Reef Angel Forum

I have just recently heard about the Reef Angel and it sounds like what I would like to add to my new tank that I am building right now. First about my tank: It is a 40 gal breeder tank with a home made stand and a 40 gal breeder sump, I have 2 Cree led light systems for the main lights similar to this one: I guess you can't use URL links but it is a Cree Led that comes as a all in one if you look on amazon under "Aqua Pro 60W CREE XP-E LED Aquarium Reef" you will find something close to mine ( I don't know what watts mine is or any specifics right now). I will also have a moon lights that are a strip that just plug into the wall. I have a Jebao WP-25 circulation pump. I will be using a SCA 302 protein skimmer in the sump and my sump light will be a screw in LED light bulb.

What I would like to do with the Reef Angel is: 1) Be able to monitor my tank while I'm away because I'm in the Army and my wife ends up watching the tank for me, 2) I would like to create a sunrise and sunset, 3) I would like a warning if the tank is leaking or overflowing.

Will the Reef Angel be able to create the sunrise with these lights? Will I need the analog or PMW? What all would I need to get with the Reef Angel to do this?

Thanks for all the info in advance. I am really into working on my tank and the Reef Angel seems to have endless possibilities, so I'm excited to try this controller but it is a lot of money to put into something if it doesn't do what you think it will.

Tony

Welcome Tony;

The Reef Angel does have endless possibilities, and the people in the forum are very knowledgeable and helpful.

Form what I can see you will need the following...

Reef Angel+ (PWM or Analog depends on what you will be dimming with it)

The Jebao 25 can run PWM or analog, but you will need a Jebao/Speedwave cable harness.

As far as your Cree LED's lights go you need to find out if it can be controlled without the stock controller and if it can is it PWM or Analog.
If you can control it with a third party controller and on the stock you will need a dimming expansion module. The module can be switched from PWM to Analog via jumpers inside the unit.
The sunrise/sunset can be done with the dimming module if the lights can work with it.

To monitor the tank you'll need a WiFi Module.
To check for leak or overflow you'll need the Rope leak Detector Expansion and an Expansion hub.

You need to check with the manufacturer of your light fixture if it is controllable by a third party controller and which signal it takes.
The Jebao pumps for sure can be controlled and you can use any signal as Steve mentioned above.

I guess I don't understand. Isn't the controller limiting the power to the outlet to dim it? How is it controlling the light and what makes it controllable by a third party.

Is Aqua Pro the company, and where would I find that kind of info? Sorry I have limited internet access where I'm at and I want to find out as much as I can before I get home.

No, you are going the wrong path.
Not all lights are dimmable and definitely not all fixtures are controllable.
The LED fixture needs to offer the capability. The controller does nothing more than control it.
You need to start off with a fixture that is dimmable and controllable by a third party controller. Most fixtures that come from China are not.
If it is, it would advertised and it would say which type of dimming signal it accepts.
I don't think the one you mentioned is, by the looks of how everything is connected together. You will need to contact the manufacturer. I've never heard of that fixture before, so I can't help you with that. Sorry...

As Roberto said you need a light the is dimmable and controllable.

I was led to a Chinese LED that is advertised as dimmable and I have come to find out thru other people that it is controllable.

The light is an analog controller, basically a little potenitometer that reduces the voltage going from the power supply to the light. This type of dimmer you can get off E-Bay for $5.

This is the light. http://www.ebay.com/itm/300915148718?ss ... 1439.l2649

Someone found out that if you connect it to a Mean Well ELN-60-48D Analog dimmable driver http://www.rapidled.com/mean-well-eln-6 ... le-driver/ you can have the RA control it.

I got this and it does work.
My next step is to try to connect it to a PWM driver that will allow it to dim to 0. The analog version above only goes down to about 15%.

This is a little more complicated and requires more equipment that I already had from an abandoned project.

Well I can't find anything that says it is controllable and have not found the manufactures contact info yet. Maybe when I get back home I will be able to find out more.

If I can't control the lights by dimming them and only by on and off, what do you think the biggest reason for owning a Reef Angel? I realize it does a lot but it seems like a big investment.

As you said before the options are endless with a RA.
Basically if you can think of it someone on here can help you code it.

I have mine set up to control a denitification system and I'm about to set it up to do automatic water changes, refill my top off container when it is empty an refill my Salt water replenishment when it is empty. With the use of solenoid valves and coding.

