5 year old Greenhouse Update

[dendronepthya]

@inktomi - I can think of a few things I would have changed. Some of the things we went ahead and changed, however there are some things we did not. You can see some examples of what we changed comparing the old thread to this update. The heated floor and the second layer of greenhouse glazing are examples.

One really big change I would do if I were to start from scratch are building a different style greenhouse altogether. Instead of the shape mine is, I would go with a lean-to design facing south and build a regular building on the north side. The second really big change I would try is a geothermal setup for heating and cooling. I've never used one before but I'm very curious as to how it would work.

I really would not change much in terms of the tanks themselves as I am pretty happy with how they have turned out. If I had unlimited funds, I might go with custom fiberglass instead of rubbermaid stock tanks, but it's entirely cosmetic.

@kmacartney - Thanks! I work at Ohio University.

@wdt2000 - I find everything except SPS are better in the winter. The temps dip down to about 72 degrees and everything is great looking. In terms of growing corals, the summer is actually more of a challenge than the winter.

 

[kmacartney]

Cool! Let me know if you ever want to swap frags.

Best,

Keith

 

[coralprops]

Hello Than,

VERY nice setup that you have created and what a beautiful greenhouse. Are you using any kind of shading during the summer?
I've build a greenhouse last year and it was just ready before the snow came. First corals came in at the beginning of this year. Most of my corals are doing very well but I have trouble with growing SPS. I am using blue shading during the summer months to keep the GH cool. How do you manage to grow your SPS? How deep do you keep them? My tanks are 30" high and I am thinking of raising the egg crate a bit.

Thanks,
Henk

 

[The Big Tuna]

Hey Than yer GH looks awsome bro,
I have finally been able to get SPS to jam in my GH including Acros(wich have done better than some other SPS). The key seems to be good, consistent water chemistry & temp control. Temp swings seem to wack SPS in GH quicker than anything else.

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PM me sometime & I'll give ya my phone#, God I suck at typing :rolleye1:

Joshua

 

[Bowman]

Hi Than Thanks for the update. Being from NE Ohio I am always curious of the progress your GH making. Enjoyed the presentation you did for our CSEA club and Always a pleasure seeing you at the local frag swaps. Cheers

 

[reefer31]

@inktomi -

One really big change I would do if I were to start from scratch are building a different style greenhouse altogether. Instead of the shape mine is, I would go with a lean-to design facing south and build a regular building on the north side.

Why would you do this kind of GH design?

 

[madean]

reefer 31- I believe it has to do with better control of light. Could be wrong.
rED86- I agree the truss was probably not designed to have additional weight hanging from the bottom of the truss. All though it is not that much weight and it looks to be spread out amongst other trusses, I would think it is fine. It would have been a better idea to somehow attach the horizontal poles to the top rung of the truss since this is where all the weight is designed to be. As with any truss the weakest point is at the point of connection and the bottom rung or part of the truss. In a residential house where trusses are used fo roofs generally putting plywood for increased storage space is a horrible idea and all it takes is 2-3 trusses failing and the whole roof fails (in a wood atmosphere). As far as the cabling goes, different styles of cable are available at local hw stores and doubling or trippling the cable significantly increases its strength. Ie 100 lb line supported in all four corners doubled could effectively hold 800 lbs but in the real world it will hold more then that as long as your connections are solid and not stressing the cable. If connections stress the cable then up to a 60% decrease in strength could be applied. Its all in the connections because this is where a lot of the stress is.

 

[madean]

dendro- Im curious as to how you shade your corals when you feel the need to. Do you have some sort of a cabling system ie like raising a flag to apply the extra shade and if so could you explain it or even provide some pics.

 

[madean]

I am toying with the idea of a GH but I live in sunny CA. Where the light is plentyfull and shade is a concern.

 

[reefer31]

I believe that a GH in CA would be hard in the summer months because of the heat. But tons of sun!!!

