reefdna's 375 gal solatube build

R

reefdna

Premium Member
About 8 years ago when I first got into this hobby I was talking with a contractor friend of mine, who was helping me with the in-wall build, and he asked me why not just open the roof that was above the tank and install a skylight. I thought it had been a cool idea and began posting on a couple of different sites asking about natural sunlight for reef tanks. A Reefer on one of the sites posted a link here and that is how I found RC. Finally after two large tank builds and using PC's, MH's, etc. I am building a tank in the perfect spot for using SOLATUBES for lighting.

I have sent off request for quotes and have recieved a few back. My request is that my fellow RC'ers give me your advice on the tank manafactureres and if some are worth the extra price or not and of course Glass vs Acrylic. I have built 200+ tanks with both and am still on the fence as to which one is better.

Quote request for Tank dimensions of:
1. 60"x 48" 30" Eurobraced with as little lip as possible.
2. Overflow teeth cut into back of aquarium and 2 external overflow boxes. Each box 12" long with 3-1" holes drilled. for standpipes.
3. 2-2" holes for CL drilled in back of aquarium as well as 10-1" holes drilled in eurobracing for CL return. 3-1" holesdrilled in bottom of tank for CL return as well.

Aquarium Obsessed: The tank with 3 sides starphire will cost $4332 + shipping. The eurobrace is 4" wide and 15mm thick.

Envision Acrylics: 3"- 4" eurobracing. FWIW, looking at the $2700 neighborhood for the tank made from the 1" as above, $300 for the padded shipping crate and ~$475 for shipping provided you can pick up in Phoenix, add $150 for residential delivery with liftgate equipped truck.

Tenecor: By far the most professional looking quote with a mock up and everything spelled out clearly. 2.5" eurobracing all holes drilled and schsd 80 BH's provided. $4,204 pick-up locally. (I actually asked for a quote on a 60x60x24 but have since changed my mind after doing some re-measuring and am waiting for a new quote)

I am open to suggestion advice and all input. Especiaslly with links!

thanks

Ed C
 
sorry no person experience with any of those companies but I am very interested in your solar tubes and how you will incorporate them into your lighting setup. I live in Florida and would like to harness the power of the all mighty orb as well. Looking forward to your build.
 
I'm actually planning on using 3x 14" Sola-Tubes or my 330 build. From the research I've done, the only real consideration I'm looking at is Actinic supplimentation for the color. And *maybe* a couple of T-5 or VHO in daylight spectrum for days when the sun isn't out in force..

Power is getting more expensive, and LED's are too expensive right now..
 
Here is a link at the ones I am looking to do.

http://www.solatube.com/residential/solamaster.php

I am looking to install two 21" solatubes minus diffusers etc and positioned at approx 20" in from the sides. In between them hang a lumenarc mini relfector with 400W MH running a 15K XM bulb. My plans are for the MH to be on 2-3 hours a day from 11:00 to 1:00. I have no plans for supplemental lighting like actinics or T-5's IN truth, if I can add a third in the middle and do without the MH then I will. I am putting it in the plans as a just in case.

akw- Those are exactly the reasons why this makes sense. Especially living in the "Valley of the Sun" Plus the heat issues with MH's I have three over my current tank and the heat is crazy!
 
I just had an estimate to harness the power of the orb for the whole house plus planned aquarium.... 120k and 50 years to break even..... :eek2:

Back to the drawing board.....

I will be tagging along.....good luck.
 
I looking into this variety of lighting a little bit when I was setting up my most recent tank. The only bit of advice I can offer, is that there are several companies using this technology. Make sure you are getting multiple quotes. At the home show, there were 3 different companies doing this...and I bet there are even more out there. Best of luck on the project.
 
From what I've read and seen, if I were buying an acrylic tank, I would go with Envision Acrylics, and if I were buying glass, I would go with A.G.E. I, in fact, just bought nano-tank from A.G.E although they are well known for building large tanks. You can see a number of them in this forum.
 
when you get going on the lighting I want to know because that is exactly what I would like to do... or try doing when i get A large setup going...
 
thanks for the comments so far and even the few PM's telling me your experiences with some aquarium manafacturers. PLease keep them coming.

