Time to embrace the sun, after setting up a test tank, Im hooked on natural sunlight. So I decided it was time to setup a 4ft shallow reef.
System Objectives: Setup a shallow reef with little power use.
- System Type: Mixed Reef
- Strike up Date: November 2014
- Display Tank: 1200x600x250mm, center brace removed.
- Water volume: 230
- Display Lighting: The Sun and LED supplement.
- Stand: Coffee table
- Hood: Hoodless.
- Sump: yes
- Refugium: yes
Support systems:
- System Water: NSW
- Water changes: 5% a day, auto using timer and pumps.
- Display Water circulation: 2 x MP40w
- Return Pump: cheap 20w
- Skimmer: Octopus NW90
- Evaporation Top Up: Float
Chemical Support:
- Calcium Addition: Randy's recipe
- Alkilinity Addition: Randy's recipe
- Mag: Randy's recipe
Additional Equipment:
- Phosban phosphate reactor
- Aqua One 150W heater
- Aqua One 200W heater
Additives/Maintenance:
- Salifert Hard Trace
- Rowa carbon changed monthly
Current Water Chemistry:
- Nitrates: 0ppm Salifert
- Phosphates: 0.00 Salifert
- Alkalinity: 7.8
- Calcium: 420 ppm (Red Sea Pro)
- Salinity / Specific Gravity: 1.026
- Magnesuim: 1320ppm Randy
- Temp: 25-26 deg celcius
Livestock:
- 3 shrimp
- 1 yellow tang
- 2 clown
- Assorted SPS and soft corals
My lighting system means I receive about 4.5 hours a day of good sunlight, slightly filtered through lattice work etc. I a big 8ft x 3ft mirror to collect morning sun, this then reflects back onto the tank, and catches the mirror at the end of the tank, I get about 2 hours of sun in the morning and the afternoon sun comes directly in plus throws light back into the tank via a mirror. Using mirrors has doubled the sunlight time i get and reduces some of the suns harsh PAR !
A cheap ebay full spectrum unit supplements the tank and helps of those dark cloudy days. I actually still get a good amount of light on cloudy days from the 8ft mirror outside. I plan in future to replace this with a suntracking heliostat. Plans are to use a 4ft mirror over the tank, and have led cannons for supplementation, keeping it all very clean on the eye.
I have plans to add 400w of solar panels to run the LED and pumps. Cooling and heating are next on the list, looking at passive for this. Determined to make this carbon neutral.
The tanks only recently setup so mind the cables and mess.
System Objectives: Setup a shallow reef with little power use.
- System Type: Mixed Reef
- Strike up Date: November 2014
- Display Tank: 1200x600x250mm, center brace removed.
- Water volume: 230
- Display Lighting: The Sun and LED supplement.
- Stand: Coffee table
- Hood: Hoodless.
- Sump: yes
- Refugium: yes
Support systems:
- System Water: NSW
- Water changes: 5% a day, auto using timer and pumps.
- Display Water circulation: 2 x MP40w
- Return Pump: cheap 20w
- Skimmer: Octopus NW90
- Evaporation Top Up: Float
Chemical Support:
- Calcium Addition: Randy's recipe
- Alkilinity Addition: Randy's recipe
- Mag: Randy's recipe
Additional Equipment:
- Phosban phosphate reactor
- Aqua One 150W heater
- Aqua One 200W heater
Additives/Maintenance:
- Salifert Hard Trace
- Rowa carbon changed monthly
Current Water Chemistry:
- Nitrates: 0ppm Salifert
- Phosphates: 0.00 Salifert
- Alkalinity: 7.8
- Calcium: 420 ppm (Red Sea Pro)
- Salinity / Specific Gravity: 1.026
- Magnesuim: 1320ppm Randy
- Temp: 25-26 deg celcius
Livestock:
- 3 shrimp
- 1 yellow tang
- 2 clown
- Assorted SPS and soft corals
My lighting system means I receive about 4.5 hours a day of good sunlight, slightly filtered through lattice work etc. I a big 8ft x 3ft mirror to collect morning sun, this then reflects back onto the tank, and catches the mirror at the end of the tank, I get about 2 hours of sun in the morning and the afternoon sun comes directly in plus throws light back into the tank via a mirror. Using mirrors has doubled the sunlight time i get and reduces some of the suns harsh PAR !
A cheap ebay full spectrum unit supplements the tank and helps of those dark cloudy days. I actually still get a good amount of light on cloudy days from the 8ft mirror outside. I plan in future to replace this with a suntracking heliostat. Plans are to use a 4ft mirror over the tank, and have led cannons for supplementation, keeping it all very clean on the eye.
I have plans to add 400w of solar panels to run the LED and pumps. Cooling and heating are next on the list, looking at passive for this. Determined to make this carbon neutral.
The tanks only recently setup so mind the cables and mess.
The tank is nothing amazing yet, 3 to 6 moths of grow out hopefully it will be where I want it. The corals are still in a little bit of shock from moving them out of the old tank and adjusting to sunlight. 
