Reefmat Float sensor project

[hellsangelbx]

Hi everyone, I have a freshwater tank for my son and my local fishstore sold me this reefmat. One issue is, is doesn't play well with brackish or freshwater. I didn't know until installation and then ran water through it. I can only use it two ways , 1) through a manual button that moves new fleece into position / 2) through the reefbeat app you can change the fleece in the app. I thought it can be tricked by cutting the titanium sensor for installing the auto aqua water level sensor. It didn't go so well. I attached a photo of my hack. The electrical tape is there for temp signal connection. I was going to solder or heat shrink the connections if I got the schematic right. So far there are three wires on the reefmat sensor and there were three wires on the auto aqua. I tried connecting the same color wires together with no luck and then I tried all the combinations with no luck. I think this has something to do with the motor. Does anyone have an idea how I could make this work?

 

[blaxsun]

In the ReefBeat app, under the ReefMat section - under More Settings, there's an option to schedule mat advancement. I think this might do the trick for you.

 

[hellsangelbx]

Yeah I can only use the sensor to tell me when it gets wet and then use the automat at this point. Thanks for the reply

 

[Alotton]

Hi everyone, I have a freshwater tank for my son and my local fishstore sold me this reefmat. One issue is, is doesn't play well with brackish or freshwater. I didn't know until installation and then ran water through it. I can only use it two ways , 1) through a manual button that moves new fleece into position / 2) through the reefbeat app you can change the fleece in the app. I thought it can be tricked by cutting the titanium sensor for installing the auto aqua water level sensor. It didn't go so well. I attached a photo of my hack. The electrical tape is there for temp signal connection. I was going to solder or heat shrink the connections if I got the schematic right. So far there are three wires on the reefmat sensor and there were three wires on the auto aqua. I tried connecting the same color wires together with no luck and then I tried all the combinations with no luck. I think this has something to do with the motor. Does anyone have an idea how I could make this work?

Red Sea is working on a prototype sensor for freshwater systems. I am currently testing one of the prototypes on my 130 gal Discus display and 40 gal remote sump system - so far so good and I assume a marketable freshwater version will be released in the near future. I must say that I love the ReefMat - it not only keeps my display crystal clear, but my sump is super clean too. Brilliant design, and super easy to change fleece rolls. Sept 27, 2023

 

[Alotton]

Forgot to post photos.

 

[Deanpeak]

Red Sea is working on a prototype sensor for freshwater systems. I am currently testing one of the prototypes on my 130 gal Discus display and 40 gal remote sump system - so far so good and I assume a marketable freshwater version will be released in the near future. I must say that I love the ReefMat - it not only keeps my display crystal clear, but my sump is super clean too. Brilliant design, and super easy to change fleece rolls. Sept 27, 2023

So there is a ray of hope for a freshwater sensor. I got the reefmat 1200 before knowing the sensor would not work in freshwater. So been dojng a lot of manual advancement. Do you know if they are looking for anymore testers?

 

[Alotton]

So there is a ray of hope for a freshwater sensor. I got the reefmat 1200 before knowing the sensor would not work in freshwater. So been dojng a lot of manual advancement. Do you know if they are looking for anymore testers?

I am not sure if they are, but I was in your same boat and purchased the ReefMat before I realized it would not work with FW. I contacted RedSea several times -and begged them to release a freshwater version, but with no luck. Then out of the blue several months later, I was asked to beta test a prototype. I am very happy with the results so far, and RedSea is remotely monitoring my data. I would assume they will launch a FW version in the coming months. Cheers!

 

[Jeremy King]

/necro
New news on this? I would love to get a ReefMat, but I have a freshwater angel tank (that might turn into a discus tank) and would love to have something better than the p.o.s. Klir 7 that I have on it now. I've thought of doing voltage/current analysis on the reef sensor and measuring how saltwater makes it trigger, and then using an optical sensor and faking the signal back to the ReefMat controller, but ADHD

So if the trial period is over, or anyone has an inkling of when a freshwater version might show up, I'd buy a ReefMat in 1/2 a heartbeat.

 

[Alotton]

/necro
New news on this? I would love to get a ReefMat, but I have a freshwater angel tank (that might turn into a discus tank) and would love to have something better than the p.o.s. Klir 7 that I have on it now. I've thought of doing voltage/current analysis on the reef sensor and measuring how saltwater makes it trigger, and then using an optical sensor and faking the signal back to the ReefMat controller, but ADHD

So if the trial period is over, or anyone has an inkling of when a freshwater version might show up, I'd buy a ReefMat in 1/2 a heartbeat.

No new updates on the FW version that I've been included on. But, they should since my beta test unit has been working flawlessly. Lets keep our fingers crossed, as I would like to purchase one more for another display build.

 

[pbarnes298]

Any update?

 

[Jeremy King]

I've been playing with mine, looking at it with an o-scope and to see how it works. It's not a simple discrete sensor. The controller seems to pulse the sensor for a 1/2 second and then do nothing for a 1/2 second. I'm guessing it's doing a simple salinity measurements (is the probe in salt water and conducting, or not), and it seems to take a number of seconds before it will trigger the roll. That would keep it from turning when getting splashed (little conductivity and only momentary contact with water.)

I'm rather annoyed they didn't use a standard M8 connector. It's essentially a M8, but it doesn't have the rhombus pin pattern; it's a 2.5mm square. I've not been able to find a connector that will plug into it.

The app (and the device) knows if the sensor is connected, which either means there's a pin the connector (very small connector and I can't see anything there) or there's an interaction I don't understand with how it's monitoring the pins.

I have more details (voltages, pulse timing, resistances, etc), but I'm not sure how much I should put here.

I'm going to try a simple resistor across some pins and see if that triggers it. (Salt water is about 65k ohms.) If so, maybe I can use my Apex to monitor an optical sensor, and have it close a relay to connect the pins through a resistor.

@Alotton Do you have a different sensor or is it just special firmware? I have firmware 1.9.1. Can you say what version yours reports? I'm curious if it's 1.10 or 1.9.2 or something, so I can watch for an update that might roll out freshwater compatibility.