Neptune Aquatics

Arin's Reefer-S 850 Build

Reefinglens said:
Following for updates on the modded Ecotech battery. Mine died and I plan on swapping it out and turning it into a project myself.
Click to expand...
One of them I modded a long time ago and it worked great. The mod is super easy if you can solder or have experience splicing wires etc.
Happy to help if/when you're ready.

The main "problem" is finding a good battery that fits. The batteries I used aren't available on Amazon anymore but with some Googling etc you should be able to find one (or two wired in parallel) that fits
 
Forgot to mention another "thing" I did:

I finally got my Mac mini setup again - its historically just been a media server running Plex etc - but last week I installed Homebridge on it. This always you to control non-Home Kit stuff via Siri.
The initial use case here is to trigger Feed Mode with Siri. Yes, I have Alexa built into my Sonos but its not reliable; > 50% of the time Alexa doesn't respond to the wake word and I end up opening the app and hitting the "Feed A" button. So now I can turn Feed Mode on via my HomePod Mini.

The next step here is to see how I can setup Homebridge to use my Apex's temp probe as an accessory. This would allow me to setup a HomeKit automation to turn the house's AC on if the tank's temperature gets higher than, for example, 81 degrees.

Anyways - should be & I'm pretty sure I can pull it off. Is it worth the effort? Honestly, I dunno LOL We'll see. Shouldn't be hard tho so might as well give it a shot and see how it ends up.
 
phatduckk said:
Forgot to mention another "thing" I did:

I finally got my Mac mini setup again - its historically just been a media server running Plex etc - but last week I installed Homebridge on it. This always you to control non-Home Kit stuff via Siri.
The initial use case here is to trigger Feed Mode with Siri. Yes, I have Alexa built into my Sonos but its not reliable; > 50% of the time Alexa doesn't respond to the wake word and I end up opening the app and hitting the "Feed A" button. So now I can turn Feed Mode on via my HomePod Mini.

The next step here is to see how I can setup Homebridge to use my Apex's temp probe as an accessory. This would allow me to setup a HomeKit automation to turn the house's AC on if the tank's temperature gets higher than, for example, 81 degrees.

Anyways - should be & I'm pretty sure I can pull it off. Is it worth the effort? Honestly, I dunno LOL We'll see. Shouldn't be hard tho so might as well give it a shot and see how it ends up.
Click to expand...
Setting up your house to turn on the AC for an overheated tank isn't extra, its genius.
 
rdriggett said:
Setting up your house to turn on the AC for an overheated tank isn't extra, its genius.
Click to expand...
Nest already has built in stuff for this. So it’s kind of a redundancy setup in case Nest’s safety temp stuff doesn’t kick in.

Plus I’d have to be out of cell range and not get notified by Nest (house too hot) or apex (tank too hot).
 
My ATO reservoir filling automation kicked off while I was asleep...

Here's the setup

Virtual Outlet: RO_AUTOFILL
Code: 
If ATO_LO OPEN Then ON
If ATO_Hi CLOSED Then OFF
When On > 084:00 Then OFF

Both Solenoids' programming: (one input to RO unit, one output of RO unit)
Code: 
If Output RO_AUTOFILL = ON Then ON
If Output RO_AUTOFILL = OFF Then OFF

Did it work? ya. Did it work perfectly? no

A few hitches
  • The initial WHEN statement was only set for 75 minutes so the automation turned off based on the timer not based on high sensor (ATO_Hi)
    • I manually triggered the filling
      • flipped to ON, then AUTO immediately
      • I used a stopwatch to find out how long it would take to fill up the rest.
        • ATO_Hi triggered in 9 minutes so I just added 9 min to the timer
      • ATO_HI triggering properly shut off the automation... so that part worked
  • looking at it now it looks like I forgot to add the leak detector to the RO_AUTOFILL outlet
    • oops
 
phatduckk said:
One of them I modded a long time ago and it worked great. The mod is super easy if you can solder or have experience splicing wires etc.
Happy to help if/when you're ready.

The main "problem" is finding a good battery that fits. The batteries I used aren't available on Amazon anymore but with some Googling etc you should be able to find one (or two wired in parallel) that fits
Click to expand...
Did you do something like this?
 
Darkxerox said:
Did you do something like this?
Click to expand...
Not exactly since I used 2 batteries and wired them in parallel. If you find a single battery that fits then the video is pretty much on point. My diy was a bit different due to using 2 batteries.

Here’s the thread I put up when I did the mod. https://humble.fish/community/index.php?threads/replacing-the-battery-in-ecotech-backup.4442/

Happy to answer questions etc. Telegram has a hunch of useful info in the thread I linked too
 
Nice! I definitely need to try this since my old one is literally a paperweight right now. Thanks for the writeup!
 
Started putting together the salt mixing bin / AWC reservoir. Most of its straightforward but there's a few things worth sharing:

Glued half a Tunze magnet to the Eheim heater holder b/c suction cups suck


IMG_6457.jpeg
Another interesting bit is that I put a 2" bulkhead at the top along with an elbow to minimize how much dust can find its way into the bin

IMG_6459.jpeg
Here's the quick view of the inside: 2 Neptune WAV pumps for mixing, Eheim heater, optical sensor to stop from overflowing

IMG_6458.jpeg

There's still a few things to do:
  • rig some random PVC tripod type thing that I'll mount the low level optical sensor & DOS output line to
  • put a leak detector somewhere
  • do the plumbing (AWC waste line, AWC to sump, RODI -> this bin
  • plug everything in
  • do apex things
  • profit
 
phatduckk said:
Started putting together the salt mixing bin / AWC reservoir. Most of its straightforward but there's a few things worth sharing:

Glued half a Tunze magnet to the Eheim heater holder b/c suction cups suck


View attachment 40263		Another interesting bit is that I put a 2" bulkhead at the top along with an elbow to minimize how much dust can find its way into the bin

View attachment 40264
Here's the quick view of the inside: 2 Neptune WAV pumps for mixing, Eheim heater, optical sensor to stop from overflowing

View attachment 40265

There's still a few things to do:
  • rig some random PVC tripod type thing that I'll mount the low level optical sensor & DOS output line to
  • put a leak detector somewhere
  • do the plumbing (AWC waste line, AWC to sump, RODI -> this bin
  • plug everything in
  • do apex things
  • profit
Click to expand...
Are you using a dos for the awc?
 
Bummer.
If you are going to do this right, qt every fish that comes in to you in the future, no matter where you get it.
I think the idea of getting a disease from a coral or a rock is a one in a million deal, so I wouldn't bother qt that stuff for fish disease. Because I know you worry, you can triple rinse everything you get in tank water. :D
 
I mean think of doing it the natural way, in nature coral reefs pop up then the fish move in, not the other way around where fish are there and corals decide to move in :D
 
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