Solatube thread/ aka natural lighting

R

reefdna

Premium Member
Alright after years of research and procrastinating I am moving forward with my dream of natural lighting! Not only will it cut down energy wise from the 3 400W MH's I was running but I'm hoping to not have to run a chiller either! Please post links and ideas and other builds that you guys have run across with natural lighting... I will begin a buiild thread this weekend. Thanks in advance for the help!

PS I really want to know if the diffusers and UV filters on the solatube types hinder the corals.....
 
Ya there is a guy on azreefs that has had a pair of tubes with good results for a year +. My tubes have been in for a little less than a year but I'm still a few weeks away from water. The only thing I can say is boy are they bright!
 
@ Saline... Did you leave on the diffusers? Are they the real solatubes or the Home Depot ones and why did you choose the brand you did? Did you DIY r have them installed? and lastly what has been your cost and how would you do it differently? Thanks for the feed back so far.
 
reefdna said:
@ Saline... Did you leave on the diffusers? Are they the real solatubes or the Home Depot ones and why did you choose the brand you did? Did you DIY r have them installed? and lastly what has been your cost and how would you do it differently? Thanks for the feed back so far.
Click to expand...

So far the diffusers are off but in a few weeks I will put starfire in their place to keep moisture out of the tubes. I bought the solartube brand tubes and had them installed. It ran about $2300 for all 4 installed. I have a tile roof and each tube has about 12ft of drop to get to my tank. These 2 items pushed the price of the install up. One good thing is the tubes are a tax credit. Only thing different I would do at this point is add the optional motorized dimmer. It would be a fun toy but they were like $300 per tube so I passed for now.
 
Those tubes are pretty cool. I didn't realize they weren't that expensive. well relative anyways. I picked up a light from NaClH20NMYVEIN house a while back right after the tubes were in and the sun was setting and there was still light in the tank. I was surprised at how much light they were able to pick up, even with very little being available.
 
^ Ya the solartube brand have a reflector that you put to the north side and it helps "collect" sun and put it down the tube when the sun is low on the horizon.
 
So is the solaRtubes the same as the solAtubes? I was looking at the dimmers as well but really couldn't see the cost/benifit being there either... What made you decide on 4 tubes andwhat diameter tube did you go with? What is their height off of the water? I appreciate the answers. My mind is going!

I'm assuming you went with residential tubes. Any thoughts on the 24" commercial size? Would 2 12"'s give more or less light?
 
Here is the company and brand that did mine. http://www.lightingarizona.com/ I went with the 14" ones as that was the biggest that would fit thru the trusses on my house. I went with 4 as the tank is 10 feet long. Right now they are about 12-14" off where the water will be. That can easily be adjusted. I would think the 24" would be awesome if your house would allow them.
 
I have an 18" Solartube above my 225G tank. Thought it would be cool to have some natural light. I guess now that I've had it there for several years, I can honestly say I wish it wasn't there anymore. I prefer to have my lighting schedule on my time and not the suns time. My work schedule keeps me from seeing most of the best or brightest moments. Also the light is too natural for me (yellow) I prefer a cleaner whitish blue that the mechanical lighting provides. Lastly the natural light just seems to enhance any imbalances your tank may have. Just my 2 cents worth, good luck to you pioneers.

Larry
 
Hey Larry thanks for the input... Are you supplementing at all with MH's or such? What do you mean by enhance any imbalances? Like it shows more of the uneven spread of other lights? If you have other lights what Wattage are you running? Thanks again.
 
Hi there,

For a 48x48x24 cube, I want a single solatube, there are 14" ($500 installed) models and also a commercial 21" model ($1,000 installed).

The tank would be a mostly softies and LPS.

Im gonna supplement it with LEDs for actinics and maybe a couple of T5s.

Im in the desert so we get heavy sun almost all year long.

Should I get a 14" or the 21"? Im leaning towards the 14" model

Are diffusers recommended?
 
reefdna said:
Hey Larry thanks for the input... Are you supplementing at all with MH's or such? What do you mean by enhance any imbalances? Like it shows more of the uneven spread of other lights? If you have other lights what Wattage are you running? Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Hey reefdan, I run 3 Ecoxotic panaramas with 2 additional 12 watt actinics per unit for a total of 288 watts of LED. Take a look at my albums you can see what it looks like.

Imbalances: well if you fall behind on your water changes and you nitrates spike or phosphates the natural light will have no problems converting it into some form of algae that you may not want. You are bringing the full spectrum of the sun into your tank, while this is good for the ocean because its massive, it can have a negative effect on a small tank of water. I'm not saying it cant be done I just feel that this type of light will be more "work" for the person taking care of it. I had a red slime outbreak that I have under control now but it was a major pain in the kester. I have little room for error with this light, I've even considered blacking it out, but this way makes me more diligent with my water changes and upkeep.
 
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