 

[dendronepthya]

@reefer31 - I would go with a lean-to design here in NE Ohio because there would probably be energy savings by having a conventional wall on the north end rather than a greenhouse wall. It is easier to insulate and there could even be room to have office space/storage in the front area. In terms of light, it would basically be the same because no light comes in through the north end. In the winter especially, the sun does not go very high on the southern horizon.

@madean and rED86 - The smaller metal pipes I hang the gates on can hold at least 100 lbs or so based on when we used them to hold orchids. On top of the tanks, we only expect to put on 10 lbs at most. The larger greenhouse frame is insanely robust. You can probably hang cattle from them without any difficulty.

As for shading, we don't do anything special. We've made removable screens from shade cloth and PVC that we place on the tanks and on the hanging gates to provide more shade. We've installed larger shade cloths on the greenhouse itself that do not move knowing now that we don't ever need the full power of the sun.

 

[dendronepthya]

Chemistry

Chemistry

On an unrelated note, our water chemistry is slowly but surely improving after the addition of two part additives and the new calcium reactors. For a very long time, our values were very low and getting worse due in large part to infrequent use of additives and infrequent water changes. It was not a problem when we had relatively low stocking levels but once our corals really started growing, Ca, Alk, and Mg took a dive.

Before we started on this aggressive regimen, our values looked on average like:

Ca: 300
Alk: 6
Mg: 900

In the past two months, we've increased these figures to:

Ca: 410
Alk: 11
Mg: 1100

We are testing weekly now to make certain our reactors are dialed in, and I am hoping to raise the Ca into the 450 range over the course of the next 30 days. This is in part because I want a higher level, but also because I think our Alk is rising a bit too high. At times, the test kit shows Alk values over 12, and I don't want it to go any higher.

 

[Wolverine]

You can probably hang cattle from them without any difficulty.

That would definitely give you the shade you need.

 

[Electrobes]

Really glad to see the parameters improving for you. Had you ever considered using a two part? I am thinking you could use something like an inexpensive pump and the ingredients (Like RHF's) would be very cost effective. I don't know if it would be cheaper than using reactors though...?

 

[kmacartney]

That would definitely give you the shade you need.

Hanging cattle like Kobe beef?

 

[dendronepthya]

Really glad to see the parameters improving for you. Had you ever considered using a two part? I am thinking you could use something like an inexpensive pump and the ingredients (Like RHF's) would be very cost effective. I don't know if it would be cheaper than using reactors though...?

We are using a little bit of two-part. Reactors are great for maintaining water chemistry but not so great at raising levels. Once we dialed in the reactors, we started adding Ca, Alk, and Mg to raise the levels of each to where we wanted. Doing that exclusively rather than using the reactors would probably be too much of a time commitment to be worth it.

The reactors are not cheap by any means, but we tend to spend a bit more for automation. Now that I think of it, I don't think we cut many cost corners putting this thing together.

 

[Electrobes]

Whoops, I hadn't noticed to said you used two part. I didn't realize that raising parameters with two part was more difficult than with reactors.

I have to admit, your dedication, professionalism, and environment/work space should be praised.. I know if I were into propagation I would SO be using this and raaden's knowledge to the bone.

I'll stick with rock making, and let you professionals propagate.

 

[jimicasper]

re

re

You should check out atlantic sea farms. They grow coral in a greenhouse in Virginia. I believe they even grow lots of sps.

 

[madean]

dendro- I am sure with the fluctuations of live stock, and apparent algae, you must gave an accumulation of nitrates and phosphates with the heavy feedings. What do you do to combat nitrates and phosphates. I have been thinking about a DIY sulfer denitrator for nitrates but I hate the idea of the PH and ALK levels dipping because of the denitrator. I was thinking a sulfer denitrator would be perfect for you because you could design 1 unit and run it a week on each of your 1000 gallon systems. And just rotating from week to week which 1000 gallon system gets the denitrator.

 

[EvMiBo]

Have you gained most of your knowledge through hands on experience?

I assume you must have had to do some research, is there a website or some books you read to gain ideas, knowledge, etc? I've recently become very interested in aquaculturing fish and invertebrates and a greenhouse idea supports to concept even more. I'm sure you are, but you should be very proud of your success.