Reef Angel Forum

I just ordered my RA today so it should be here friday or saturday Roberto said I can run the basics without the need to alter any codes but I know at some point REAL SOON I will want to move past the basics I have a feeling. Here is what I am running and what I would like the RA to do.
Tank:
Red Sea Max 34G mixed reef...softs and LPS. also 2 clowns, a small yellow eye tang, a watchman goby and 6 line wrasse along with the usual clean up crew crabs, snails and shrimp. Approx 60lbs live rock, 45-50lbs live sand. established for over 2 years.

Lighting:
12 actinic CREE XP LEDs ran in series connected to a Mean Well ELN-60-48P(output is turned down to 800ma)
12 daylight white CREE XP LEDs ran in serioes connected to a Mean Well ELN-60-48P (outout 100%)
these are both hooked up to a daylight controller I got from rapid led. I plan to connect the drivers dimmer wires directly to the RA once it arrives. The power cord for the drivers I plan to leave plugged into the wall full time so I am only planning to use RA to run the dimming from 0-100% but not ever shut the drivers off...I hate that crazy flashes that are caused when the drivers power is cut.
2 1W actinic blue LEDS connected to a small moonlight driver. I have these ran parallel to make them dim.
Ideally I would like to have my Actinics fire on first at 10am and ramp up from 0-100% over the coarse of 30-60 mins. Around 1030-11am I would like for my whites to kick on and also ramp up from 0-100% over the coarse of 30-60 mins. I would like my whites to ramp down and kick off at 9pm and the actinics at about 930-10pm. I want to replicate sunrise and sunset so if my #s are off or if I should run the whites and actinics at the same time cycles...please let me know what the best set up would be.
I also wouldnt mind a random lighting effect now and then during the day to replicate clouds or what not, but nothing to crazy like flickering lights.
Currently I leave my moonlights on all day and night..gives the tank a tad extra blue

Fans: I have one plug for all of my fans. I would like these to be on as long as I have my LEDS running (approx 10am-10pm)

Wavemaker:
I have 2 Hydor Koralia Evolution 550's I want to use on the wave maker function. I would like them to alternate approx 20 seconds each, or at random. At night (about 9pm) I would like the duration between the 2 to be longer to create a calmer current or possibly even just kick one of the 2 pumps off completely. Then resume back to normal around 11am. I would also like these to be shut off completely during feeding.

Skimmer:
Is it possible to set the skimmer up to be shut off for 30 mins when I am feeding? I usually feed my fish and corals at the same time and manually shut off the skimmer.

ATO...I do not have a set up for this YET but plan to work on that very soon. Im sure the standard settings on the RA will be fine for basic ATO function?

Temp/PH: I plan to run one temp sensor in the tanks overflow as well as the PH probe.

I have a chiller, 2 main pumps and UV but I dont think I care to set those items up on the RA at this point in time.

I think that is all for now. So how would I go about doing all of this without screwing everything up? I am 100% new to tank controllers and have NO CLUE about the coding of them.

By the way....is there a way I can use this to code my wife as well? Seems like this controller does everything so it wouldnt hurt to ask

OK so I set up my water top off sooner then I had planned. I got some crazy idea and went to home depot...got some parts and now I moved my chiller outside of my stand, set up a 7 gallon water resevoir inside the stand. Just need to order up a maxi-jet 1200 for the ATO pump and get my reef angel ATO float and program set up.

Here's some comments for you. There's no actual code but it's just comments on doing what you are wanting. (I'm still at work, so I can't give you specific code functions)

• The LEDs can be operated using the PWMSlope function to ramp them up and down gradually at the given times.
• You can have the Fans attached to a relay and have it be on the same timed schedule as the LEDs or you can have the Fans come on based on tank temperature (or canopy temperature).
• Wavemaker functionality is a piece of cake to do exactly what you want...might have to adjust things a little once running but still simple.
• Feeding mode for the controller allows you to control what ports get shutoff during the mode. You can adjust the duration of the feeding mode easily. So you just activate feeding mode and the proper ports turn off. When the feeding mode timer expires, the ports turn back on automatically and your tank resumes normal operations.
• Temp / PH stuff is simple and built in automatically for you. Nothing needed on your end except to plug them in.
• I would strongly suggest using RAGen to get the basics for your controller going. It will require alterations to make it work exactly like you want though. But at least you get the bulk of the operations done already.
• I'm not even going to touch the coding of your wife....that's a dangerous topic there. One wrong line of code and you have 3 Mile Island meltdown.

