SolaTubes for reef tanks
- Thread starter 440cudaman
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Shoestring Reefer
New member
So, 4 for the tank and one for another room?
salty joe
Active member
Wazbot,
Nice, very nice. What is the diameter of your tubes?
What are you using the number five tube visible on the roof for?
Is your roof concrete tiles?
How far are you from the equator?
I can hardly wait to see how well this lighting scheme works.
Thanks for the pictures, please keep us posted.
Joe
Nice, very nice. What is the diameter of your tubes?
What are you using the number five tube visible on the roof for?
Is your roof concrete tiles?
How far are you from the equator?
I can hardly wait to see how well this lighting scheme works.
Thanks for the pictures, please keep us posted.
Joe
Yup, one for the 'fish room', it doesn't have an extension tube on it, but if decide to have a grow-out tank I can easily put one on.
All the plumbing for this tank is going through the big white brick wall into the 4m x 4m room behind.
Also the extension tubes are exactly 60cm (2foot?) from the ceiling.
here is a shot taken 2 minutes ago, its night so I needed the flash, looking up the tube.
All the plumbing for this tank is going through the big white brick wall into the 4m x 4m room behind.
Also the extension tubes are exactly 60cm (2foot?) from the ceiling.
here is a shot taken 2 minutes ago, its night so I needed the flash, looking up the tube.
SaltyJoe: 24.5cm diameter tubes, maybe a growout tank in the future, but just to light the fishroom at this time, and yup, concrete tiles. My geography is crap, if someone knows how far Perth, Western Australia is from the Equator, please chime in. I do believe there are some coral species (poci's) on an island called Rotnest just off our coast, only 40min boat ride away, so who knows?
This is another photo of looking right up the tube, should remind some of you old fella's of that time they call the sixties!! :rollface:
This is another photo of looking right up the tube, should remind some of you old fella's of that time they call the sixties!! :rollface:
Thank you very much Erik!
I havn't got a webpage up yet, but will get one up in the near future.
I am itching for a full moon, only 2 weeks away. Can't wait to see how it looks.
When I look up through the tubes I can see the streetlights!
From outside they glow a dull purple/actinic from my reef tank a few feet away, I wonder what the neighbours think?
I havn't got a webpage up yet, but will get one up in the near future.
I am itching for a full moon, only 2 weeks away. Can't wait to see how it looks.
When I look up through the tubes I can see the streetlights!
From outside they glow a dull purple/actinic from my reef tank a few feet away, I wonder what the neighbours think?
Wazbot,
I will second what Ehydo and salty joe said about the thread. I am very curious how you tank does under this type of lighting.
Looking at the pictures of the tubes in the ceiling that you said were 24.5 cm I'm guessing that your tank dimensions (6x2x2) are in feet. Although when I did a measurement of the picture to get relative size it appears that the distance from the end of one light to the far end of the last one is about 77". Must be off some in the measurement. Probably should have printed it instead of trying to do it off the monitor without touching it.
Good luck with this. Please keep us updated.
Charles
I will second what Ehydo and salty joe said about the thread. I am very curious how you tank does under this type of lighting.
Looking at the pictures of the tubes in the ceiling that you said were 24.5 cm I'm guessing that your tank dimensions (6x2x2) are in feet. Although when I did a measurement of the picture to get relative size it appears that the distance from the end of one light to the far end of the last one is about 77". Must be off some in the measurement. Probably should have printed it instead of trying to do it off the monitor without touching it.
Good luck with this. Please keep us updated.
Charles
My current tank is 6 x 2 x 2(feet), the solatubes are for a 10 x 2.5 x 2.5(feet) which is still large glass sheets sitting in my garage ready to be put together. I am building the stand today.
I will start a thread very soon, I just need to get my web space organised (tonight) and will post the link here. I will also post on Reefing The Australian Way ( www.masa.asn.au ).
