HELP: Hardware Design

[TwoTankAmin]

I understand you must continue with this as an assignment. However, I also still maintain it will never be more than that since it is an impracticle idea. The average fishkeeper has a tank or two which may be in a living room, den or perhaps bedroom. To automate water changes means you have to have plumbing to get clean water to the tank and then to dispose of old water. That fact alone makes an automatic system difficult to impossible for many.

But lets look a bit further. Most folks may spend a few hundred dollars or pounds to set up and stock a tank. How much would the system you want to design cost to buy if you could make it work? My guess is about 4-6 times what the whole aquarium set up cost to begin with?

As far as I know you can not dim fluorescent or power compact bulbs?

There is no affordable device that can glean gravel in a decorated/planted tank without uprooting stuff?? How will it lift a rock to vac the crap that accumulates there?

Drip overflow water change systems have been around for years.

Timer costs about $8 at hardware store to turn lights on and off.

-I have a device to read tank temp- it is called a thermometer.
-I have devices to measure pH, kh, nitrate, ammonia, phosphate, nitrite- they are called test kits. They also tell me my co2 levels from pH/kh.
-I have a device to clean the glass- it is called an algae scraper- and for the really stubborn hard green aglae spots, I use a special device called a single edged razor.
- I rinse my filter media weekly w/o needing a warning light.

 

[jimboliana]

A device that can clean the inside of the glass (1-5): 5 I belive i have seen one on the market, will have to try and find it, i do know its expensive

A device that can clean up the soil (1-5): 5 Dont know any

A device that gives a warning (lights up a LED or something) when the filter needs cleaning (1-5): 5 Though i have just bought a Dennerle CO.C.400 filter and on it it has two chambers, one with 15 (filter to be replaced on the 15th day of the month) and one with a 30 on (filter to be replaced on the 30th day of the month) though your idea would take it a step futher

A device that automatically replaces water continuously (1-5): 2 I dont belive you have to continuously, you wouldnt have to if in just a planted tank plus as mentioned before it is costly

A device that can measure and display the nitrate/Fosfate levels (1-5): 5 though you do get dip test, continuously would be good to see any spikes etc

A device that can measure and display the O2/CO2 (1-5): 3 I also have a Dennerle Dennerle ph-Controller 588 that fully controls the co2 in the water

A device that can measure and display the PH (1-5): 3 As above

A device that can measure and display the temperature (1-5): 3 I have a Dennerle Dennerle DUOMAT 1200 that controls the temp in the water with both a heater cable and the heater in the filter
A light timer with dim function for sunset/sunrise (1-5): 5 Would be great though Aquamedic do one that also controls the phases of the moon as well as sunrise ans sunset

I hope this helps though i am probably a little late now

Jim

 

[anodized]

1. For how long have you been keeping fishes?
2 years
2. Do you own a salt or normal water aquarium?
freshwater
3. How many fishes do you own, and from roughly which species are they?
20, community
4. How big is the tank?
45 gallon
5. Are you already using a controlsystem to control the environment in the tank?
ph test kit, plants
6. How do you take care of your aquarium when you go on holidays, or away for the weekend?
extra water change only
7. What food do you feed your fish and how many times each day?
once per day usually, flake and freeze dried bloodworms, algae wafers
8. Would you entrust you aquarium to a fully automated system?
yes, with inspection of the system regularly
9. What would you rather not do involving cleaning etc. ?
water changes, gravel, glass, monitoring water conditions
10. How much space would you have for a control system?
several cubic feet if outside of the aquarium
11. Do you have any Idea's or Suggestions?
must be silent

 

[BigIan]

1. For how long have you been keeping fishes?
6 months

2. Do you own a salt or normal water aquarium?
fresh water, tropical

3. How many fishes do you own, and from roughly which species are they?
60 mostly catfish or chiclids
,
4. How big is the tank?
we have 6 tanks, ranging from 36"x12"x12" to a 350 litre bow fronted corner aquarium

5. Are you already using a controlsystem to control the environment in the tank?
depending on how you mean, yes i use heater and filters to keep the temprature as constant as i can aswell as keeping the water clean

6. How do you take care of your aquarium when you go on holidays, or away for the weekend?
normaly ask a friend or relative unless its just for a couple of days in wich case the tank can survive on its own.