Start playing with RAGen to get a basic PDE created and then we can modify it appropriately to handle everything else. It's best to start small and gradually add in piece by piece with the extra stuff to ensure we get things working properly.

curt

thanks for the post Binder. I have opened the RAGen program but I dont think I am understanding how to change things within the program. All I see is a few basic clickable options but nothing as far as timing for the lights or wave maker.

Oh boy am I gonna need some serious help lol.

MY ATO pump will be here Monday and my Evolution 550s for wave maker function will be here Tuesday so hopefully by then I will have most of this figure out. The lights are the first thing in line since those are all hooked up and ready to go once my RA arrives tomorrow or Saturday.

Check out this thread. It's a great startup & walk through with RAGen:

http://forum.reefangel.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=60

Also, make sure you are running RAGen for the Development Libraries (Goto Edit->Settings and choose Development Libraries).

curt

Oh, and one more thing...the Internal Memory section has been moved to the Controller Menu. That's where you will generate the initial internal memory values. After that, you can use either the Client Suite, my Status application or a web browser to update the memory values.

curt

Yoru speaking a foreign language to me lol. controller menu, status app, web browser, client suite....HUH? lol. I guess maybe once the RA is here this week I will have a better idea of whats going on. BUT I am sure I will still be 100% lost as to how to change the parameters for my lighting and wavemaker. Hopefully the ATO is also pretty straight forward to set up.

Controller menu is just me referencing a menu inside the RAGen program.
Status app is a java application I wrote that allows for communication with the ReefAngel controller via the wifi interface.
Client Suite is a windows based application that dmolton created to query the stats from the ReefAngel controller for logging purposes and displaying the information in a cool looking graph.

It's not going to be too tough for you. Just play around with the application (RAGen) and get a feel for what it does. There's a LOT of information in it and a LOT of stuff that you can control. It can be a bit overwhelming but that's what we are all here for.

curt

I havent even got the unit yet and im WAY overwhelmed lol. If only there was someone here in Phoenix I could buy beer and lunch for to help me out LOL.

got the RA today in the mail. Roberto is quick!!! I got the ATO hooked up, the lighting and the wave maker functions. Got the PH and temp probes installed as well. Temp works great but PH I need to calibrat once the fluid arrives hopefully tomorrow.

I cant for the life of me figure out how to do ANYTHING outside of the main menu. I see I need to install some drivers for the TTL...I tried that and cant even figure that out. I know the basics with computers but this stuff all seems to have me baffled. So as of now I havent even hooked up the RA to my computer. And speaking of hooking it up...does the RA need to be connected to the power strip and into the wall to be able to be programmed on my computer? If so im screwed! The junction box is screwed into the back wall of my cabinet and it will be a PITA to pull it out and put it back in each time I want to program anything.

Next issue I am encountering...when the lighting is 30 mins from shutting down my lights start flickering like crazy...lightning storm like crazy!!! whites keep flicking on and off and dim to bright, its wild! it does that for about 10 mins or so before the lights all shut down. what the heck is going on??? Also if I unplug my RA head unit to do a reboot my lights all kick on 100%...is that normal? the relays are open if the unit is disconnected from the power strip?

and my final issue (so far) is with the ATO. If I manually trigger it by pulling the float down to simulate low water levels the relay kicks on as it should. as soon as I let the float go to float up it turns off as I think it should. I havent even tried the high switch yet because when I try to pull the LOW float down again...it wont turn the switch back on. Is there a lock out to prevent it from going on X amount of times in X amount of time? If I reset the unit and then pull the float down...the ATO switch gets turned on again.

Oh this thing has me sooooo lost!!! Anyone in Phoenix or planning to be out here soon?

