[B]New Aquarium Stand Build[B/]

[maddhugan]

Outdoor sump inside a green house

Outdoor sump inside a green house

If I get some ideas about temperature control then it would be great

So here is the plan for the green house. The green house will have a damper box--meaning a circular plate will open and let a air out and the same circular plate could be closed and this will be controlled with Neptune APEX. Lets say if the temperature is below 70 then the damper box will close making the greenhouse more like an adiabatic system.

there will be a solar fan sitting on top of the damper box and it has a sensor. If the temperature is above 75 it will turn on, also if the humidity is high then it will turn on.


Also the green house will have a sprayer inside to suddenly drop the temp if needed. It is a water mist sprayer with heavy duty pump, and again controlled by Neptune apex.


Ok, now the sump it self is insulated all sides and has a top double paned acrylic door. It is controlled by a motor and Neptune apex. It will open only when the ambient temp is between 73 and 79. on all other times it will let the light inside but remained shut.

Also the greenhouse will have shade tarps during summer and tarps will be removed during winter (they sell easily attachable green tarps for greenhouse for shade).


please give me some ideas or challenge me so that I can do a good job and will have good success at keeping SPS.

I don't have experience with coral keeping but had some toadstool corals before without much problem. I know sps is way too hard but I hope I will find success. to be honest I'm inexperienced. I have had only predatory fish in the past, and have good knowledge about their compatibility, i.e., most of them are incompatible. lol


ok ppl throw some ideas or feel free to critique my plan

 

[maddhugan]

what I want to achieve, and I need your help and ideas

what I want to achieve, and I need your help and ideas

so let me tell you all what I want to achieve.

1-although my (super insulated) sump is outside the house I don't want the water temperature to exceed the inside the house temperature more than or less 2 degree Fahrenheit. That's because I don't want to spend crazy money on heating an cooling
2- want a smart sump system that operates on its own and makes decision when to open the sump door, damper door and turn on the solar fan, and when to mist spray water to reduce temperature based on my programings.

3-I will monitor the temperature fluctuations with Neptune apex for one year and then only I will add corals and fishes

I know it is kind of boring to wait for a year and my wife was very disappointed when I told her my plan.

finally, if it works I will be the happiest man, if it doesn't then plan B.
Here is PLAN-B: I WILL MOVE THE SUMP INSIDE under my stand and then everyone is happy ever after.

any thoughts guys?
thanks, I would appreciate your ideas and experiences that you want to share.
thanks again.

 

[maddhugan]

Why sump oudoor

Why sump oudoor

So one would think and ask why I want to have the sump outside? I hate noise. also consider that the sump sitting underneath the tank with the possibility of leak and then all the reactors and skimmer noise inside it. I truly hate it.

Aquarium hobby is supposed to bring peace and not stress right. To me it seems like few things can bring extreme stress: noise, leak, ich, chemical imbalance and then creatures dying. So I'm planning on a new way to keep annoyance away and the peacefulness inside the house. well, you saw the bodhisthva. haha

Any thoughts guys?

 

[maddhugan]

quarantine Tank

quarantine Tank

I forgot to mention one thing, I had set up a 150 gallons quarantine few months ago. It is working out awesome. Has BeanAnimal overflow and you can't even hear the pump running. That soundless. it only has the sound of the soundlessness. No I'm serious. If anyone want to check it out then you are most welcome. Nothing in that tank other than some eels.

so all my future life forms that go into Leemar have to live in this quarantine tank for atleast 6 months before going into Leemar.

The only problem I have now with my quarantine tank is that the bare bottom has so much algae. And I kind of started liking that algae. It moves with the waves and doesn't look like scum. so my thought is that it grew because there was need for nutrient consumption and as long as it is there nothing more ugly will grow on the bottom of my tank.
I bought hundreds of kilos of kent marine salt and I'm not happy with it. I tried a toadstool in my quarantine and it died. something is wrong here. I will fix the problem before I introduce any new corals there. so I'm just buying time and monitoring.
please let me know if you want to see the ugly quarantine tank which is in my garage.

 

[EnderTurtle]

Don't be discouraged by lack of feedback from this forum. It's become mostly a buy/sell/trade forum. And a lot of people here like to lurk instead of post.

But we're all watching/learning from your thread. I think the acid staining looks cool and I wish I could build a stand like that. Thanks for sharing!

Okay let's tackle your situation.

Honestly, the sump/green house idea outside your house is cool but in my opinion you're making this way more complicated than this has to be lol.

You can have a pretty quiet system without having to take the sump outside. I designed my tank set up to be as quiet as possible because it is in my living room. I have the herbie overflow so my overflow drain doesn't SLURP water. I bought a quiet return pump. And I made sure to get skimmer that was as quiet as possible.

But hey if you really want your sump outside and you're ready to deal with the temperature changes of California this will be a challenge. The outside sump you're trying to make will be the weakest link of your tank and you need to be ready to fortify it to permanently withstand the elements or else your tank is toast.