I used to be against controllers because I was able to do everything I needed with timers, but since I've gotten it, I keep finding ways to replace my timers with the controller and everything is communicating with each other.

MY ATO knows not to start putting water in when the denitrification unit is running and the water level may drop a little low.

lion-clown wrote:Well I can't find anything that says it is controllable and have not found the manufactures contact info yet. Maybe when I get back home I will be able to find out more.

If I can't control the lights by dimming them and only by on and off, what do you think the biggest reason for owning a Reef Angel? I realize it does a lot but it seems like a big investment.

I have on/off LED lights and probably have one of the largest amounts of code in my ReefAngel. I use it to automate water change routine, manage the tank while I'm on vacation. Monitor my top of reservoir. Notify me in pH events. Backup thermostat for my heater. Control my auto-feeder + feeding mode. Flow control. Dosing control for 2 part. I use a function that converts volume to number of seconds based on the calibrated rate of each pump. Sump level monitoring and alarm. Skimmer control. Power outage monitoring, etc. Seriously worth every single penny I've spent.

If you're just looking at RA to be your light control, then you're definitely better off buying lights that just have their own controller like the IT2040's or similar. If you want to control your tank and monitor all the aspects of it and feel confident when you're away that things are running well, then you're in the right place.

Steve and Lee I have looked at your codes and all the things you are doing with the Reef Angel and honestly it's almost over whelming. I would love to monitor the tank from afar because I am gone quite a bit and it would help my wife out I'm sure. Not to mention I love having something to tinker with and come up with new things to do to the tank. Thanks for all your help

How does it control the dimming? I don't understand how an outlet is controlling it unless it is through voltage output.

Does the Reef Angel work with a Windows phone? I will never get one again but right now I am stuck with it.

I would love to see pictures of your setups to see how they work. The automated water changes sounds way too cool. What is a denitification system.

Thanks again you guys are so helpful
Tony

Also sense my lights seem to be not controllable does it matter if I choose PMW or analog? How many expansions can you do or is it endless?

Tony;

If you want to monitor the tank while you are away, you will need something like a Reef Angel to do it.
What you want to monitor will dictate what expansions you will need.

If the only things you want to dim or control the speed of are your lights and Jebao pumps then it doesn't matter since it seems like we are ruling out your lights right now. The Jebao pumps can run on PWM or Analog control.

The PWM is usually a little less expensive.

LED lights are typically connected to a driver.

The driver will get some amount of DC voltage (mine is 48v DC) that has been converted from 110-120v AC wall power.

The driver will take that 48v DC and adjust the amount going out the the LED's according to the signal it is getting along the dimming channel from the controller.

Think of it as an programmable potentiometer or like the dimmer on your Dinning room chandeller, but the dimming channel is telling the potentiometer what percentage it should be at at a certain time of the day.

If you are looking to make thing easier on your wife while you are gong the controller will help do that, especially an automated water change would help her a lot.

A denitrification chamber that isolates a portion of the water and then through a chemical process removes the Nitrates from the water.

This is the one I have http://natureef.com/products/denitrifiers/

It had it's own timer and controller, but with some modification and coding (from Lee) I have it running off the RA now.

Don't let the size and breadth of my code overwhelm you. It's pretty advanced and there are simpler ways to do everything. You can start off with the wizard and slowly add features over time. We're here to help you sort through and figure out what needs to be done. If you have any programming experience it will help but otherwise, the first times through it's like reading another language.

Yeah Lee's code is over the top I think it will do everything except change the babies diaper.
Mine is probably below average. I really don't have to much going on in it yet.

I'm not the best at coding, but I'm glad to help as much as I can.

Lee, your code is a little over whelming but also inspiring on just how much you can do. I want to thank you for all the help and quick responses you give.

Steve, Thanks for all the info you have also been so informative. I like how much help the people on this site are and it makes this product better for it. What selinoid valve do you use?

I do want to get one of these as soon as I can the wife just had an issue with the tank and it was so hard to figure out what was wrong. I am in Afghanistan right now and the time difference combined with her not knowing certain details made it hard. Can you hook up a web cam to the Reef Angel? How do you run a water change system? If you could give pictures with it I would appreciate it.

Thanks Tony

No problem Tony. Thank you for you service over in Afghanistan and keeping our country safe.

