Budget Greenhouse Project
- Thread starter hamburglar
- Start date
yellowtruck75
New member
^
hamburglar
New member
Week 2 power usage was about 19 KWH, or an average of 2.43 KWH per day.
I had a couple of really hot days where water temps rose to 87 and some change. I started making RO/DI ice chunks in my garage freezer, so that I can drop some in, in case of emergency. I should be able to keep a good stockpile of the "whip cream container" ice chunks.
I might add a second 30% shade cloth to help control day-time heat, but I am not convinced just yet. Those hot days were mid 90's with full sun non-stop. If it gets any hotter I'll move up north
Corals are all doing great except for one bleached Green Acropora. It was a dieing piece anyway. I tried to save a small frag of it from my indoor tanks. The indoor portion also died, so I think it was on it's way out.
Today, I added lots of loose mushrooms from my indoor tanks substrate. I put frag rocks in a plastic container, and then poured the loose mushrooms onto the frag rocks. I also made a test cut of a nice green leather. I also have 2 other species of leathers waiting for test cuts.
I had a couple of really hot days where water temps rose to 87 and some change. I started making RO/DI ice chunks in my garage freezer, so that I can drop some in, in case of emergency. I should be able to keep a good stockpile of the "whip cream container" ice chunks.
I might add a second 30% shade cloth to help control day-time heat, but I am not convinced just yet. Those hot days were mid 90's with full sun non-stop. If it gets any hotter I'll move up north
Corals are all doing great except for one bleached Green Acropora. It was a dieing piece anyway. I tried to save a small frag of it from my indoor tanks. The indoor portion also died, so I think it was on it's way out.
Today, I added lots of loose mushrooms from my indoor tanks substrate. I put frag rocks in a plastic container, and then poured the loose mushrooms onto the frag rocks. I also made a test cut of a nice green leather. I also have 2 other species of leathers waiting for test cuts.
hamburglar
New member
I just dug my old "upgraded" CPR SR2 (sump style bakpak skimmer) to the sump. It is driven by a Maxi Jet 1200. I checked the power useage and it is using only 16 Watts.
I will run the skimmer for a little while because I want to cut a bunch of leather frags.
I also want to modify my surge tanks today. They operate by one of those black ball floats, pulling up a toilet flapper. Long story short....the ball keeps dropping into a strange position that does not allow the flapper to close back. I keep having to free up the balls almost daily. I love the surge tanks, and the current is super sweet! I just need to make them more "hands-off".
I will run the skimmer for a little while because I want to cut a bunch of leather frags.
I also want to modify my surge tanks today. They operate by one of those black ball floats, pulling up a toilet flapper. Long story short....the ball keeps dropping into a strange position that does not allow the flapper to close back. I keep having to free up the balls almost daily. I love the surge tanks, and the current is super sweet! I just need to make them more "hands-off".
SaveOurReefs
Member
I want to know about if your going to use a skimmer or not, and how the corals are doing, awsome idea man, looking good, keep us updated on those pics.
hamburglar
New member
Still not sure if the skimmer is going to be used long term. I plan on raising mostly soft corals, and just a little bit of SPS. I have had better luck with soft corals by going skimmerless and exporting nutrients with branching algea's.
The CPR SR2 skimmer is WAY undersized for this system, but some skimming is better than no skimming. I am mostly interested in running it because of the leather cutting that is taking place.
I think in a larger greenhouse I would seperate SPS from soft corals. I would probably use large DIY skimmers on the SPS systems, and planted lagoon tanks for the soft corals. The lagoons would also be great for pods, snails, and shrimp breeding
I will try to do a picture update this weekend.
The CPR SR2 skimmer is WAY undersized for this system, but some skimming is better than no skimming. I am mostly interested in running it because of the leather cutting that is taking place.
I think in a larger greenhouse I would seperate SPS from soft corals. I would probably use large DIY skimmers on the SPS systems, and planted lagoon tanks for the soft corals. The lagoons would also be great for pods, snails, and shrimp breeding
I will try to do a picture update this weekend.
yellowtruck75
New member
hamburglar:
Does the little swimming pool rotate on its own or only when you want to reach the back? Would a small motor to spin the pool help with flow and heat transfer?
Does the little swimming pool rotate on its own or only when you want to reach the back? Would a small motor to spin the pool help with flow and heat transfer?
hamburglar
New member
yellowtruck75,
I have to rotate the tank by hand. This is only for reaching the back of the tank.
It actually takes a significant amount of force to rotate it. There is something like 250 lbs of sand and just over 100 gallons of water in it. It is pretty heavy
I think the idea of rotating the tank to aid in curculation is neat, but it would probably eat up more electricity than running water pumps.......unless you can coax a pet into running on a treadmill belt drive or something like that....hmmmmmm
I have to rotate the tank by hand. This is only for reaching the back of the tank.
It actually takes a significant amount of force to rotate it. There is something like 250 lbs of sand and just over 100 gallons of water in it. It is pretty heavy
I think the idea of rotating the tank to aid in curculation is neat, but it would probably eat up more electricity than running water pumps.......unless you can coax a pet into running on a treadmill belt drive or something like that....hmmmmmm
Randall_James
Premium Member
One word:
Hamsters (Well big ones) if you could get them to eat skimmate it would be free energy
Hamsters (Well big ones) if you could get them to eat skimmate it would be free energy
hamburglar
New member
Now your talk'n !!!!!
LOL
LOL
hamburglar
New member
Week three update
Hello everyone! This week has presented a couple of changes. This is the first week that I ran a small protein skimmer, and made a surge tank modification. I am happy to report that the surge tanks are almost 100% hands-off at this point. 1 of them ran all week without hanging up, and the other one hung up only1 time.
