Greenhouse project

What size pipe did you use for the airlifts and surge exhaust, respectively? Did you try other sizes and these seemed to work best or did you just guestimate from the start and have been satisified with the results? I just got a blower and am about to plumb the air for my own system and would like to minimize the number of trips to the hardware store for pvc parts!

Thanks
 
Denrdro...I had a suggestion for you. I may cost you more money in the long run, but save you money too. Have you thought about using a large Algal/Algea Scrubber system to filter your water?
 
fishbowlz,
The airlifts are 1.25". I chose that size because I was planning on using 1/2" pipe inside to make the bubbles, and I thought 1.5" would be a little too large. I didn't have a very scientific method of deciding on the size. There are fluid dynamics equations you can use to determine the desired flow and all that, but I arbitrarily chose the pipe size.

As for the RCSD, the output is 2". It is probably large enough, but in the next version that will be slightly larger, I plan to use a 4" output. The larger the hole, the faster the exhaust, and the more violent the surge motion.

minfinger,
I was an early adopter of the ATS systems several years ago. I did a lot of reading (still have a signed copy of Dynamic Aquaria), and ran an ATS system at home for a couple years. I think they are a good filter system, but they were a little high maintenance for me, and for one to be effective on a system of my size, it would take up more space than I have. I had the dump bucket version for my tank at home, and the counter weight would have to be played with on a weekly basis as the algae grew on the screen. I guess it was ok on a smaller system, but I think the maintenance would outweigh the benefit of the filter at the greenhouse.

It is an interesting technology to be sure. Never caught on much though.
 
I wanted to share some images of some corals I placed in the tank a couple weeks ago. Like I mentioned earlier, I am experimenting a bit with the well water and light while I am saving up for my water purifier. I honestly did not expect coral to be able to survive long in 900 TDS water, but so far, they are alive and growing. What is interesting is the color changes that have been occuring.

This first image is of an orange montipora frag taken on July 30th. This coral always had amazing color in my tank at home, and at the greenhouse, it looked "day-glow" bright.
7-30-orange.jpg


Here is the same frag taken on August 12th. You can already see that it has lightened up considerably, and it is actually a little more pink in color. I was wondering if it was bleaching, but there are some signs that indicate it is still healthy. It has greater polyp extension than before, and if you look carefully, you can see the white edge where it was broken off has now healed over.
8-12-orange.jpg


This is a large, green montipora taken on July 31st. In the greenhouse, it looks a little dusky and brown. In my tank at home, it was a neon green under my 10k's plus actinics.
7-31-green.jpg


Here is the same coral on August 12th. It looks completely different, and in my opinion, looks a lot cooler. I may be all wrong if these corals eventually bleach out and die, but in the mean time, they appear to be growing and adapting to the new conditions.
8-12-green.jpg


What I may do in a few weeks is to put some more frags of the same type into the greenhouse and do a side-by-side comparison to see just how much the corals have changed. It may also be interesting to take a frag of the greenhouse corals back and look at them under the artificial lighting of my home aquarium.
 
Hi
It looks like things are going well..

First a coral getting lighter or even brown in color is completely normal when you change types of lighting...Mine do it even when I change my lamps of the same type.. They do this for several month or weeks and then go back to there normal color.. This is due to the difference in brightness and slight color change..

You on the other hand have changed the type of lighting completely..You can see some crazy color change.. You are using monti's which are a very hardy sps and great to start this project out with.. They look very healthy to me and doing well..

good luck and keep the pictures comming... Very interesting....

Dave
 
If you do plan on doing this. " What I may do in a few weeks is to put some more frags of the same type into the greenhouse and do a side-by-side comparison to see just how much the corals have changed. " I would suggest that you also try having one under a greenhouse shade cloth. This way you can see it it has to do with "too much " natural light. Just like floral greenhouses do.
 
dendronepthya - the corals are looking good, did I miss it, or have you started adding Kalk. during the time the corals were in the system. Just interested in your water parameters to see if the corals are responding to the light, the parameters or both.

BTW- Very neat looking project, great job.
 
I want to see more, I want to see more! :D A great project that we all would like to do. Good luck on the project. BTW I don't think you will have a real problem with your well water for SW make up, where the problem will come in is when you start doing evaporation makeup which will concentrate the impurities over time. I have well water that has a tds of 190 but it is almost all Ca. Haven't had a problem with using it as SW making and topoff for 10 months though I started using RO/DI now.
 
I've just went through the whole thread and what can I say that someone hasn't already. Very nice setup and a lot of patience on your part.

Maybe I missed your solution(s) to this but if I didn't then you may want to check with a carwash supplier for you RO/DI unit. When you use the spot free rinse at the local carwash your getting good ole RO water and nothing more. Our units output will fill a five gallon bucket in about 2 minutes or slightly less. Not for sure on pricing as my mother bought the property as an ongoing business. Just thought it might be a cheaper avenue to look outside the hobby.
 
There is not a whole lot new to report. I've pretty much bought all the small to medium expenditure items, and now it is time to save up for some of the big ticket items (water purification, display tanks, backup generator, etc.). Most of the really big changes will likely be a couple months away.

The corals seem to be surviving up to this point. I recently introduced some new corals to see how they would do:
coral_shelf.jpg

So far, I have some acropora, montipora, zoanthids, ricordea, caulastrea, lobophyllia, and some xenia. From what I can tell, the ones most sensitive to the high light are the xenia. They needed shade cloths immediately, but now that they are in lower lighting, they are pulsing away. The zoanthids so far are doing well in direct light, which surprised me a little. I'll have to closely monitor the rest to make sure they do not bleach out.

Speaking of bleaching out, I think the green plating montipora is bleaching now. Here is the latest picture. You can compare it to the two above and see that is very light. I will probably be moving it to a tank with a shade cloth when I set one up.
bleach.jpg


The other half of the greenhouse is actually a bit more interesting that what I have going on. My parents have done a very good job making use of their space. You can see in the image below how they basically have four levels of plants in a given space as well as plants along the walls. I don't know much about orchids, but they tell me they are getting double the growth rate at the greenhouse compared to at the house.
orchid_racks.jpg


I was not able to find a suitable application for that great big blue tub I bought, so I let my parents use it. They are planning on turning it into a mini koi pond, and use the water for their plants.
koi_pond.jpg
 
I'm doing something similar. Orchids in 1 half, coral in the other. Though it will be primarily a hobby for the corals. I don't know enough yet to farm corals for retail purposes. I was considering using the large green landscaper type barrels for sumps. They're 55 gallon plus.
 
This reminds me of my fear of setting up the new Metal Halide lights--I am wary of the effect of increasing the intensity of lighting on my corals, even if I acclimate them very slowly. Please keep us posted--this is very interesting!

Thanks,
Kayla
 
Looking good there. Can't wait to see it fully stock with frags.

Nice green house part. It reminds me of my orchid greenhouse I had before I switched to the reef hoby.

John
 
Thanks for everyone's comments. I appreciate it.

Wont the chemicals used for the bugs hurt the corals?
Click to expand...

It was a very real concern of mine. I think there are actually slugs eating some of the flowers, and the dad will likely have to do something to prevent further damage. So long as they don't spray stuff into my tanks though, everything should be just fine. My folks are usually pretty good about being careful around my tanks. They realize how much stuff on my side is worth and they don't want to mess anything up.
 
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