I will start a thread very soon, I just need to get my web space organised (tonight) and will post the link here. I will also post on Reefing The Australian Way ( www.masa.asn.au ).
color
color
Hi,
Well I am looking at putting 3 21" solar tubes above my 180. My concern is that, from what I have read, the color with just the tubes is brown. As Dr. Mac said:
If anyone has seen corals under natural sunlight you will notice the exact same effects under the sola tubes. Corals look brown and you will not see any fluorescent colors at all. As an example, the bright neon green anemones under the tubes here look a dull brown and when they are placed under just a bit of actinic light they look absolutely neon. So, for a reef tank it will be eseential to use some type of actinic suppllementation if you want your corals to look really colorful. A fish only tank, even freshwater, would look spectacular with just the tubes.
My question is if I suppliment with just VHO will this be enought to bring out the colors?
Thanks,
color
Hi,
Well I am looking at putting 3 21" solar tubes above my 180. My concern is that, from what I have read, the color with just the tubes is brown. As Dr. Mac said:
If anyone has seen corals under natural sunlight you will notice the exact same effects under the sola tubes. Corals look brown and you will not see any fluorescent colors at all. As an example, the bright neon green anemones under the tubes here look a dull brown and when they are placed under just a bit of actinic light they look absolutely neon. So, for a reef tank it will be eseential to use some type of actinic suppllementation if you want your corals to look really colorful. A fish only tank, even freshwater, would look spectacular with just the tubes.
My question is if I suppliment with just VHO will this be enought to bring out the colors?
Thanks,
gatohoser
New member
What they're saying makes some sense. The water depth in your tank is like a foot or 2 at max to your corals. All light spectrums are still reaching the bottom of your tank. Most corals are under more than that where there is a prevalance of blue light. So corals will look like they if you take them out of the water and hold them outside and look at them.
As for lights, I've never seen solatubes in use other than here but here's my thoughts. A few days ago I opened the blinds that protect my tank from the morning sun. It is a 12g nanocube. When I turned on the 92w of actinic (66%) and 10k (33%) lights you couldn't even tell they had turned on. And that is 96w over liek 6" of water with a reflector. I think you're best bet would be to use some sort of 20k metal halide. Maybe 150w DE or maybe even 250w SE/DE. I dont know about what wattage but I can say that I think somethign stronger than VHO's will be needed.
As for lights, I've never seen solatubes in use other than here but here's my thoughts. A few days ago I opened the blinds that protect my tank from the morning sun. It is a 12g nanocube. When I turned on the 92w of actinic (66%) and 10k (33%) lights you couldn't even tell they had turned on. And that is 96w over liek 6" of water with a reflector. I think you're best bet would be to use some sort of 20k metal halide. Maybe 150w DE or maybe even 250w SE/DE. I dont know about what wattage but I can say that I think somethign stronger than VHO's will be needed.
Herpervet
New member
I am taking the same approach. Here is a drawing.
Display is 90 X 48 X 30" high. Skylights with active tracking mirrors are 48" X 48". There are two of them.
There will be some shadows for sure due to the rails and pendants. I am going to use the smallest pendants available but I might even have to go with a bare bulb.
With a tubular skylight one surprising feature is that when there is no diffusion lens or a clear lens, an object placed in the CENTER of the tube does not create a big shadow. Most of the light is being bounced down the tube and in effect there are multiple point sources many of which come from the EDGES of the tube opening.
Some manufacturers sell kits to mount supplemental lights inside the light well. You would then need the optional ventilation kit or multiple ones to controll the heat issues within the tube.
Another issue is distance since any halides mounted in the tube would be considerably further away from the water surface and therefore lose a lot of intensity.
For smaller tublular skylights, one 400 watt 20K pendant mounted inside the skylight might do the trick.
Now the final detail would be to design an extension tube that allowed the distal portion of the skylight to telescope upward. This would allow access to the tank surface when needed and get the aperture of the skylight very close to the water surface and therefore provide much more intensity from both the halides and the natural light.
Again this is what I had originally wanted but as things progressed it started to look like it could become a nightmare to work out all the details mainly because my skylights are so large.
I will draw a quick picture.
Display is 90 X 48 X 30" high. Skylights with active tracking mirrors are 48" X 48". There are two of them.
