Outdoor Frag Tank in So Cal - Looking Good

o2manyfish

o2manyfish

o2manyfish
I haven't posted in this forum in a long time. I have been super motivated to clean up the frag tank and been having fun with it.

This video the focus was on the angels, but if you are patient I show off the corals.

This tank is outside and uncovered in the sunlight. At night I have a single 30w landscape light LED in blue that just puts out some light so i can see the corals at night.

This video was shot around 5pm tonight. The tank was in the shade of the house at this point. There is absolutely no supplemental light and no editing of the video.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2JAXen0F_XE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Dave B
 
kutcha said:
what is the growth/color like on the corals?
Click to expand...

The frag tank is the same water as my display tank. They are all connected. The same coral outside in sunlight grows 3-5x faster than the coral inside. Same water parameters just sunlight vs tank light.

The colors on most things are much better outside. You don't realize it during the day because the blue isn't overpowering like in our reef tanks.

But in the daytime most of the corals outside have good color. At night under an actinic flash light - the Colors are as good as you have ever seen without a photoshop tweak.

Dave B
 
o2manyfish said:
The frag tank is the same water as my display tank. They are all connected. The same coral outside in sunlight grows 3-5x faster than the coral inside. Same water parameters just sunlight vs tank light.

The colors on most things are much better outside. You don't realize it during the day because the blue isn't overpowering like in our reef tanks.

But in the daytime most of the corals outside have good color. At night under an actinic flash light - the Colors are as good as you have ever seen without a photoshop tweak.

Dave B
Click to expand...

that is awesome thank you. So with the frag tank outside do you have to run heaters on the tank at all or just the chiller?
 
On the subject of cooling, do you know how much is evaporating per week, and what sort of temperature deta are you seeing? It's nice to hear these are coloring well under natural light.
 
jccaclimber said:
On the subject of cooling, do you know how much is evaporating per week, and what sort of temperature deta are you seeing? It's nice to hear these are coloring well under natural light.
Click to expand...



I think he said like 50 gallons per day or something insane like that. I could be wrong


Sent using your IP address
 
JCCAClimber,

The whole system is monitored by an Apex. Yesterday we had a killer heat wave. My back yard in the shade was 111 to 95 from noon till 9pm last night.

The system was the warmest it has been in the last 4 years and went up to 82 for maybe 90 minutes.

From my Apex log it appears that my Topoff system ran for about 80 minutes yesterday. My RO system is a custom 7 stage with dual 150gpd membranes and is connected to a Smartbuddie booster (If you have an RO you need a SmartBuddie!). So my guess is yesterday the evaporation was around 55 to 60 gallons.



DZT,

We played with a PAR meter 10+ years ago. I don't remember the exact values but they were really high. I'm not sure it's worth getting the Apex PAR meter to watch that.

Dave B
 
o2manyfish said:
I haven't posted in this forum in a long time. I have been super motivated to clean up the frag tank and been having fun with it.

This video the focus was on the angels, but if you are patient I show off the corals.

This tank is outside and uncovered in the sunlight. At night I have a single 30w landscape light LED in blue that just puts out some light so i can see the corals at night.

This video was shot around 5pm tonight. The tank was in the shade of the house at this point. There is absolutely no supplemental light and no editing of the video.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2JAXen0F_XE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Dave B
Click to expand...


So..... jealous.... if I tried that where I live it would be coral soup... our pool is 92 right now.. looks great though!
 
Depending on where you are in Texas, you might be able to do this.

I live in one of the hottest parts of Southern Cali. For the past 3 weeks the coolest day we have had is maybe 89. And we had a 4 day run at 105+

When the temp gets over 102, then the frag tank will rise up to 83. I picked up an Easy Up tent, and set that over the tank for the couple of days when its 110 and then system dropped back to maxing out at 80.1

Evaporative cooling (just blowing air across the surface) is an extremely effective and efficient way of cooling.

This past week it hasn't been less than 98 and several days in the 100's. The highest temp on the system was 80.3. At 80.3 I have 1100 gallons being cooled using 2 ($20) box fans and one Vornado type fan (over the display tank) - I think the Box fans only use like 24watts each, the Vornado type maybe uses 35w. 1100 gallons kept cool on less than 100watts.

Being in So Cal the evaporative cooling is effective because we have such low humidity.

Find yourself a spare tank 40-60g and setup outside with a fan over it and monitor the temp. I think you would be surprised what you might be able to pull off.

Dave
 
humidity is what is going to kill it... I'm in Houston. Walk out the front door and shirt is drenched before I reach the end of the sidewalk. It would still be worth a try though..I have spare tanks and some 70g tubs, just have to convince my wife that is a good idea to setup a tank on her outdoor table...


Oh I just read your systems are all connected... thats a great idea... Now I'm gonna want to use a core bit to open up two 1.5" holes in the brick...

Would be interested to hear what you do for rain... the other thing I would have to worry about is the county mosquito foggers that run around at midnight...
 
Last edited:
Awesome videos and set up, Im going to jump on the geographically jealous train too. Couldn't do this where I live either.

How is the growth in your opinion in this tank vs indoor captive lighting? this is attached to your main indoor system I presume?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

NancyT3
Just looking for a shoulder to cry on -- Velvet....
Replies
5
Views
572
monkeysee1
monkeysee1
Dogs442
Red Sea 3XL 900 build finally done cycling.
Replies
8
Views
253
Dogs442
Dogs442
o2manyfish
So Cal Lost a Good Reefer
Replies
5
Views
589
isseym328
isseym328
fullerenedream
Help with corynactis/pseudocorynactis ID & care instructions
Replies
1
Views
167
Reefing102
Reefing102
Brian60077
Glad my friend stopped by to look at my new set up yesterday afternoon
Replies
4
Views
229
Brian60077
Brian60077
Back
Top