Fourseventeen wrote: I cant for the life of me figure out how to do ANYTHING outside of the main menu. I see I need to install some drivers for the TTL...I tried that and cant even figure that out. I know the basics with computers but this stuff all seems to have me baffled. So as of now I havent even hooked up the RA to my computer. And speaking of hooking it up...does the RA need to be connected to the power strip and into the wall to be able to be programmed on my computer? If so im screwed! The junction box is screwed into the back wall of my cabinet and it will be a PITA to pull it out and put it back in each time I want to program anything.

Start off slow.

First thing first, did you install the Reef Angel Installer? http://www.reefangel.com/Download.ashx
Towards the bottom, it's called "Arduino - Reef Angel Installer (Windows)" (http://www.reefangel.com/files/ReefAngelInstaller.exe)
If you have not, I would suggest installing this first. It walks you through getting your computer prepared for communicating with the RA. It even handles installing the drivers for you and tests that you actually did things properly. It's very good and really simple for anybody to use.

You have to have power to your RA in order to program it. So you will have the power cord plugged into the relay box and then the cable from the relay box to the RA head unit. Then there will be a USB cable connected to your RA and then to your computer. That cable is how you update the RA with the code. I think you should be able to get a USB extension cable to help connect your RA to your computer.
I will say that once you get the basic functionality created for your controller, you won't really need to reprogram it.

and my final issue (so far) is with the ATO. If I manually trigger it by pulling the float down to simulate low water levels the relay kicks on as it should. as soon as I let the float go to float up it turns off as I think it should. I havent even tried the high switch yet because when I try to pull the LOW float down again...it wont turn the switch back on. Is there a lock out to prevent it from going on X amount of times in X amount of time? If I reset the unit and then pull the float down...the ATO switch gets turned on again.

I would suggest reading this post: http://forum.reefangel.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=240
It discusses how the ATO switches work.

Let's start with those first. I'll let others comment on the other comments that you have.

curt

Fourseventeen wrote:Next issue I am encountering...when the lighting is 30 mins from shutting down my lights start flickering like crazy...lightning storm like crazy!!! whites keep flicking on and off and dim to bright, its wild! it does that for about 10 mins or so before the lights all shut down. what the heck is going on??? Also if I unplug my RA head unit to do a reboot my lights all kick on 100%...is that normal? the relays are open if the unit is disconnected from the power strip?

The flickering is a limitation of the Meanwell drivers and not RA.
http://www.meanwell.com/search/eln-60/eln-60-spec.pdf
If you look at the datasheet, this happens right about 15%, where the signal fluctuates from 0% to 15% and any very slight change on the signal will cause it to go either 0% or 15%, which causes the effect you perceive as flickering.
Not all drivers present this behavior though. I've handled drivers that didn't do it and some that did. I don't know if they were from different batches or what made them not present this behavior.
What I recommend is using a minimum for the slope of 15% or higher. Since you dialed it down to 800mA, it will be slightly higher, probably close to 20% in your case.
But you can't change the start percentage of the slope on the preloaded code.
You will need to play around to see what is the minimum it will take without flickering.
Our of curiosity, does the actinic channel also present the same behavior?

Roberto...The actinics I did not notice doing this. They MAY have but I dont think so. The daylights doing it were so overwhelming. It literally looks like a crazy disco party in there with the whites flashing on and off. The actinics driver output is turned down to 800-850ma. The daylights output I just turned down a little less than quarter of a turn...since they are ok running at max I didnt measure, I just went for what looked good. Somehow or another I need to get rid of that flickering though...when that happened all of my fish darting around and went into hiding...and I dont blame them. So if I am reading right and from what I would already assume...the only way to change this the correct way is to get into the programing of the RA?

Curt...
Thanks for the links. The ATO topic I have read but it doesnt give me any clue as to if the ATO switches have a time out (other then how long it stays on for) or should I say a recycle time that it takes to reset. I have set the ATO time out for 20 seconds. However my issue is that the ATO I cant even get to turn on. After powering up the RA I can get the float to trigger by pushing it below water level (I have enough water in the tank so it wont trigger on its own). So after I trigger it, I would assume it would then reset so if the water level drops again it will activate again...but it doesnt. I waited overnight now and tried it again and it wont turn on UNLESS I reboot the RA.

