My post, greenhouse-sensor-reading, noted an experiment to use the Sensor Egg to detect elevated levels of Nitrite/Nitrate in my aquaponics tank which are deadly to fish. I am happy and sad to note that the experiment shows that this thesis seems valid.
The theory here is that elevated levels of these chemicals in the water may trigger the N02 sensor in the egg and show a reading which can be used as an alarm.
What I found in two occasions was that an imbalance caused by overfeeding caused fowling of the water and triggered elevated readings in the Egg. If you look at 1-15-2013 and 1-27-2013, https://cosm.com/feeds/96569, you will see elevations. The second elevation occurred while I was travelling on business, and due to the length of time before I checked on the tank, it resulted in fishkill which caused a loss of about 50lbs of fish.
While I am not sure of the accuracy of the NO2 calibration of the sensor unit, it is sufficient to use the relative value as a trigger. I have the cosm feed set to tweet me should the value rise above 250PPB.
If you are setting up a new tank, then the Nitrates/Nitrites will be elevated while you are "starting" the tank. Use this to set your high point on the sensor readings. When your tank settles -- that should give the normal "safe" reading level.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Automated IOT Greenhouse Sensor Reading
I am using an AirQualityEgg unit in my greenhouse to monitor temperature and humidity. It also provides readings of CO and NO2. I will setup another NO2 sensor closer to the water -- then see if there is a correlation between water nitrates and NO2 readings on the sensor.
You can get sensors from here, http://www.wickeddevice.com/
You can see my readings here, https://cosm.com/feeds/96569
You can get more info here, http://airqualityegg.com
Disclaimer: the sensors are not temperature corrected so you will see relative humidity go over 100%. Also, the readings at cosm include the raw sensor readings as well as the calculated information (not my doing - this is provided as part of the airqualityeggs).
You can get sensors from here, http://www.wickeddevice.com/
You can see my readings here, https://cosm.com/feeds/96569
You can get more info here, http://airqualityegg.com
Disclaimer: the sensors are not temperature corrected so you will see relative humidity go over 100%. Also, the readings at cosm include the raw sensor readings as well as the calculated information (not my doing - this is provided as part of the airqualityeggs).
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