My Water change system is not hooked up yet, but the solenoid I got to start and stop the automation for the R/o unit is this one,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/111122910537?ss ... 1423.l2649

The Automatic water change is being done by using a dual heal peristaltic pump that will remove and replace the same amount of water at the same time.

There is a whole thread on it on RC and R2R.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... ?t=2349824

http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/do-your ... -then.html

My local club it doing a presentation on it this week.
I'll try to get a copy of the presentation or video tape it for you.

Yes you can setup a webcam and have it displayed inside the Reef Angel Web Portal or just view it on any web page. it is not really connected to the Reef Angel and the Reef Angel doesn't control it or anything.

I used to have one, but I replaced my router and I cold not set it up again correctly on the new router.

Steve that is an amazing idea on how to do a water change. The pump seems pricey but the time it would save would be awesome.

So my tank back home is having problems again so I think the Reef Angel is going to be a necessary add on to the new tank I'm building. It is just to much stress to deal with and my wife has enough other things to deal with that I don't want the tank to be a headache for her. Hopefully after this she will give the thumbs up to buy it.

Can I get text messages sent to my phone when there is a problem? Is there an App or something for a windows phone?

Tony

Tony;

The Stenner pump is expensive, but if you read the whole thread other people have found used peristaltic pumps on E-Bay for a lot less.

I'm using ThermoFisher D3138-13 motor w/Masterflex 7024-20 Pump my whole setup was about $100.

Lee is using an AMETEK 3 Line Peristaltic Pump with I think is still using the MasterFlex- pumps.

They are both sold out right now, but if you keep looking I'm sure something will come up.

The Reef Angle hsa a Web Portal that can send text message alerts to your phone, but there is also an app for the Andriod and I-phone apps that will let you monitor the tank, turning things on and off and send alerts to your phone.

I think you said you had a Windows phone. I'm not sure if there is an app of the Windows phone so you might need to use the web portal.

Where do you live?
I figured if you were close to me maybe I could help out if there was a problem while you were out of town.

Steve;

You are always so quick with response I appreciate it. 100$ to do auto-mated water changes is not bad at all. I will keep my eye out for one.

Yea unfortunately I have a windows phone but if I can get text alerts I could use the web portal and that is awesome.

I appreciate the offer but we are almost as far as you can be away in the USA, we live in WA state.

No problem. Yeah WA is a bit far from Florida.

I was looking for the pumps and there are currently 2 pumps for $50 each. I can't find a motor though. I have a spare motor, but kind of wanted tovgang on to it for a spare, just in case. I'm sure 1 will come up.
The only other expense is to replace the tubing that comes in it (if there is any) and a power supply. After some experimentation I found that a 12v 2amp laptop ps worked in my setup.

The portal is capable of sending text messages.

Sent from my HTC One VX using Tapatalk

Yes, there is an app for W8 phones. Check the download section

Steve, You are all ways so helpful and I will be watching for a pump but I have decided to get the Reef Angel now and will have to wait for the pump. I am really excited to buy this controller and can't wait to play with it and work on my programming skills. I have taken one programming class but would be way more nervous if it wasn't for this great community that helps each other out so much.

Roberto, That is awesome that it has a windows app and I look forward to buying this controller.

The Reef Angle Wizard will do a lot of the basic programming for you.

One thing you might want to consider adding to your purchase is the Bluetooth attachment.

If you have remote access setup on your PC at home then maybe you can access your PC remotely from Afghanistan do some minor programming updates and then upload it to the Reef Angel wirelessly through the Bluetooth.

The only other way to program the RA is to connect your PC to it directly with the included TTL to USB cable.

I'm not really away from home that much, but I seem to have more time at work to make updates and changes then when I;m at home so I can make them and then just upload them to the RA thru the bluetooth.

I haven't seen the attachment for a blue tooth. Is it the WIFI attachment that you are talking about?

No there is an additional Bluetooth adapter. I don't think Roberto has it on the store yet.

If you are interested in it too PM him about it.

So even with the WIFI I would have to plug in my computer to upload code to the Reef Angel?

Yes. The Wifi is only for getting data out of the RA to the portal or apps.

I got my webcam set up again.
This is what it looks like inside the RA Portal.


Here is a link to it.
http://sacohen.no-ip.biz:2010

UID = Fish
No Password

Thanks Steve for getting that video up. Wow that would be cool to see from wherever you are. Sorry it took so long the internet has been down out here and have been busy.

No problem. I just got the video this weeekend anyway.

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