gone solar

[GUILLO1]

good to see you back Ace.

 

[allsps40]

Dude why did you break down the larger tank you started this thread with??? It was an awesome tank and the solatubes looks great. You new tank is cool also but can not compair to the old one.

 

[hobogato]

yeah, i miss it a bit.

 

[fishdoc11]

Love the new tank...nice change of pace

 

[jnarowe]

Very nice, and Good Luck!

 

[hobogato]

sorry double post

 

[hobogato]

thanks guys.

here are the frags i have had in the tank for a while

this was in december of 2009(notice the redbugs-nice welcome back gift for me)

same coral today

got the next two about two weeks ago - they have browned out a bit, so it will be interesting to see what they do

this is a new sea world blue stag that i got a few days ago

here is a fts from today

 

[jnarowe]

Very nice frags Ace.

 

[dvanacker]

Looks like a real reef in the ocean some where. Love the gorg's. I dont know much about them but are they hard to keep?

 

[cbianco]

This tank is even more awesome in person. Plenty of light with the solar tubes and plenty of color with the supplementation.

Great pictures Ace!

Christopher

 

[hobogato]

almost all of the gorgos that i have are photosynthetic, which makes them a little easier to keep. the one purely non photo gorgo is the blue one (blueberry gorgonian). I have only had it for a little over two months, but it has actually shown a little growth in that time. they can be very difficult to keep and require pretty constant feeding. since i have no skimmer and the deep sand bed, i think that helps with this one. i also feed newly hatched live brine twice a day and lots of other prepared coral food once a day.

Looks like a real reef in the ocean some where. Love the gorg's. I dont know much about them but are they hard to keep?

 

[SERVO]

Good to see you back! Your tank and choice of inhabitants are really great! So your whip coral is photosynthetic as well? Is it a type of Cirrhipathes?

 

[hobogato]

oh, forgot about that one no, not photosynthetic as far as i know. started with two of them, one hasnt done well, but that one has doubled in size since march (the tight curls are the original coral and the spindly stuff at the top is all growth in the tank.

 

[hobogato]

one of the benefits of sunlight is color variation during the day. just took this pic with the actinic t5s and dim morning sunlight - top down

you can see the tubbs mystic blue that i got as a redbug infested frag with the red cap up top and the garf bonsai to the right of them. sps growth has been pretty slow in this tank. also, notice the brown out on the right has started to get an orangish tint with purplish tips - will be interesting to see what it does.

 

[jnarowe]

Nice work Ace!

 

[lbheyman]

I just want to say this is a great thread!!! It has really made me think about adding this to my tank. I have a 92 gallon corner tank. What size would I need to get the correct amount of light? The tank is about 36" across from corner to corner, and I have 10' ceilings. Would one 10" solatube be enough for it? I checked the website and it looks like enough, but I don't know.

 

[hobogato]

i dont think that would be enough. maybe one 18" or 21" in the center?

 

[mrabolli]

i know, i had the hardest time taking pics today.... i took about 100 or more pics and only got 20 or so that were close to decent. i was playing around with the iso quite a bit and it just wasnt working.

overall, i am very happy with the look of the tank and the only thing that was hard to get used to was the lack of control over the lighting. if someone comes to visit in the late evening, they really only get the actinic lighting view of the tank.

can you steer me to what paint color and brand you used on the tank background? You sprayed the outside back wall with an aresol?

 

[mrabolli]

Finally have mine back up and running, here is a shot of my tank with 18" tube above it

and another shot showing the two reefs

what did you make the base rock/reefs out of?

 

[hobogato]

can you steer me to what paint color and brand you used on the tank background? You sprayed the outside back wall with an aresol?

my tank was viewable on both large sides, but i have painted the back of other tanks with black krylon fusion with great results.