gone solar
- Thread starter hobogato
- Start date
hobogato
New member
they claim total uv blocking, but i am not sure i believe it. i have had no coral bleach in the three weeks that i have had them, so if there is uv coming thru, it is minimal. i think (like others have pointed out) that the corals can handle some uv as long as they are acclimated to it.
yeah, i have never seen the correct color out of that coral - not sure if it is even the "real deal" but it was given to me as such. it really is overall turning a teal color that i have never seen it turn before, so we shall see
jrl - tough question to answer. the K value changes throughout the day now. more blue than it used to be in the morning and evening, same color as it use to be mid morning and late afternoon, a little more yellow (not much tho - kinda like 10K) in the middle of the day. all of this is with actinics tho - without em it is more yellow than 10K all day.
crmjacks - i documented it a bit in my build thread (little red house)
yeah, i have never seen the correct color out of that coral - not sure if it is even the "real deal" but it was given to me as such. it really is overall turning a teal color that i have never seen it turn before, so we shall see
jrl - tough question to answer. the K value changes throughout the day now. more blue than it used to be in the morning and evening, same color as it use to be mid morning and late afternoon, a little more yellow (not much tho - kinda like 10K) in the middle of the day. all of this is with actinics tho - without em it is more yellow than 10K all day.
crmjacks - i documented it a bit in my build thread (little red house)
melev
Well-known member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13213523#post13213523 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hobogato
here it is at night when the actinics are still on (looks like im calling aliens
I think you may be right. Look very closely at the bottom frame, below:
Isn't that E.T. I see? :lol:
This is awesome Ace. It looks like it really is going to work out well. Do you own a PAR meter, or can you borrow one? It would be nice to get some hard numbers at various points in your reef.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13225680#post13225680 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
I think you may be right. Look very closely at the bottom frame, below:
Isn't that E.T. I see? :lol:
This is awesome Ace. It looks like it really is going to work out well. Do you own a PAR meter, or can you borrow one? It would be nice to get some hard numbers at various points in your reef.
LOL!!
Nice
sfsuphysics
Active member
Do you run carbon at all on the tank? Maybe you can clean up the yellow look by aggressively running carbon... or ozone would be sweet too! After all you don't see corals in the yellow water in the wild, regardless of how shallow (at least I hope you're not swimming in yellow water! 
)
Of course it might also be a design flaw of the solar tubes, where it removes UV and maybe a little too much purple/blue so you're left with the yellow spectrum.
)Of course it might also be a design flaw of the solar tubes, where it removes UV and maybe a little too much purple/blue so you're left with the yellow spectrum.
VERY NICE WORK. I have thought about doing this but I dont have a house or a tank large enough to do this. I live in Arizona so this will work very well, so I will look into this in the future. Your tank looks awesome. Bet you love the power bill savings on the halides and chiller. What was the cost for the whole solar conversion?? Keep us posted on the growth.
hobogato
New member
marc - :lol:
i run small amounts of carbon changed often. the water is not yellow at all. the camera makes the tank look much more yellow than it does to my eyes.
here is the spectrum chart from the website:
i run small amounts of carbon changed often. the water is not yellow at all. the camera makes the tank look much more yellow than it does to my eyes.
here is the spectrum chart from the website:
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13226388#post13226388 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sfsuphysics
Do you run carbon at all on the tank? Maybe you can clean up the yellow look by aggressively running carbon... or ozone would be sweet too! After all you don't see corals in the yellow water in the wild, regardless of how shallow (at least I hope you're not swimming in yellow water!
Of course it might also be a design flaw of the solar tubes, where it removes UV and maybe a little too much purple/blue so you're left with the yellow spectrum.
CleveYank
20 Years and Over
that's funny, I installed some solatubes at house I was renovating and thought about this. But here in Ohio I don't think that our number of sunny days would make it feasable. We get some pretty cloudy days, winter in particular.
Nice pics, I like the glowing blue domes at night...
Nice pics, I like the glowing blue domes at night...
2dawghouse
New member
That is awesome, great job.
If you ever sell any frags your disclosure would read like this:
To properly acclimate the coral one would have to havce a similar setup or place the frag in a fish bowl and place outside in the sun for several hours everyday and return to the aquarium. This acllimation process is necessary to acclimate the coral to the low lighting conditions in the buyers aquarium.
Note not responsible for Solar eclipse's.
If you ever sell any frags your disclosure would read like this:
To properly acclimate the coral one would have to havce a similar setup or place the frag in a fish bowl and place outside in the sun for several hours everyday and return to the aquarium. This acllimation process is necessary to acclimate the coral to the low lighting conditions in the buyers aquarium.
Note not responsible for Solar eclipse's.
Even if they didn't house the solar apparatus, I think those fixtures are really nice for any pendant or enclosure for other reflectors. I may have missed this above, but what are they made out of? Any idea what kind of heat they could withstand?
Just an oddball question... but given the amount of modification to the house, what is the backup plan if the amount of PAR and such isn't enough for the corals?
Just an oddball question... but given the amount of modification to the house, what is the backup plan if the amount of PAR and such isn't enough for the corals?
hobogato
New member
2dawg - ill have to remember that
guillo - great! keep us updated
davej - they are made of aluminum with some kind of alloy layer on the inside. i use to use the exact same material on my MH reflectors that i made they sell a ligh kit which allow a bulb to be mounted in the tube for supplimental lighting, and i though about adapting it for a small halide SE bulb if needed - definitely something to keep in mind.
mcliffy - thanks for the tip, ill keep it in mind
guillo - great! keep us updated
davej - they are made of aluminum with some kind of alloy layer on the inside. i use to use the exact same material on my MH reflectors that i made
they sell a ligh kit which allow a bulb to be mounted in the tube for supplimental lighting, and i though about adapting it for a small halide SE bulb if needed - definitely something to keep in mind.mcliffy - thanks for the tip, ill keep it in mind
ReefingBuddha
New member
It might be nice to run a small 20k or even 22k bulb in that tube to setoff the natural yellow light at its source.
nice! Is there a option for a dome that doesn't filter UV as much?
nice! Is there a option for a dome that doesn't filter UV as much?
JackTheReefer
Premium Member
Down here in Georgia, a solar panel install guy can do a "solar study" on your roof to see how much light you would get for solar panels. It costs about $200, but could tell you what you need to know.
scaryperson27
New member
That would involve bends and bends reduce the amount of light significantly
miwoodar
Likey the bikey
I don't know what impresses me more - the awesome project or the fantastic documentation of the whole thing. The hourly shots are something I've never seen on any of these solar tube projects. It's really neat to see how everything changes throughout the day. I can't wait to see more updates! PAR numbers too!