Evo- I ran into that company two years ago with my last build and had them come out and give me a quote. They were friendly and decently priced. We didn't do it then because of how I had two different slopes to the roof meeting above where the tank was going. I'll definitely give them another shot. Thanks for the link, I had lost there info.

Frank-I appreciate that and I am going to need some help when the tank arrives. If anyone wants to be there for the solatube install I'm up for that too. Probably in a month or so.

enfuego- I tried finding AGE's website. Any ideas?

Here's something I'm thinking about... should I install the tubes to say... 12" above the water or install to the ceiling and wrap the inside of the canopy with reflective metal? Anyone have some thoughts?
 
My thoughts were to get the tube close to the water 3"-6" and figure a way to either slide the tube up into the ceiling when working in the tank or be able to disconnect the extention tube (more realistic) while working on the tank. I just dont know how the extention tube connects (Easy/Hard). My $0.02
 
Keller- You are probably right about having to remove the bottoms of the tube for better access. I am going to look later today and post some links to other builds that have done this type of lighting. If anyone else finds some please post a link.

nauticac4-Thanks for the link. I have e-mailed AGE for a quote. Not a very extensive website though... only 1 page?
 
 
For water movement I am considering a couple different options. Here's what I have planned.

A Sequence Hammerhead running a CL that is plumbed with 12 outlets through the eurobracing of the tank and 4 outlets in the base of the tank (one in each corner).

Thinking about an OM 8 way running on a version 3 drum so that all 16 CL outlets fire opposite each other. (does that make sense?)
OM 8 way version 3
http://www.oceansmotions.com/store/...id=33&osCsid=70de1888baabb2564f58676a80407d22

Or maybe 2 Tunze wave boxes and a less sophisticated straight flow CL
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~wavemakers_tunze_wavebox.html

Also I am planning on having the return line form the sump be plumbed through 3 seperate outlets through the bottom of the tank and set up under the rockwork which will have a PVC frame. Very similar to the way "oregon reef" has his.
http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_circulation.htm
The only difference is I plan on having one outlet under each rockwork island and attaching 3 locline Y's together so water is more sotly blown at every direction under the rock. This will help alleviate stagnant spots and since the sump return is alo fed from the refugium any pods that are pushed into the main system will have plenty of rockwork to hide in.

SIDE NOTE: I have had CL's on most of my large tanks but yet to use a device to switch current and have had decently successful livestock. So since I generally believe in "If it aint broke don't fix it" Is it worth the $500-$1,000 I'd spend on nice wavemaking devices? Any thoughts?
 
Regarding the wavemaking devices. I can tell you that I have used both, and have had success with both. The wave making device I chose was the wavebox from tunze. At first when I bought it, Ill be honest, I just wanted to see waves in my tank, I thought that would be cool. But as a side note, it allowed me to realize the deadspots in the tank. As soon as I started using it, I started to see detritrus coming out of places where it had collected, so it assisted me in keeping a cleaner tank. Just my 2 cents
 
IMO go with the OM and alternate as you suggested. To be honest I have never seen a wavebox in action, not in person any ways. The solatubes are a great idea. Go with the largest diameter you can. It will be an awesome build, any help needed call me, I will be there. You can hide most of the intank plumbing with diy rock, towers, background. It looks like you have plenty of time for the rock to cure out.

I like glass tanks the best, will acrylic yellow out or become brittle in natural sunlight? I see there are light diffusers in the solatubes, so uv may not be a high concern.
 
Envision makes one of the finest acrylic tanks anywhere. You linked Steve Weast's site (oregon reef), which obviously spared no expense - his tank is an Envision. James is awesome to work with, and when you get the crate to your house you'll see why the crating is so expensive!

If you go glass - you should ask for a quote from Elos if you're interested in going rimless. Check out Bricky's build over in the Elos sponsor forum. Might be kinda pricey though - but when we move I'm having a custom Elos built close to your size. AGE tanks look great, Invincibles, Dudesters, naka's tanks are AGE and all come to mind. I've heard that of the Canadian builders Miracles is probably the best. I haven't had the greatest luck with AO equipment or service, I'm not the only one - and there have even been a few busted AO tanks here on RC.

I've owned two Elos (about to get a third) and one Envision and nothing even comes close to their quality - although I always here good things about AGE. The bull-nose tank at AZ Seabottom is AGE.

Good luck, can't wait to see it come together!
 
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