 hobbies where a lot of people are using it now and I am thinking about picking it up. I know it can become a hobby in itself, actually one of my hesitations of doing so because I don't have a ton of time. I was thinking about trying to make an auto top off and possibly using some RGB LED's strips similar to the Satellite fixture in the Fallen Tree journal you are familiar with. Then, maybe in time, if I up my lighting again, doing a much more precise auto dosing system. I may just go the opposite and keep my tank as simple as possible as well, just seem really cool.
 
#17 ·
Welcome Talontsiawd!!! I'm really happy to see this thread start to pick up momentum!!!

Yeah,.. I wasn't thrilled with my choices either when I started moving that wood around. I would have had many more good options if this tank were a 20G, but some of those peices just didn't work in the 10G footprint very well.

I ended up having lots left over, but I'm happy with the scape.

The Arduino is quite addicting! It's pretty easy to pickup if you are good with things like computers, and electronics, but it is a major time suck. I wouldn't get into it thinking your going to slap something together, but if you have time (and patience) it can be really rewarding. I love the potential of it, whatever you want it to do, you just need to write the code and setup the electronics. There really aren't many hard limitations.

Whiskey
 
#19 ·
Sadly no :(
I've been busy with school, and the screen holder is taking far longer than I expected so I really haven't done anything. Once I have a way to mount the screen I'll be able to take the Arduino apart and make the changes to the hardware and code needed to drive the new display.

The tank is chugging along just fine. The cycle is not complete, but I expect I'll have at least 2 more weeks on that. I ordered a cool bacteria product that may speed that up and help seed the tank for the shrimps, that may speed things up. I forget it's name right now, but I'll post about it when it comes in.

Sorry for the sudden halt on progress!
Whiskey
 
#20 ·
I know what you mean about tearing down the tank to rid some unwanted bugs. I had plant leeches in my tank, which dig into the substrate. No other solution than to boil the substrate/bleach the tank. It was all worth it in the end. No unwanted critters, no limpets, no snails. Haha. Looking forward to seeing your tank with the CRS!
 
#22 ·
I have updates!!!!

First,.. little off topic, but my girlfriend and I are now engaged!!! That happened last weekend, and is partly responsible for the delays in this thread. Now I can get things back on track.

Second,.. (Also a little off topic) I have pics of my 2G work tank. This tank is holding all the CRS I bought from DUNKENBEARS a couple weeks ago. Once my 10G is ready half of them will move home.

First,.. FTS:

IMG_1209FullResized by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

CRS on Moss:

OnMossResizel by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Another CRS on Moss:

VertOnMossReSize by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

With Crypt Parva

onParvaReSizel by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Another one with Parva:

withParva2ReSize by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

I call this one "Hello"

helloReSize by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

I ordered "Mixed Grades" and got a fantastic variety of high quality shrimp, my coworkers and I are really enjoying them at work - I can't wait to bring a few home.

I also have new shots of the 10G, stay tuned for those after I crop them.

Whiskey
 
#23 ·
I also have exciting news about the 10G!!!

The cycle is completed enough that I was able to add a handful of guppies from my 75G tank. I will keep the guppies in there for a couple of weeks just to give the Bacteria a workout for a while, and get some natural food established. They will come out before the shrimp are added.

Now a pic:

10GFTSReSized by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

I'm still playing with background colors - not sure I like this one either.

All comments and advice welcome!
Whiskey
 
#27 ·
It did give better contrast against the dark driftwood didn't it?

The only problem was taking pictures, the white would blast light into the camera sensor and blow out the background while the driftwood and plants were dark.

Maybe I need to try a flat white paper and not the glossy white I did at first.

Whiskey
 
#29 ·
So,.. I've been having allot of trouble with the Arduino, I switched to an I2C controlled screen and since then it's been locking up about every other day. After some research I discovered that the I2C protocol requires pull up resistors on the 2 communication wires, now I think I have that resolved but I still don't trust it yet. It has been running for about 5 days trouble free, I'll wait at least a week before I say I trust it.

In other news, I got my Macro lens!!!! I still don't have shrimp, so here are some fish pics to pass the time :)


IMG_1702 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr


IMG_1657 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr


IMG_1696 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

The flash does some funny things to the background because it's cheap and a crazy color and the way it blends with the tank light is weird. I will be getting a proper one soon from Ebay, but until then I make due :)

I love the way the guppies sparkle in the light though,.. almost like a gem stone.

Whiskey
 
#30 ·
I have exciting news!!! Water perams have stayed good for a while, the Arduino is behaving itself again (I still need to do a post on that, I haven't forgotten), so I brought 4 shrimp home and I'm acclimating them now!!!

The fish are already removed in preparation.

Here are a few pics, still from the 2G tank at work, but as of today these guys will be at home in the 10G:
IMG_2046 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

IMG_2002 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

IMG_2006 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

IMG_2041 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Whiskey
 
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