International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 10 Number 8 - Apr 2014
Real Time Monitoring of Parameter Influencing Freshwater Fishes
Mr. Amar R. Shiral¹, Prof. A.S. Mali², Mr. Vasim Ustad³
¹ PG Student, Department of Electronics Engineering, Tatyasaheb Kore Institute of Engineering &
Technology, Warananagar 416 113, Maharashtra, India.
² Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics Engineering, Tatyasaheb Kore Institute of Engineering
& Technology, Warananagar 416 113, Maharashtra, India.
³ PG Student, Department of Electronics Engineering, Tatyasaheb Kore Institute of Engineering &
Technology, Warananagar 416 113, Maharashtra, India.
Abstract-In this paper we
proposed a system
which can monitor Fish Tank continuously. It is
actually a wireless sensor network which is having
one base station and several nodes. Salinity of the
water is very important parameter which is
responsible for the difference in environment from
marine conditions. Salt is an important ingredient
for influences the environment where fishes live.
Fishes life is best between the pH range 7.0 to 8.0. If
the pH changes by a small value then it is stressful
for fishes. Temperature is also another parameter
which affect pH and in turn affect fishes life. The
developed system monitors these three parameters
affecting the fresh water fishes. This system is based
on the microcontroller.
Keywords- Fish tank, Salinity, pH, Temperature.
I.INTRODUCTION
Freshwater fishes are the fishes which spend their lives
in freshwater such as rivers and lakes with a salinity of
less than 0.05% [1]. These environments differ from
marine conditions in many ways and the most common
being salinity. In order to survive in fresh water, the
fish needs a range of physiological adaption’s in order
to keep the ion concentrations of their bodies balanced.
Salt is natural ingredient for purifying water and for
energizing stressed and wounded fishes [1]. However,
salt is effective only in small quantities and excessive
use can be harmful. Tap water usually has very low salt
content and the addition of salt make the fishes feel
home and defeat toxic chemical and avoiding fish
poisoning. Also, the salts help fishes in gaining energy
due to illness and stress thereby increasing the oxygen
intake and flow of blood. The pH is equally a key
parameter which influences the environment where
fishes live. Usually fishes can live in pH ranges from
6.0 to 8.0, but their quality of life is best between pH
7.0 to 8.0[2]. The change in the value of pH even by
small amount will be more stressful for fish. Freshwater
has a natural pH in the range 6.0 to 8.0. As the pH value
ISSN: 2231-5381
drops below 6.0, the non-desirable species may begin to
invade fish population and aluminium ions from nearby
soil may be released into the water which can kill the
fishes. The most chronic effect of increased acidity
may disturb the reproduction cycle making fishes
sterile. The increase in the value of pH above 8.0 can
kill the adult fishes, harm the juvenile fishes and
increase the toxicity of other substances like ammonia.
Temperature is other key parameter
which influences the value of pH. Many substances
exhibits increased toxicity levels at elevated
temperatures which affect the fishes. The temperatures
also contribute to the growth and reproduction of the
fish. One approach to solve this problem would be to
employ a Sensor Network that would enable users to
monitor the required factors such as pH, temperature
and level of salinity. Sensor Networks offer many
attractive low cost solutions to monitor these conditions
[3]. Few applications of Sensor Networks are volcano
monitoring, machine monitoring, animal tracking,
vehicle tracking monitoring etc.
II.PROPOSED SYSTEM
Transmitting NodeFig.1 shows the transmitting node of the proposed
system. In this system we have used a Microcontroller
PIC 18F4520. It has 10 bit inbuilt ADC. For pH
measurement, pH electrode is used. This pH electrode
is actually a combination electrode. The modern
electrode is a combination electrode composed of two
main parts: a glass electrode and a reference electrode.
pH is determined essentially by measuring the
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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 10 Number 8 - Apr 2014
microcontrollers a logical choice for many highperformance, power sensitive applications.
pH Sensor-
Figure 3. pH Sensor
voltage difference between these two voltages. The next
is Temperature sensor which is LM 35. This is very
familiar sensor for us. Salinity of the water can be
measured by measuring the conductivity of the water.
So conductivity sensor is used here, conductivity
measured in Siemens per meter. Zigbee is used for
wireless transmission of data.
It measures Hydrogen ion activity and produces
electrical potential or voltage.It is a passive sensor.It is
a Bipolar sensor.The source impedance of pH sensor is
very high.It produces a voltage output that is linearly
dependent upon the pH of the solution being measured.
