gone solar
- Thread starter hobogato
- Start date
hobogato
New member
my sps were doing great with the solar tube - the anemone problem is when everything went down hill. remember, i also had AEFW again which really took a toll on the corals too. many people are doing sps with solar tubes, and they are having great results. i just needed a change.
Harry_Fish
In Memoriam
I had an interesting talk with a gentleman who
had done his homework on Solar Panels.
He informed me that in Central NY we get 80% of the power
that Tuscon AZ gets in solar, it just does not apear as bright
to out eyes. It made me re-think about solar tubes.
had done his homework on Solar Panels.
He informed me that in Central NY we get 80% of the power
that Tuscon AZ gets in solar, it just does not apear as bright
to out eyes. It made me re-think about solar tubes.
Dave1NC
New member
I found your post when I was on another web site. I am very impressed with your aquarium and the tubes. We are all always looking for ways to save money and help the environment and this does both. It also is a great way to utilize the earths own natural resource. The Sun!
I am hoping to move to the North Carolina mountains this summer and would love to incorporate this with my current tank or possibly start a brand new tank using this idea. We would really like to add solar or incorporate it into our current new place one we find it.
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful aquarium!
I am hoping to move to the North Carolina mountains this summer and would love to incorporate this with my current tank or possibly start a brand new tank using this idea. We would really like to add solar or incorporate it into our current new place one we find it.
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful aquarium!
8BALL_99
New member
This was one of the reasons I held of on them myself. I'm almost never home till after 4 pm. That doesn't leave much time to view the tank during the week with nothing but natural light. When I done mine I used 3 tubes with 2 MH pendants mounted between them. I also have 4 54watt t5s with Blue plus bulbs to supplement both the tubes and the MH. My Mh pendants only come on at night once its gets dark.
hobogato
New member
well, i have had a couple of frags of sps in the tank now for a few weeks and they have kept their color and actually grown a little. i will add 5 or six more specific types to fill specific places to try to keep it as natural looking as possible.
took a few pics saturday now that the sun is getting brighter in the tank.
first, a comparison of the guts
this is what it used to look like (this is with the first calc reactor and skimmer, not the newer skimmer and monster reactor i ran for a while):
and now:
took a few pics saturday now that the sun is getting brighter in the tank.
first, a comparison of the guts
this is what it used to look like (this is with the first calc reactor and skimmer, not the newer skimmer and monster reactor i ran for a while):
and now:
klepto
New member
Ace-
beautiful setup you have.
Thanks for sharing your reef with us!
Solar seems like the best option for me- I already use some window light which has helped the health of my tank dramatically, but I know once I move towards the larger tanks, solar is how I will go.
This thread is awesome.
beautiful setup you have.
Thanks for sharing your reef with us!
Solar seems like the best option for me- I already use some window light which has helped the health of my tank dramatically, but I know once I move towards the larger tanks, solar is how I will go.
This thread is awesome.
puckbs
Active member
I just read all 23 pages of this....simply amazing. all the ups and downs....but its the downs that make the ups even more enjoyable. kudos for hanging in there, tank continues to look great.
love the way you framed out the tank too, that was a great touch!
one thing i feel like this tank is missing, is a wave box...lol, sure would be a nice replacement for one of those seios ;-)
love the way you framed out the tank too, that was a great touch!
one thing i feel like this tank is missing, is a wave box...lol, sure would be a nice replacement for one of those seios ;-)
hobogato
New member
thanks for the comments all
jonathan, school is going great, i really need to post some pics of the the tanks this year.....
brad - you saw correctly, i just took out the remaining two seios on friday and replaced them with a wave box. i finally got it tuned in yesterday, and really like it. if you go to my build thread (little red house) you will see some cruddy videos i posted of the wavebox in action and how i modded the tank to make sure it wouldnt splash over the ends while running silently (no splashing sound of the wave going into the overflow).
jonathan, school is going great, i really need to post some pics of the the tanks this year.....
brad - you saw correctly, i just took out the remaining two seios on friday and replaced them with a wave box. i finally got it tuned in yesterday, and really like it. if you go to my build thread (little red house) you will see some cruddy videos i posted of the wavebox in action and how i modded the tank to make sure it wouldnt splash over the ends while running silently (no splashing sound of the wave going into the overflow).
hobogato
New member
here is the post of the wave videos from my build thread....
just wanted to show the mods i did on the tank to make the wave action silent and not overflow the tank. i put a piece of acrylic at the end, just in case the wave tried to crest over the end of the tank. i also made inserts for the overflows out of egg crate (two layers staggered to make the holes tiny) so the fish couldnt get washed in. i made the durso pipes longer so the water level was just over the top of the overflow - no water crashing into the overflow when the wave crests.
here is a really bad video - not much light coming in yet this morning, so the camera had a hard time focusing.
a couple from the top
just wanted to show the mods i did on the tank to make the wave action silent and not overflow the tank. i put a piece of acrylic at the end, just in case the wave tried to crest over the end of the tank. i also made inserts for the overflows out of egg crate (two layers staggered to make the holes tiny) so the fish couldnt get washed in. i made the durso pipes longer so the water level was just over the top of the overflow - no water crashing into the overflow when the wave crests.
here is a really bad video - not much light coming in yet this morning, so the camera had a hard time focusing.
a couple from the top