There will be some shadows for sure due to the rails and pendants. I am going to use the smallest pendants available but I might even have to go with a bare bulb.
With a tubular skylight one surprising feature is that when there is no diffusion lens or a clear lens, an object placed in the CENTER of the tube does not create a big shadow. Most of the light is being bounced down the tube and in effect there are multiple point sources many of which come from the EDGES of the tube opening.
Some manufacturers sell kits to mount supplemental lights inside the light well. You would then need the optional ventilation kit or multiple ones to controll the heat issues within the tube.
Another issue is distance since any halides mounted in the tube would be considerably further away from the water surface and therefore lose a lot of intensity.
For smaller tublular skylights, one 400 watt 20K pendant mounted inside the skylight might do the trick.
Now the final detail would be to design an extension tube that allowed the distal portion of the skylight to telescope upward. This would allow access to the tank surface when needed and get the aperture of the skylight very close to the water surface and therefore provide much more intensity from both the halides and the natural light.
Again this is what I had originally wanted but as things progressed it started to look like it could become a nightmare to work out all the details mainly because my skylights are so large.
I will draw a quick picture.
salty joe
Active member
I am still in the planning stages, but I also plan on using 2 48 x 48 skylights.
I was looking at some solar panel information to find the optimal placement of the skylights. At latitudes between 30Ã"šÃ‚° and 45Ã"šÃ‚°, it was recommended to add 10Ã"šÃ‚° to the slope of the skylights. I am at 41Ã"šÃ‚° latitude, so the slope would be 51Ã"šÃ‚°. I don't know if that was 51Ã"šÃ‚° from level or 51Ã"šÃ‚° from plum. And it said something about face them south. Since I'm going to build, I want to find something a little more exact.
I plan on building a plywood plenum from the skylights down to the tank. The plenum will be lined with specular aluminum. I will use the shiny aluminum to form rounded inside corners. I kicked the idea around of a telescoping plenum. But instead, I am going to use a hinge that runs along the entire width of the plenum about 2 feet up from the tank. That way, I can lift it up, latch it and work on the tank.
I am interested in the sun tracking hardware. Can you post any information? Also, what kind of skylights are you using?
I was looking at some solar panel information to find the optimal placement of the skylights. At latitudes between 30Ã"šÃ‚° and 45Ã"šÃ‚°, it was recommended to add 10Ã"šÃ‚° to the slope of the skylights. I am at 41Ã"šÃ‚° latitude, so the slope would be 51Ã"šÃ‚°. I don't know if that was 51Ã"šÃ‚° from level or 51Ã"šÃ‚° from plum. And it said something about face them south. Since I'm going to build, I want to find something a little more exact.
I plan on building a plywood plenum from the skylights down to the tank. The plenum will be lined with specular aluminum. I will use the shiny aluminum to form rounded inside corners. I kicked the idea around of a telescoping plenum. But instead, I am going to use a hinge that runs along the entire width of the plenum about 2 feet up from the tank. That way, I can lift it up, latch it and work on the tank.
I am interested in the sun tracking hardware. Can you post any information? Also, what kind of skylights are you using?
Herpervet
New member
The brand is Natural light. They produce a 4 X 4 skylight with a metal light well. They also produce the active tracking system.
Here is a picture of the unit. The diffusor is a pyramid so that the light is spread out in all four directions since its made for warehouse use. The plan is to turn it upside down so that the light is focused inward toward the tank.
I will photograph the diffusion lenses tomorrow and post the pics.
http://www.daylighting.com/images/active1.jpg
Here is the website. The photo's of the unit have been down for a while now.
http://www.daylighting.com/active_daylighting.htm
Here is a picture of the unit. The diffusor is a pyramid so that the light is spread out in all four directions since its made for warehouse use. The plan is to turn it upside down so that the light is focused inward toward the tank.
I will photograph the diffusion lenses tomorrow and post the pics.
http://www.daylighting.com/images/active1.jpg
Here is the website. The photo's of the unit have been down for a while now.
http://www.daylighting.com/active_daylighting.htm
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