5 year old Greenhouse Update

Than,
What a great greenhouse, always look for your updates. I see you are in Akron how far from Pittsburgh are you? My son just graduated from Pitt. with a engineering degree and lives there now. Would love to see the greenhouse some time when we are out for a visit to Pittsburgh, that is if you allow visitors.
Pat
 
@chrismck97 - I am using a Canon 5D mk II to do my filming.

@dahenley - I am definitely "green" but I have a very different perspective on it than most. I don't consider the payback period of these technologies, so if there is something that can cut my monthly bill, I will probably try to incorporate it. We've been blessed with low energy rates here in Ohio, but you never know when the costs will spike.

As for the SPS System, it's coming along well. It's still settling in, so we haven't gone bonkers stocking it. We also have to slowly add lighting to the large tanks. I've decided to go with all AI LED's, so it will take a little time to save up the money to get 16 fixtures in total.

@badguitarist - The in-tank heating coils are made from cross-linked polyethylene commonly referred to as PEX. It is very popular in new home construction as water piping and geothermal heat exchange.

We have several things on thermostats:
1. The heater for the floor
2. Heater for the tanks
3. The large exhaust fan
4. The four smaller circulation fans
5. Side wall vents
6. Rooftop vents (sort of a thermostat)

@sreefs - I am about 2 hours from Pittsburgh. We do have visitors come by on an appointment basis, so if you are going to be in the area, let me know and we can set up a time for a visit.
 
Updated 2012 video below. The newest system is up and running, and we are slowly adding more LED lighting everywhere. Most of the light is for the benefit of the people viewing the corals more so than the corals. Some corals like the Acroporas have either MH or strong LED's because they need consistently bright light.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7yY5XBjAR7g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
For sure a dream set up. So happy I only live an hour away. (Westside of Cleveland) I still have not got time to send you a PM in regards to stopping buy and taking a look/ buy a couple things. Hopefully within the next couple months we can work something out?

Matt
 
Great looking setup.

Have you ever had to deal with any pests that got out of control. It seems that most the problems you had were from temp. What are some of the quarantine procedures you use now ?
 
Really nice job! I have a couple of questions since you are so good at responding individually.

1. What would you consider to be the most cumulative expense you've had through the years? Something you would/have tried to decrease. Electric, natural gas, salt, water.

2. What benifit did you see from the added layer of poly panels? You said it increased your R value, but I didn't see many adjectives describing your experience.

Thanks.
 
Well, if I had to guess it's probably natural gas for heating. Over the years, we've made improvements to reduce that cost by a substantial margin. It's practically a non-issue these days. The extra poly goes a long way towards that. If I was going to do another greenhouse, I would probably plunk down an extra $100k or more and get multi-walled polycarbonate sheets (I've seen up to 5-walled structural sheets) for everything. Maybe even two layers of multi-walled. Insulation is a wonderful thing.

Interestingly enough, our electric bill is climbing. Originally we had very few electrical devices running there, but we've added more and more over the years. They cost more to run, but they make life better for both the corals and the people in the greenhouse.
 
Any new videos in the near future?

I'm still waiting on a dedicated SPS system update.....
are things doing better, or are you still tweaking and having difficulties with that system?
 
I'm hoping to do more videos soon. The next one isn't going to be about the SPS system though. The system for the most part is doing well. Some wacky stuff happens every now and again but we have been successful with it so far. The next step is to buy a dozen more AI fixtures so we can keep more SPS under the light. I want to hold off on doing an update until those fixtures are in. Unfortunately, it may be a little while because we are doing a couple huge projects outside of the greenhouse that take priority over the lights. That's the only thing actually holding us up from propagating SPS like crazy. They are growing well and have nice color which are two things I could not say in years past.
 
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