Be prepared for:

• Tanks need to breathe. Evaporation HAS to happen for CO2 to leave and Oxygen to enter. Make sure you allow this to happen either in your display tank or your sump.
• Heatwaves (can this green house effectively stabilize the temp during 3 days of 90-110 farenheit, it will be even hotter inside)
• Coldspells (can this green house and your heaters keep the temp during those 20-30 degree winters)
• Is extreme wind/rain/hail going to mess your green house up?
• Is this outdoor sump going to grow algae like crazy?
• Will Racoons/Skunks/Possums/Insects be an issue?
• Bird poop on the green house?

My friend knows someone who DOES have a sump plumbed outside. And it works. soooo what you want to do is definitely possible.

That being said, reef tanks can be simple. My girlfriend's tank is literally a glass box with 1 pump, a heater and light. And she's able to keep zoas, acans, easy acroporas alive. It doesn't take much to keep corals alive just some basic understanding of how reef systems work. A good heater, lightsource and water changes.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I really like the idea of the outdoor greenhouse sump, but it will indeed be challenging. A couple things:

1. Tarps over it in the summer to keep it cool. This would work, but then what's the point of a greenhouse? Just build an insulated shed and you'll be much better off against temperature fluctuations. IMO the point of using a greenhouse is to allow in lots of light for growing things (chaeto, ATS, frags, etc.).

2. Regarding covering the sump with acrylic panels. While this will help retain heat, I think this would be detrimental to oxygenation.

3. I think your main issue will be heat in the summer, especially in San Jose. The solar fan is a good idea and I would say, just multiple fans in general to kick on over a certain temp would be good.

Perhaps I'm just overly optimistic, but I don't think you'll have too much issue maintaining temp. With a lot more surface area you'll lose more heat and as long as you have some good heaters, you can maintain it. You are going to have a lot of evaporation though. You should plan on a BIG ATO.

 

[maddhugan]

Thanks for the input

Thanks for the input

Be prepared for:

• Tanks need to breathe. Evaporation HAS to happen for CO2 to leave and Oxygen to enter. Make sure you allow this to happen either in your display tank or your sump.
  This is good point and I will think out it. I mean the gas exchange
  
  
• Heatwaves (can this green house effectively stabilize the temp during 3 days of 90-110 farenheit, it will be even hotter inside)
  This is the fundamental problem I'm on the quest to solve, we will see what Neptune apex temperature graph looks like after I set it up in few weeks, My only hope is that the insulation of the sump (except for the top of the sump. I mean the top will have double paned acrylic on top but not super insulated like all other sides
  
• Coldspells (can this green house and your heaters keep the temp during those 20-30 degree winters)
  This is also the fundamental problem that I'm expecting to be solved by the insulation of the sump
  
• Is extreme wind/rain/hail going to mess your green house up?
  Green house seems sturdy, so my concern level is not high on this
• 
  
  Is this outdoor sump going to grow algae like crazy?
  I have a strong UV, JUST in case is the water turns green. I don't mind the surface of the sump getting algae
• 
  
  Will Racoons/Skunks/Possums/Insects be an issue?
  Not worried about this since green house will be locked
  
• Bird poop on the green house?
  So ever never seen a single bird sit on this green house and I hope it will remain so
  
  
  Thanks for all the questions, it helps me plan ahead.
  
  I agree with you that a reef system can be very simple even without a skimmer, but I like all the bells and whistles. lol what can I say

 

[maddhugan]

Thanks for the input Divingtheworld

Thanks for the input Divingtheworld

I really like the idea of the outdoor greenhouse sump, but it will indeed be challenging. A couple things:

1. Tarps over it in the summer to keep it cool. This would work, but then what's the point of a greenhouse? Just build an insulated shed and you'll be much better off against temperature fluctuations. IMO the point of using a greenhouse is to allow in lots of light for growing things (chaeto, ATS, frags, etc.).

was planning on using tarps only for few weeks on hot summer days if necessary, won't use tarps on spring and winter

2. Regarding covering the sump with acrylic panels. While this will help retain heat, I think this would be detrimental to oxygenation.
This is an excellent point, it is hard to insulate and have good gas exchange at the same time. I have to think about it

3. I think your main issue will be heat in the summer, especially in San Jose. The solar fan is a good idea and I would say, just multiple fans in general to kick on over a certain temp would be good.
Yeah this is the problem I have been so afraid of. I think the sump insulation will solve this problem for me

Perhaps I'm just overly optimistic, but I don't think you'll have too much issue maintaining temp. With a lot more surface area you'll lose more heat and as long as you have some good heaters, you can maintain it. You are going to have a lot of evaporation though. You should plan on a BIG ATO.

I have a 300 gallon ATO, So that shouldn't be a problem

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I have a 300 gallon ATO, So that shouldn't be a problem

In the words of Deuce Bigalow, "That's A Big B..."...I mean ATO. lol