Temperature SensorLM 35 Temperature sensor is used.
Receiving Node-
Figure 4. Temperature sensor
Figure.2 Receiving Node
At the Receiving Base station data has been received
and stored for the monitoring purpose. For which I have
used a Personal computer to store the data.
III. HARDWARE DESCRIPTION
 Calibrated in directly ˚Celsius (Centigrade).
 Linear +10.0mV/˚C scale factor.
 0.5˚C accuracy guarantee able (at +25˚c)
 Rated for full -55˚ to +150˚C range.
 Operates from 4 to 30 volts.
Salinity Sensor-
MicrocontrollerPIC18F4520 microcontroller is used.It has high
computational performance at an economical
price.High-endurance, Enhanced Flash program
memory.PIC18F2420/2520/4420/4520
family
introduces design enhancements that make these
ISSN: 2231-5381
Figure 5. Salinity sensor
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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 10 Number 8 - Apr 2014
It measures the conductivity of solution.The term
salinity was originally defined as the mass of dissolved
salts in a given mass of solution. The Vernier Salinity
Sensor measures the ability of a solution to conduct an
electric current between two electrodes.The Salinity
Sensor
is
actually
measuring
conductance.Conductivity,
C, is found using the
formula: C = G *kc.
IV. DESIGN ISSUES
The proposed system is designed and the sensors are
fixed in the tank. We have considered the salinity range
between 3-5, pH range between 7-8 and the temperature
range between 20 to 30 degrees centigrade. The upper
and lower threshold values of any of the three
parameters change , the alarm is sent to observing
station.
Pure water which is having conductivity almost zero.
1 liter water which is having 1gram salt (1 PPM)
I searched on the internet and referred some papers
from which I found that if 1 liter water contains 1 gram
of salt then its conductivity is 1 ppm. Actually,
Electrical conductivity from two probes is 1 cm apart. 1
EC is equals to 1 micro Siemens. To convert EC to
Siemens multiply by 1E-6. EC can be converted to ppm
by multiplying by 500.
So, Conductivity sensor gives a stable reading. Only
part remaining in this calibration is that I have to look
for standard conductivity measuring instrument and
compare my result with standard conductivity meter.
V. CONCLUSION
Calibration and Experimental ResultsPh Sensor Testingph sensor is interfaced with the microcontroller. I used
three solutions to test pH sensor.
Solution 1 of pH 4.2
Solution 2 of pH 7.0
Solution 3 of pH 9.4
During calibration of sensor I found that pH sensor is
less sensitive. In fish tank actually, pH of water doesn’t
changes instantly. It takes long time to change pH, so
that pH sensor is designed in such a way that it doesn’t
give instant change to us. But after some delay it gives
us approximate value which is a good sign.
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The developed system using Microcontroller has
proven to be successfully acquire accurate
measurements for the above mentioned parameters like
Salinity, pH, Temperature. The alarm is sent to
observing station if the value received at the observing
station is more or less than the upper and lower
threshold values respectively. So, this helps us to
monitor fish tank and facilitate the stay of fishes
freshwater comfortable.
VI. REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Series1
6.
7.
0
5
10
8.
M.Lopez, J. M. Gomez, J. Sabater, A. Herms, “IEEE 802.15.4
based Wireless monitoring of pH and temperature in a fish
farm” IEEE 2010 conference.
R. Teng, IEEE communication magazine, vol 44, no. 11, pp.
124, 2006.
M. J. Lee, J. Zheng, X. Hu, H. Juan, C. Zhu, Y. Liu, J. S. Yoong
and T. Saadawi, IEEE communication magazine, vol 44, no. 11,
pp. 116, 2006
D.Culler, D. Estrin and M. Srivastava, overview of sensor
networks, computer, vol. 37, no. 8, 2004.
C. Chong and S. P. Kumar, “Sensor Networks: Evolution,
Opportunities, and Challenges, ” Proc. IEEE, vol. 91, no. 8,
2003.
A Guide to pH measurement- Theory and Practice of laboratory
pH applications.
Fredrick J. Kohlmann, “What is pH, and how it is measured? A
Technical Handbook for Industry” Hatch company, 2003.
NingXu, “A survey on sensor network and application,” IEEE
communication magazine, vol. 40, no. 8, 2002.
p
H
Figure 6. Graph of Output voltage vs pH
Salinity Sensor TestingWe are measuring actually conductivity of water. To
measure conductivity I used two types of water.
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