7. What food do you feed your fish and how many times each day?
various foods including, live larve, granuels, pellets, flakes, slices of cucumber, and tetra pro crisps

8. Would you entrust you aquarium to a fully automated system?
aslong as i had the opertunity to fully test it first

9. What would you rather not do involving cleaning etc. ?
not botherd acctualy i enjoy it all, its all part of fish keeping, plus when you maintain your tank you notice any problems with your tank, you also get to spot eggs and when your shrimp has shed its skin and thats really enjoyaable as you know your running your tank well.

10. How much space would you have for a control system? 2 cubic feet stacked verticly

11. Do you have any Idea's or Suggestions?
w3hatever your designing should be fully ajustable or modular, as various diffrent fish require a huge range of diffrent enviroments, including water flow and a huge range of water chemisty,
other factors may be the type of tank, some people like heavily planted tanks while others go for barren and sparse tanks, with bare bottoms and no decoration,.



keep us informed on how the progect go`s

 

[Fishy412]

Hello again,

Thank you for your previous replies. We have discussed the outcome and we have come up with a few features we could think of that might be handy. We would like to know, on a scale from 1 to 5 ( Where 1 = SUCKS! 5 = GREAT!), how much you would appreciate a new device on the market that has on of these functions:

1-A device that can clean the inside of the glass (1-5):

2-A device that can clean up the soil (1-5):

3-A device that gives a warning (lights up a LED or something) when the filter needs cleaning (1-5):

4-A device that automatically replaces water continuously (1-5)::

5-A device that can measure and display the nitrate/Fosfate levels (1-5):

6-A device that can measure and display the O2/CO2 (1-5):

7-A device that can measure and display the PH (1-5):

8=A device that can measure and display the temperature (1-5):

9-A light timer with dim function for sunset/sunrise (1-5):


Thank you once again!

PS The Nitrate level and the Fosfate level interact with each other. When a certain balance is reached Algae are rarely formed.

1) 5, its called a magnet cleaner
2)5
3)4
4)4
5)5
6)3
7)5
8)5
9)5555555555555555555555555555. That would be an amazing thing to have. especially when its run on a timer and you dont have to worry about it.

 

[andywg]

Hello again,

Thank you for your previous replies. We have discussed the outcome and we have come up with a few features we could think of that might be handy. We would like to know, on a scale from 1 to 5 ( Where 1 = SUCKS! 5 = GREAT!), how much you would appreciate a new device on the market that has on of these functions:

A device that can clean the inside of the glass (1-5):

I don't suffer from a lot of algae and it can be useful as a backdrop (in the marine tanks): 2

A device that can clean up the soil (1-5):

I have little problems on my sand. Could do with a small amount of removal on the large tank, but a bottom fed weir would solve that: 2

A device that gives a warning (lights up a LED or something) when the filter needs cleaning (1-5):

I can see this being useful, but I can see the filter floss on my wet/dry so I can visibly see as it clogs up: 3

A device that automatically replaces water continuously (1-5)::

As previously mentioned, these have been done before on an automatic constant drip. I would far rather trust simple mechanics than more complicated systems. I always plan that everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Also, more involved auto-top offs are out on the market incorporating float valve switches and pumps and the like: 2

A device that can measure and display the nitrate/Fosfate levels (1-5):

You can already get nitrate probes (Around £130) and in the reef sphere you can purchase controllers that link into a computer so you can then always keep an eye on the tank levels through the internet. Unless you could do this cheaper it will not be a great succcess: 2

A device that can measure and display the O2/CO2 (1-5):

See above: 2

A device that can measure and display the PH (1-5):

See above: 2

A device that can measure and display the temperature (1-5):

See above: 2

A light timer with dim function for sunset/sunrise (1-5):

You have a large problem dimming flourescant lights. It is possible, but the ballasts cost a lot of money, far more than is really worth it. If you could do this cheaper, then the product would be good: 3

 

[Lateral Line]

A 1+ year bump.......

 

[andywg]

A 1+ year bump.......

Don't you just love it! 8)

 

[anodized]

lol, oops