gwrulzmylife
New member
Two thumbs up on the project, keep us posted on opening!
Greenhouse project
- Thread starter dendronepthya
- Start date
gwrulzmylife
New member
Two thumbs up on the project, keep us posted on opening!
gwrulzmylife
New member
oops sorry for the double post, got click happy!
coralfarm'n
New member
Is there UV blockers in the greenhouse covering you use?
dendronepthya
Premium Member
Wow, it's been quite some time since I last updated this thread. Thanks everyone for your interest. This will probably be my last update because we will be getting rolling soon, and I don't want this thread to turn into a commercial for my business.
Over the past few weeks, we were able to fully assemble our first 1000-gallon aquaculture cell. It is the first of three that we will build. The cell consists of:
Two 300-gallon rubbermaid stock tanks used for aquaculture.
One 150-gallon rubbermaid stock tank used primarily as a sump.
Two 125-gallon All-Glass Aquariums used mainly for photography.
The pic below shows what the front of the system looks like.
The next pic shows the back of the system. The overflows from the glass aquarium drain down into the 300-gallon rubbermaid stock tank. This particular stock tank's egg-crate shelf is all one level, but in some other tanks, I decided to have a high shelf and a low shelf. I am still experimenting with coral positioning to find the conditions where they grow the best.
Lastly, here is a pic of one of the display tanks by itself. In the coming months, I will be adding more rock to this tank and seeding the sand with a little bit from my tank at home. Having the glass tanks at the greenhouse really makes the setup that much more hobby-like.
In the end, I will have 3000-gallons total broken up over three cells as seen above. If you can believe it, this 1000-gallon system runs on only 4 outlets and consumes less than 600W of electricity.
Over the past few weeks, we were able to fully assemble our first 1000-gallon aquaculture cell. It is the first of three that we will build. The cell consists of:
Two 300-gallon rubbermaid stock tanks used for aquaculture.
One 150-gallon rubbermaid stock tank used primarily as a sump.
Two 125-gallon All-Glass Aquariums used mainly for photography.
The pic below shows what the front of the system looks like.
The next pic shows the back of the system. The overflows from the glass aquarium drain down into the 300-gallon rubbermaid stock tank. This particular stock tank's egg-crate shelf is all one level, but in some other tanks, I decided to have a high shelf and a low shelf. I am still experimenting with coral positioning to find the conditions where they grow the best.
Lastly, here is a pic of one of the display tanks by itself. In the coming months, I will be adding more rock to this tank and seeding the sand with a little bit from my tank at home. Having the glass tanks at the greenhouse really makes the setup that much more hobby-like.
In the end, I will have 3000-gallons total broken up over three cells as seen above. If you can believe it, this 1000-gallon system runs on only 4 outlets and consumes less than 600W of electricity.
dendronepthya
Premium Member
No. It's a gas furnace, so that's a totally separate bill. In terms of electricity, the greenhouse is very efficient. I think once all 3000-gallons are up and running, it will consume less electricity than my 120-gallon reef at home.
We do have to heat the greenhouse quite extensively. For a while there, we were struggling against sub-zero temperatures outside, but came up with a heating system to keep the tanks warm. The tanks are now stable at 78-degrees with little to no fluctuation. The air temperature in the greenhouse is between 68 to 70-degrees, so the water is actually heating the air. I expect that once I have all 3000-gallons running, the winter heating costs of the greenhouse will fall dramatically.
On a sunny day in the dead of winter, the greenhouse heats up by itself, and the gas furnace shuts off for hours at a time. Yesterday, it was a whole 9-degrees outside, but it was a clear day and the greenhouse was a comfortable 75-degrees inside.
dendronepthya
Premium Member
No, the gas heater is it. The way we heat the water is to run the tank's water near the heater. It is similar to a geothermal loop, but using a furnace instead of the ground.
AJP
Active member
I say go for it James, I would buy some frags from you. Oh and speaking of frags i just want to say that if you guys havent check out midwest reefs yet (a sponser here) you should, if you live near missouri they have free shipping on all of there corals. And man he has some nice stuff.
dendronepthya
Premium Member
I say go for it too. It's easily been the most entertaining thing I've ever done in this hobby.
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
Than,
This greenhouse has been an awesome undertaking. I greatly enjoyed this thread and reading how you accomplished everything that you did. I think there is a little voice inside all of us that wants us to make the jump and do what you and Rick Rottet have done in his thread. Thank you.
BTW, could you PM me with your new website? I would love to have you as a resource for future tank endevours.
Nick
This greenhouse has been an awesome undertaking. I greatly enjoyed this thread and reading how you accomplished everything that you did. I think there is a little voice inside all of us that wants us to make the jump and do what you and Rick Rottet have done in his thread. Thank you.
BTW, could you PM me with your new website? I would love to have you as a resource for future tank endevours.
Nick
dendronepthya, You must give us a website or an address where we can order some stuff before you stop posting. This thread has given me all sorts of ideas (some the wife might not approve of right away, but it is good to plant the seed early). Although you appear to have mostly the stick type of corals, I would be proud to have some in my tank. Thanks for all your work.
