Aquascaper 900 - Comeback Lockdown Tank :)

[LondonDragon]

If that's the case I can see no reason why you took the pain to inform the community on your fertilizing schedule.
My water contains 15.6789 ppm Mg precisely PLUS unknown amount from my tap. 🤣

As everything it's a starting point, then you adjust to suite your needs! 🙂 but a quick search I am sure you can find the water report for London if anyone were that curious!

 

[LondonDragon]

Recently acquired an Intaqo controller, www.intaqo.com
The Version I have is only with two dosing pumps, temp and PH probe, and on and off switch for a 12v DC Solenoid.



So far pretty impressed with it as it is pretty easy to use and configure out of the box, there are versions that can also control the lights with two inputs for those, but not something can test with my version! Maybe in the future if I stick with it.

You can control all the features on the local wifi network, or you can connect it to the internet and view the information on the web. Here what mine looks like on the website:


BTW I only dose 60ml per day, on Thursday I made a new batch of fertelizer and then dosed 60ml manually to fill the pipes for the next day! 😉

I did not get a Solenoid with mine, so at the moment I just set the on and off scheduled on the controller to match what I do on the timer for CO2. @Geoffrey Rea kindly sent me a @CO2Art.co.uk solenoid which I am going to replace my existing with, so then I can test controlling CO2 using the PH values, to see how effective that is.

I did print my own PH/Temp sensor holder for my 10mm glass and also some clips for the tubes that I had posted before, together with a nice holder to mount it on the side of my cabinet. There is a version that Intaqo do that has a metal screw in it to adjust to the glass size but its an ugly thing! So I edited and made my own to match the glass thickness, I have since made 6mm, 8mm and 12mm versions too if anyone is interested let me know.



I will post my findings once I start playing with the controller automating the CO2 on and off!

Might be a little overkill but I like the geeky side of it! 🙂

 

[LondonDragon]

I am pretty impressed with it, most of it looks like its 3D printed and based on an Arduino board, but a lot of effort has gone into the software, there are always room for improvements, so not sure if they push out firmware upgrades to this or not! Was not clear.

The App is pretty good also, nothing overkill but straight to the point and easy to use.

This is the main screen:


This is the config for pH/CO2:



This is the config for the pumps:

It also provides historical data like you mention, This is the menu to view historical data:
You can see the PH history, when you go into it, it shows the last 3 days worth:


But you can create a report from any date to date! Here is the last 7 days:


You can also compare any two days data for PH, by default shows the last two full days:


And also 2 days for temperature:


I am just curious now to see how it can control the CO2 via the PH levels.

Do you guys know if I need to insert the kH value for it to work properly?

Cheers
Paulo

 

[LondonDragon]

I custom-made and 3D printed a little bracket to mount the unit sideways inside my cabinet:







Turned out pretty well, I use the velcro straps so that I can easily removed it, also the space between the feet and the base are perfect dosing tube management to keep everything nice and tidy 🙂

 

[hydrophyte]

Cool project! I should read back through this pages because it looks like you have some good details on hardware, automation, DIY, etc.

Any updates?

 

[LondonDragon]

Cool project! I should read back through this pages because it looks like you have some good details on hardware, automation, DIY, etc.

Any updates?

Tank took a lot of neglect at the end of last year when my dog was very sick, and has taken me a couple of months to get back on top of it, I did spend 5 hours on Monday trimming and replanting all the buces and anubias, the carpet had to go, was mixed with mosses and algae and there was no way to save that, I will let the tank settle for a week and I will post an update. Not at its best to be honest. Didn't help that I run out of CO2 for a couple of weeks, and also did not realise my fert container was empty for a week or so! lol

 

[LondonDragon]

How it looks at the moment:



Nothing fancy, just planted tank with lots of healthy plants 😉 most of the algae is gone, now that I got maintenance back on track.
Carpet is gone, was considering sand front, but had so many plants that I trimmed the Buces and expanded on them! Also the right-hand side has become a crypt heaven, trying a few that I found interesting, see how they do!

 

[bazz]

Looking good to me Paulo!

 

[LondonDragon]

Looking good to me Paulo!

Many thanks, it has looked better before 😉 it's coming to 3 years old this tank, might be time for a change 😉

 

[LondonDragon]

A week later, filter maintenance and a couple of water changes! How it's looking now:



Lights are at 80% only for 4 hours, 1 hour ramp up and a 2 hour ramp down! Still use the same fert formula, and PH drop at the moment is only 0.8!

Getting there! 😉

 

[LondonDragon]

How the tank looks today:

 

[Guest]

Not too shabby for someone who doesn’t consider themselves an aquascaper. Beautiful tank Paulo 🙂

 

[G H Nelson]

Great looking aquarium Paulo!
Love the Odessa/Checkered Barbs....

 

[mlgt]

I always enjoy seeing the tank in the flesh. Im glad you have kept it running all these years and may it long continue 🙂