As far as connecting this thing to the computer....it is mounted and all my wires are ran nicely through looming and all zip tied up...took me a good hour to run all the wires. So I guess I need to pull them all out to get the RA box out. My tank is a good 80 feet away from my computer. Ill get that part worked out though. I think the hard part is going to be to code the functions, rename/number the ports so that im not seeing 0-7 on the screen but 1-8 on the plugs, if its possible...get rid of the graph on the display and make it so the PH and temps show larger, get my lights to ramp up and down properly and get my wavemaker to shut down one of the pumps at night. I know once i get all the bugs out of the way I am going to love this RA set up.

Yes, when you get into programming your RA, you can set the minimum PWM to 15% and you won't have that issue anymore.
Is the ATO float switches mounted so the are opposite to each other? One pointing up and one pointing down? This is how they have to be to work with the preloaded code.
If you want it to work with just one float like you are expecting and describing, you can do so by choosing SingleATO when you generate code with RAGen.
The numbers on the screen are set from 1-8 the same way as the plugs by default once you program the RA with code generated from RAGen.
The only way to make larger numbers and get rid of the graph is using custom screen, which will also require you to move away from the preloaded code.
So, it does look like the code from RAGen is the way to go for you.

Did you read this thread?
http://forum.reefangel.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=60

I am using both floats as you desribe. low switch with wires aiming up and high switch with wires aiming down (and then back up out of the tank obviously). I am not sure what the deal is with the ATO but I need to get that figured out today at some point.

RAGen is a MUST for me without a doubt. Guess I plan to spend some time today trying to get that started too...but I am real worried I am going to screw something up and then not have anything working

Let me explain then how the ATO on the preloaded code works.
The low switch is what turns the port on and high switch is what turns the port off.
Water level has to travel from when low switch is activated all the way up to when the high level switch is activated within the timeout period, 20s in your case.
It seems to me that 20 is not enough, unless you have a realy strong pump or your float switches are mounted in two levels so the difference between low and high is packed together.
If the 20s expires, the RA will disable the feature and generates and alert.
It disables because it could be that you have something that is altering the level of water and you don't want RA to start pumping RO water indefinetely or it could be that your container is dry and you don't want the pump to be running dry.
When an alert is triggered, the red led status will turn on.
To re-enable the ATO feature and clear the alert flag, you have to go to menu "View Log" if you are using the pre-loaded code. That will clear all alerts and turn the red status led off.

ok view log....that cleared up the hang up so the ATO kicks on again. Ill have to work on the timing so that I have the time expire before it will get to high but not to short so that it doesnt allow the high flow to kick the pump off on its own. I think I got that part handled.

The wife is watching a movie so I just stole her laptop....and yes shes going to be pissed! but oh well. Its much easier then trying to take all the stuff out of the tank stand lol. So I am about to load all the stuff onto this computer and see what I can do. im REAL nervous over here.

K got the RA software installed and the RA connected to the computer. It appears to be communicating (com3). I dont see anywhere though where I can open the current codes to just modify them.

for the led lighting to turn on at 10am at 15% intensity and ramp up to 100% and then at the end of the day ramp down to 15% before shutting off at 10pm. If I could put in random cloud cover that would be even cooler! maybe a few times a day dim the daylights to simulate this? But I wont be upset if I cant get the cloud cover part done.

For the wavemaker I want them to alternate at 30 seconds during the day (one off, one on...or even random) and then have pump 2 shut off at 10pm to calm things down and turn back on at 10am and go back to alternating again.

If I could get those 2 things working I would be a happy camper. Now if I can get rid of the graph and make the text larger so I can easily view temps, time, pumps that are on and PH and name the sockets and ditch the 0-7 and make that right I would be even more stoked! Another thing I would like to do is change up the sockets as well so that 7 or 8 works my fans. I would plug the fans into the daylight outlet BUT its a transformer plug so it wont fit anywhere but on the end of the outlet. right now my fans are in socket 8 but they dont ever shut off I would like them to stay on only when my LEDS are on.

Ok, let's start small
Try generating the code with RAGen with the things you have plugged in on the relay box.
Copy and paste the code, so I can see what you have.