Power usage for the week was 22.25 KWH, or an average of 3.17 KWH per day. The increased power usage is coming from the additional Maxi-Jet 1200 on the skimmer. Still, this is very acceptable power consumption for each day.
As shown in the picture, I have continued to add corals. Everything in this greenhouse is a cutting from my indoor system, so it is taking a little time to fill it up. For example, today I added 3 pom-pom xenias, 5 mushroom rocks, and 15 green leather cuttings. I can add this much stuff about 2 times per week.
Diatoms are remaining under control. I have not had to manually remove any algae's or clean any submerged surface yet. I do have about 20 Blue lag hermits, and 30 small turbo snails in the system.
Temperatures have not risen above 85 degrees. I have added a couple large RO/DI ice cubes on really hot days to accomplish this. Otherwise, evaporative cooling is doing the trick.
Here is a current event for ya............... A picture of my greenhouse was recently used at IMAC. The presenter actually downplayed the durability of my budget system. For those of you just starting to read this post, I must clarify.............This greenhouse is aluminum framed with polycarbonate panels. The tanks are "nested 2 layer" polycarbonate swimming pools. The presenter who downplayed the durability of my system had glass tanks in a plastic film greenhouse. I will just let common sense convey the point of this rant.
Next updates may be spaced further apart since new progress will be slower from this point on. However, I will continue to respond to any question that I see here.
Hello everyone! This week has presented a couple of changes. This is the first week that I ran a small protein skimmer, and made a surge tank modification. I am happy to report that the surge tanks are almost 100% hands-off at this point. 1 of them ran all week without hanging up, and the other one hung up only1 time.
Power usage for the week was 22.25 KWH, or an average of 3.17 KWH per day. The increased power usage is coming from the additional Maxi-Jet 1200 on the skimmer. Still, this is very acceptable power consumption for each day.
As shown in the picture, I have continued to add corals. Everything in this greenhouse is a cutting from my indoor system, so it is taking a little time to fill it up. For example, today I added 3 pom-pom xenias, 5 mushroom rocks, and 15 green leather cuttings. I can add this much stuff about 2 times per week.
Diatoms are remaining under control. I have not had to manually remove any algae's or clean any submerged surface yet. I do have about 20 Blue lag hermits, and 30 small turbo snails in the system.
Temperatures have not risen above 85 degrees. I have added a couple large RO/DI ice cubes on really hot days to accomplish this. Otherwise, evaporative cooling is doing the trick.
Here is a current event for ya............... A picture of my greenhouse was recently used at IMAC. The presenter actually downplayed the durability of my budget system. For those of you just starting to read this post, I must clarify.............This greenhouse is aluminum framed with polycarbonate panels. The tanks are "nested 2 layer" polycarbonate swimming pools. The presenter who downplayed the durability of my system had glass tanks in a plastic film greenhouse. I will just let common sense convey the point of this rant.
Next updates may be spaced further apart since new progress will be slower from this point on. However, I will continue to respond to any question that I see here.
hamburglar
New member
I have had some serious heat problem this week. Day time temperatures were in the upper 90's for about 4-5 days straight. Wednesday's high (for most of the day) was 100 degrees. This put the heat index at about 120 since we are blessed with wicked humidity on the coast.
Water temps went #$%^#@#$ !!! Thats the best way to say it! My water temperature rose to 90 degrees on Wednesday, and there was not enough ice in the world to stop it.
I lost all of my leather cuttings, all of my Acro cuttings, and probably most of my tan xenia.
This was a learning experience, and I surely learned something this week. I am going to have to install a small window AC unit to fight temperatures like that. I am good as long as air temps do not exceed 90 degrees, but I can not handle them any higher. So it looks like I will need to use some air conditioning for a few weeks each summer. Can't wait to see what happens this winter
To be fair, I must mention this.....I think my real problem is a lack of water volume. I have only a few hundred gallons in the system. I bet a system with 1000+ gallons would not have as much as a problem. So...this is the price I am going to pay for having such as small affordable system.
Water temps went #$%^#@#$ !!! Thats the best way to say it! My water temperature rose to 90 degrees on Wednesday, and there was not enough ice in the world to stop it.
I lost all of my leather cuttings, all of my Acro cuttings, and probably most of my tan xenia.
This was a learning experience, and I surely learned something this week. I am going to have to install a small window AC unit to fight temperatures like that. I am good as long as air temps do not exceed 90 degrees, but I can not handle them any higher. So it looks like I will need to use some air conditioning for a few weeks each summer. Can't wait to see what happens this winter
To be fair, I must mention this.....I think my real problem is a lack of water volume. I have only a few hundred gallons in the system. I bet a system with 1000+ gallons would not have as much as a problem. So...this is the price I am going to pay for having such as small affordable system.
Randall_James
Premium Member
seems that a chiller would be more efficient at knocking the water temps down.
You know there is another way to do this. I am not sure of all the physical aspects but you could use the earth as a heat sink.
With some research I am sure you could find how deep to dig and how much volume you would need to maintain the cooling effect. Take advantage of the 70 some degree ground. I did see a project once where the guy did this with success. I will look and see if I saved any of the report he did.
You know there is another way to do this. I am not sure of all the physical aspects but you could use the earth as a heat sink.
With some research I am sure you could find how deep to dig and how much volume you would need to maintain the cooling effect. Take advantage of the 70 some degree ground. I did see a project once where the guy did this with success. I will look and see if I saved any of the report he did.
