# DIY Tank Computer



## Dave_S (May 11, 2006)

Some Pics of my DIY tank computer.










The controller is from Automated logic. It has 10 universal inputs. Right now I'm using 2 for tank temperature, 1 CO2 PSI, 1 PH, 3 float switches, 1 for a tank fill button. There is 8 digital outputs that control the relays at the bottom of the pic.3 for lights, 1 for co2 solenoid, RO solenoid, 1 for the root therm, 1 for the air pump. 1 water change pump, 1 for a alarm light. 2 Analog outputs (0-10VDC), I use 1 to control the heater.










The yellow device is a PH transmitter. I get most of my parts on ebay in the industrial section. I put the bubble counter here for easy access. The device next to it is a PSI transmitter. I tried to control the pressure at the bubble counter through the computer but didn't have the right actuator for it so I scraped it for now.

120VAC stuff. Every device has a dedicated fuse. The black box in the lower right is a solid state heater control. I set the heater thermostat at a high limit setting in case the solid state control fails on and control tank heat with the computer.










2 weeks ago I was going to snap some pic's of my system as a follow up to my first post. The software used on the controller has a graphic capability that I never used. But I wanted to put together a simple graphic to show you the possibilities. Well it turned into a major project as I started to have a lot of fun with it. Also it required me to rewrite a lot of the programming. But I'm happy with the result and have added some useful features. The black windows (supposed to look like panel meters) show dynamic data that updates every 10sec. The buttons can be clicked on and a window pops up to enter data like set points. The primary temperature probe is the inline but if it fails the program switches to the tank. When the RO valve is open the average temp used (the cold RO water enters upstream of the inline probe). The root therm SP cuts out the root heater when the tank is over set point. Happens a lot in the summer. In the RO section the float indicators don't do much except for helping dialing in my water change system. The last refill is for reference to possible problems with my RO system. RO Runtime keeps track of the use put on a set of RO cartridges.










A screen snapshot of the GUI program blocks. I prefer line programming but this can be a lot of fun.










Lot of graphing and data logging flexibility.










Scheduling from software sure beats buttons on a timer.

Items on my project list are.
A)	Measure the pressure drop across my canister filter. As the filter clogs the pressure drops. 
B)	Install dimmable ballast on my JBJ lights. Instead of on/off I'll do a sunrise/sunset control from the computer. Also do a soft lighting for a night mode when I enjoy viewing the tank the most. 
C)	I have a experiment in mind for using the computer for measuring co2 in the water. 
What ever else come to mind. There always something to do with digital controllers.


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## joephys (May 9, 2006)

Thats pretty cool. I was thinking of trying to do something liket that using labview.


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## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

That is fantastic. Lots of skill!


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

Now how to market this...?  This seems like something a number of people on here would donate funds to help develop!


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## Dave_S (May 11, 2006)

Thanks for the comments and sorry about the poor quality of the Pic’s.
One of the reasons for the post was to see what kind of interest there was in this type of project and to toss ideas around. 2 main problems I see are 1 a product every body has access to and 2 affordability. Labview looks very good, used software packs pop up on eBay a lot. Not sure about cost of I/O hardware though. My first choice would be to build the whole thing from scratch. Use PIC chips as controllers – there cheap and easy to program. There is a ton programs and projects people have published on them. For the GUI front end – Visual Basic?


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

This is one heck of a DIY project. Kinda looks like one gigantic fuse box for a fish tank.  

Takes a lot of skill and knowledge to put together a system like that. Kudos to you.

-John N.


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## Ownager2004 (Apr 18, 2006)

Wow, one of the more intense DIYs ive seen. Good job.

Can we see the tank this puppy is working on?


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## kangshiang (Apr 27, 2005)

OH~~MY GOD.........
Hope I could have one in the future.......


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## czado (May 26, 2005)

Very very impressive. Maybe the greatest DIY project ever. APC doesn't seem to have a bowing smiley, so here is another one :faint: 



> C) I have a experiment in mind for using the computer for measuring co2 in the water.
> What ever else come to mind. There always something to do with digital controllers.


As you are brainstorming, here is bluesboy's project, in case you have not seen it already.


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## Cheyd (Mar 17, 2004)

Realize this is old, but wow.... I'm a network admin and have long dreamed of some ways to weave my two hobbies together... Another idea for the front end would be to use Visio & VB. Might have to make some custom stensils though.

I could help with some of it.


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## High Voltage (Aug 22, 2006)

I just saw this myself and thats some fantastic intiative



turbomkt said:


> Now how to market this...?  This seems like something a number of people on here would donate funds to help develop!


Actually, you can pretty much already purchase a platform to accomplish this very thing if you look towards semi-conductor manufacturing equipment. For example, check this link: http://www.mksinst.com/cit4.html The RMU product has all the digital, analog I/O, data collection and analysis, and multivariant analysis ( http://www.mksinst.com/cit6.html )all in one small form factor (PC104). You could even use the analog or CAN bus to control a mass flow controller to regulate your CO2 ( http://www.mksinst.com/cgi-bin/product.exe?pid=piMFC ). Anything you can think of for your aquarium (power control, gas flow monitor and control, temperature monitor and control, chemical analysis, etc) has already been consildated on products in semi-conductor manufacturing.They dont cost nearly as much as you might think either. If I thought alot of people would be interested in this, I would write the interface in a heartbeat. Did I mention a colleague used one a wireless network to monitor and control his BBQ this last 4th July?  Best BBQ yet.


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## 247Plants (Mar 23, 2006)

Nifty about that bbq.....

Id be interested in a piece like this.....

Im imagining a self contained unit with a data port/usb/wireless way to transfer data to a PC that can analyze the data even further (noob)


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