I dont even know how to start generating any codes. I have read and read so much i cant see straight lol.
I have RAGen open and I have Arduino open and have looked at the drop down menus in each and cant sem to figure out where to start. guess I will go back to the tutorials again and read some more.

I need a teacher lol

Open RAGen
Select PDE tab
Click in each port and choose what you want on the right side
That's it
Once you go through all 8 ports, click generate

oh ok yeah I seen how to do that but that doesnt give me the options to ramp anything up or down or create a starting intensity of the LEDS or change the timing curve of the pumps for wavemaking function.

that part you just mentioned seems simple enough but it doesnt appear to give me the options to change things around and rename the ports?

// Autogenerated file by RAGen (v1.1.0.126), (10/22/2011 15:14)
// RA_102211_1514.pde
//
// This version designed for v0.8.5 Beta 17 or later

/* The following features are enabled for this PDE File:
#define DisplayImages
#define DateTimeSetup
#define VersionMenu
#define DirectTempSensor
#define DisplayLEDPWM
#define wifi
#define SIMPLE_MENU
*/


#include <ReefAngel_Features.h>
#include <ReefAngel_Globals.h>
#include <ReefAngel_Wifi.h>
#include <Wire.h>
#include <OneWire.h>
#include <Time.h>
#include <DS1307RTC.h>
#include <ReefAngel_EEPROM.h>
#include <ReefAngel_NokiaLCD.h>
#include <ReefAngel_ATO.h>
#include <ReefAngel_Joystick.h>
#include <ReefAngel_LED.h>
#include <ReefAngel_TempSensor.h>
#include <ReefAngel_Relay.h>
#include <ReefAngel_PWM.h>
#include <ReefAngel_Timer.h>
#include <ReefAngel_Memory.h>
#include <ReefAngel.h>


void setup()
{
ReefAngel.Init(); //Initialize controller

ReefAngel.LightsOnPorts = B01010110;

// Ports that are always on
ReefAngel.Relay.On(Port6);
ReefAngel.Relay.On(Port8);
}

void loop()
{
// Specific functions
ReefAngel.StandardATO(Port1);
ReefAngel.StandardLights(Port2);
ReefAngel.MHLights(Port3);
ReefAngel.Wavemaker1(Port4);
ReefAngel.Wavemaker2(Port5);
ReefAngel.StandardFan(Port7);

ReefAngel.ShowInterface();
}

ok so that should make it so port 7 is my fan which should go on with my lights? and it should make it so wavemaker 2 only goes on when my lights are on as well?

Now what do I do? lol

Good. that's a start.
Remeber, we have to go doing baby steps.
If you tackle everything at once, everything goes wrong and you won't be able to find out what it is.
Let's read what you generated to make sure that's what you have plugged in the relay box.
Port1 - ATO pump
Port2 - Lights
Port3 - Lights
Port4 - WM Pump 1
Port5 - WM Pump 2
Port 6 - always on, no matter. Will not turn off for anything
Port 7 - Fan
Port 8 - always on, no matter. Will not turn off for anything

Is this correct?
Here is the first thing I'd recommend: Put your fan on port 4 and move wm pumps to port 5 and 6. These ports have special dampening components to help minimize the spikes generated by pumps.
On RAGen, there is a section for Ports toggled during modes.
Make sure to select which port you would like turned off for feeding and water change.

I need to run the fan on 7 or 8 because the plug wont fit any other place...its a block style plug for 12V.

yes I made it so port 6 and 8 are always on. The WM ports I just left them where they came set up...i didnt change those at all.

port one is ATO
port 2 is my moonlight
port 3 is nothing
port 4 is nothing at the moment
port 5 is WM
port 6 is WM
port 7 is nothing at the moment
port 8 is my fans currently
this is are port #s according to the power supply box not the display. the display as we discussed befoe are reading one number less then actual. which also throws me off all the time.

Will you want to stop the WM pumps on feeding and/or water change mode?

Yes I want to shut off the WM for feeding but not water changes

So, your code should be something like this then: Port1 - ATO
Port5 - WM
Port6 - WM
Port8 - Fan that follows the same schedule as lights