This seems to be a continuing topic without resolution. So I’ll as the same question that was asked back in 2019. Does anyone know of sensors/probes that can measure ammonia, nitrate and nitrites. This is for an aquarium project I am working on.
Thanks, pretty sure the answer is nothing available that will be useful in an IOT application.
Perhaps your IOT application is the problem. What sensors have you tried?
Sensors and how their data is used has nothing in common. Search for sensors measuring each chemical You’re interested in. Sending the data to Serial monitor, SD cards or the internet is no problem.
For soil measurements like NPK that is probably true, as those measurements need to be done by professionals in a lab with the appropriate equipment.
You might check this link: https://www.hach.com/parameters/nitrate
IOT has nothing to do with the sensors. Inexpensive "nitrate sensors" are really just measuring conductivity and relating that to nitrate concentration. This is sort of valid if you only have a specific nitrate in distilled water. In actual practice there are a lot of other ions so the readings are meaningless. Actual nitrate sensors are complex and expensive - you won't find them at hobby prices.
What are your expectations for a resolution? Build and use intructions? List of materials? Programmibg code? Reporting (output) standard?
Is this a school project with hardware requirements?
That’s the problem. I can’t find any sensors that measure what I need.
I have and haven’t found any so far, hence the request for help.
To learn why, see post #4.
Good question. If I can’t find the sensors, the project will probably not procede. The sensors are the key to maintaining water quality. This project is a school project where the students raise rainbow trout all year then release them in the spring at local state park. The program is run by Nebraska Game and Parks.
So far forum has not found any either.
You could research what equipment spectrometer analysis use. They cost a lot….
OK, let me clarify. IOT just means sensor and processor all in one package with the capability to connect to a network. It doesn’t require a connection to the internet and in fact this project will not connect to the internet. We will use ESP32 to read sensors, MQTT to forward data to monitor that is on the same wifi network serving as a Broker and running Node-red. Node red will allow the students to program.
How would you do this manually? Is there something similar to Litmus paper to perform these tests, which would indicate the correct/incorrect levels with a colour change?
Wrong on both counts, in my opinion. The sensor and processor can be separate but connected packages. It can't be "IoT" without a connection to the internet. The "I" in "IoT" stands for Internet!
No, it is not! The real solution is to continually flow fresh water, as from a stream, through the holding pen. That is what real fish farms do.
Yep. It was a good idea. I need to talk to the Biologist in charge of this program for the state to see how frequently these tests need to be performed and how its is currently done. There must be something that can be done.
How will you correct the problems when they are found?
Ion selective electrodes exist. Pretty expensive though (200 euro...).
And I am not sure if they exist for any ion.
At least you know what to google for...
In our lab we had a machine that did 2 color reactions to measure ammonia, nitrate and nitrite plus nitrate... not something you want to have in your home...
Another option is anion and cation chromatography... columns, detectors, and pumps are usually 1000's of euros.
A simple Google search turned up lots of info.