Robo-Tank DIY Aquarium Controller Forum
Help: Creating a series of events. - Printable Version

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Help: Creating a series of events. - RyanS - 05-02-2021

I'm very new to this system and have yet to purchase one but I have a specific need I'm wondering if this will work for...

I'm trying to make an auto water change system for a larger tank and hoping this system can accommodate my need.

It involves 4 pumps and 2-4 float switches.

The process is initiated by pressing a button or a daily time stamp which triggers a sequence of events.

-The sequence would start with pump 1 turning on and shut off by a float switch.
-That float simultaneously triggers pump 2 to turn on, another float shuts it off... the sequence continues with 2 more pumps.

Is it possible to program a series of events like this without using timers to control how long pumps run?


RE: Help: Creating a series of events. - Rob F - 05-02-2021

Hi Ryan, welcome to the forum, you happened to ask a question that's a little difficult to answer unfortunately. You can do quite a bit of automation using macros in reef-pi however they aren't straight forward and can be a little difficult to run complex tasks. Based on what I'm thinking I have a feeling it will be difficult and take some testing.

You can start a macro using a timer but the problem comes with the sensors taking over. You are able to trigger macros using sensors however it appears if there are more than one step it can possibly cause the macro to loop as it doesn't get shut off or something. Unfortunately I'm unable to navigate how the system works in the code so I don't know how macros technically work which doesn't help.

Do you have reef-pi running on a Pi? You can run software without any controller if you already have a Pi. If you can, maybe try setting up separate macros as you feel you need them. Create a macro for each sensor that would be in the system. Then if you can post the pictures I can have a better idea of how you want the system and can possibly give a better answer.

If you follow instructions on this page to install reef-pi it will add all the ports for Robo-Tank so you can add pumps etc to "equipment" tab and add sensors to "ato" tab. At that point you'll be able to work with the macros.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t9majBpGlqKacDjkyEZ1HQNWsTRo3woZ/edit#heading=h.tl5qkcuznso3