Rod's Gyre flow, Natural light, SPS dominated Reef

[Rod the Reefer]

Thanks Bax.

Ok, here's a couple of the inhabitants;

 

[Rod the Reefer]

Rod. :thumbsup:

 

[K' Family Reef]

great photos and build! - thanks for sharing it here on RC
:thumbsup:

we have a vaulted ceiling like yours
and had contemplated using solatubes for our system but didnt think it would look good coming down (the distance from the top of the ceiling)... you certainly have done this very well in an overall 'attractive' and appealing design... now we just need to decide if we want to put holes in our roof yours is the first one i have seen (sun tubes) w/ an 'open' design where the tubes were exposed... great job!

regards

 

[Rod the Reefer]

Thanks Warren.

Holes in the roof can always be reversed. I think the benefits are worth the effort to 1. install and 2. uninstall if necessary.

If you like I can post a few of the Sola Tube build photos.

Rod. :thumbsup:

 

[chachijoe75]

That would be very cool. Please post them.

 

[Rod the Reefer]

Ok, being a roof plumber I just happened to have a few skylights laying around.

I joined two 2' x 2'8" skylight frames together as I needed a long rectangle to suit the tank. Living in a high bush fire danger area I couldn’t use the Solatube domes (Plus I didn’t think I’d get enough light through them) so I discarded them and after much research ordered a sheet of 1/2" clear laminated glass to go on top.
Fortunately the roof faces north so it picks up max sun. (I'm in Aus remember)

I liked the idea of Solatube style tubes to bring the directed light right down to the tank and thought that three tubes alternating with the pendants would be good.
As you know my ceiling is raked so I had the added hassle of different length tubes.

Another problem was that the Solatube tubes only come in 16" and 24" lengths that you stick together with tape, which I thought was going to look pretty ordinary inside the room.
The way I got around that was to give them a twin skin of HIP â€"œ high impact polystyrene.

Here are some pics of the install;

Here's a pic of my old tank when I first installed the skylight and Solatubes.

On my new tank the tubes have been shortened by about 2'.

Rod. :thumbsup:

 

[K' Family Reef]

thanks for posting the install pics Rod.

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc130/WarrenAmyMadelinne/bowingdowngroupofsmilies.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

:thumbsup:
regards

 

[Rod the Reefer]

And a shot of the new tank with the Sola tubes;

Rod. :thumbsup:

 

[jrreese]

Your tank is just beautiful, love the solar tubes. Inspiring. jr

 

[Jhardain]

Looking great, very nice/clean install!

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

i think that is one of the most awesome tanks i have seen pop up in a while....

the only beef i would have is that you can see the water line in the display tank...but it almost adds the shallow reef look to it...

very good job, kudos on the solar tubs too...even though i am way up here Canada i would still like to put a sky light in my igloo and brighten up my tank...

 

[Rod the Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14490778#post14490778 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jrreese
Your tank is just beautiful, love the solar tubes. Inspiring. jr

Thanks. I hope many people are inspired to install natural light methods. IMO it's 100% better!!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14492056#post14492056 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jhardain
Looking great, very nice/clean install!

I do like to get things right when I do something!!

Who mentioned excessive compulsive??? :eek2:

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14498315#post14498315 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NanoReefWanabe
i think that is one of the most awesome tanks i have seen pop up in a while....

the only beef i would have is that you can see the water line in the display tank...but it almost adds the shallow reef look to it...

very good job, kudos on the solar tubs too...even though i am way up here Canada i would still like to put a sky light in my igloo and brighten up my tank...

Thanks.

I really wanted to see the water line to show just how much flow there is in there! People are always surprised at the "waves".

Go for it with the Solar Tubes, you get sun don't you??

Rod. :thumbsup:

 

[Hampton]

How much can one expect to pay for a similar set up if you cut your own holes in your roof and ceiling?

 

[Rod the Reefer]

Hi Hampton,

Hey, I'm probably not the person to ask. I did the entire install on mine from stuff I had on hand.

I'm guessing that the costs would be different there in the US as to here in Aus.

Just call a couple of skylight places and I'm sure they would quote you.

Rod. :thumbsup:

 

[Rod the Reefer]

Thought it was about time to share a few coral shots;

Rod. :thumbsup:

 

[ninja750]

Noice.....

 

[ghengis]

Long time lurker, first time poster.... And what a fantastic Thread to make my debut on!

Definitely one of the most innovative tanks I have seen over the last six months. That solar tube concept is so simplistically brilliant as to render one gobsmacked... Great idea!

 

[FUA]

subscribed.....awsome tank too by the way

 

[Rod the Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14523358#post14523358 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ninja750
Noice.....

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14523386#post14523386 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DontGotReef
Long time lurker, first time poster.... And what a fantastic Thread to make my debut on!

Definitely one of the most innovative tanks I have seen over the last six months. That solar tube concept is so simplistically brilliant as to render one gobsmacked... Great idea!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14523503#post14523503 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FUA
subscribed.....awsome tank too by the way

Thanks guys. Go the Aussie tanks.

Rod. :thumbsup:

 

[Rod the Reefer]

Ok, here we have a shot from late Nov '08 when I first changed over top the new tank;

And early March '09 showing growth;

Rod. :thumbsup: