SolaTubes for reef tanks
- Thread starter 440cudaman
- Start date
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reef_research
New member
What do you use for supplementation lighting?
Thank you.
Thank you.
robcropper
Member
thats crazy
I've read all 38 pages... and i'm hooked! I first heard about Sunpipe about ten years ago, when a neighbour strarted installing them back in the UK, and straight away I saw the potential, but couldn't work out how to retro them into our house... I'm now out in Cyprus, (only 34 degrees north!) and we're looking at buying and renovating a flat-roofed "village" house. the main drawback is that being in an earthquake zone, all the windows are small, so the properties are dark... i'm now set on a couple of "clusters" of 10" tubes, one in the center of the room, one over a 30" square 24" deep tank.
This is probably the most inspirational thread I've ever read! It's going to be a couple of years 'till I'm up and running... I reckon as more and more reefers get into this, this thread will still be going!
This is probably the most inspirational thread I've ever read! It's going to be a couple of years 'till I'm up and running... I reckon as more and more reefers get into this, this thread will still be going!
DouglasTiede
Premium Member
I looked into this about 3 years ago, it wasn't practical for me since
my tank sat in front of two huge windows to begin with.
( my tank also was on the main floor of a 2 story house. )
I did consider the possibilities of putting one in the wall of a southern exposed side.
The other drawback I face is that I live in Wisconsin and sunny days are few. ( ahh the benefits of living near the great lakes.. )
my tank sat in front of two huge windows to begin with.
( my tank also was on the main floor of a 2 story house. )
I did consider the possibilities of putting one in the wall of a southern exposed side.
The other drawback I face is that I live in Wisconsin and sunny days are few. ( ahh the benefits of living near the great lakes.. )
DouglasTiede
Premium Member
sorry a tripple post..
DouglasTiede
Premium Member
...
chris wright
In Memoriam
G'day all,
Ive just caught up on this thread.
wazbot, I remember seeing your tank on ozreef and was wondering how it was going, Ive been a bit lazy in looking at masa site but I see its going great.
Rod and Jim beautiful set ups you blokes have, I have a fish only tank set up in front of a north facing window, love the shimmer i get (t5's are not noticible for light untill late in the evening), and i have 4 different macro algaes that are thriving.
hahnmeister, Ive built skylights on different jobs, not for use over aquariums though, and loved the idea of it. Just wondering with the design you posted earlier, do you keep the hole skylight at 1 size or would you recommend a small hood on the bottom to flare out the light a little.
When i build my new house and get a tank set up, ill be using tubes or a skylight and will post pics. Ill be setting mine up in 2 sections. 1 will be on the east and 1 on the west, just 1 to start with to see how it works out.
Ive just caught up on this thread.
wazbot, I remember seeing your tank on ozreef and was wondering how it was going, Ive been a bit lazy in looking at masa site but I see its going great.
Rod and Jim beautiful set ups you blokes have, I have a fish only tank set up in front of a north facing window, love the shimmer i get (t5's are not noticible for light untill late in the evening), and i have 4 different macro algaes that are thriving.
hahnmeister, Ive built skylights on different jobs, not for use over aquariums though, and loved the idea of it. Just wondering with the design you posted earlier, do you keep the hole skylight at 1 size or would you recommend a small hood on the bottom to flare out the light a little.
When i build my new house and get a tank set up, ill be using tubes or a skylight and will post pics. Ill be setting mine up in 2 sections. 1 will be on the east and 1 on the west, just 1 to start with to see how it works out.
I have read this thread and now I am planning to building a 3m * 1m * 1m (118.11 * 39.37 * 39.37 inch) reef tank using skylight tube and holding 3000L (659G).
The biggest skylight is 450mm (+-18 inch), I am thinking of using 3 and removing the diffuser and replacing it with a .5mm (0.20inch) acrylic or less.
I have a few questions for those that have done this.
Would 3 tubes be fine?
Would the height of the tank be okay and can I go lower if need be to maybe 85cm (33.46 inch)?
Very important to me how was the coral acclimatise to the sunlight without bleaching?
How low from the surface of the water must the tube be I am thinking 40cm (15.74 inch)?
Reading the thread some of you have removed the dome on the top, to what benefit was this?
The diffuser was also removed I can understand why but was there any damage to the tube and has anyone replace the diffuser with a thin acrylic?
Another question the tank will be out of concrete. Can someone please point me to a thread or site that has the explanation on how to do this?
thanks
The biggest skylight is 450mm (+-18 inch), I am thinking of using 3 and removing the diffuser and replacing it with a .5mm (0.20inch) acrylic or less.
I have a few questions for those that have done this.
Would 3 tubes be fine?
Would the height of the tank be okay and can I go lower if need be to maybe 85cm (33.46 inch)?
Very important to me how was the coral acclimatise to the sunlight without bleaching?
How low from the surface of the water must the tube be I am thinking 40cm (15.74 inch)?
Reading the thread some of you have removed the dome on the top, to what benefit was this?
The diffuser was also removed I can understand why but was there any damage to the tube and has anyone replace the diffuser with a thin acrylic?
Another question the tank will be out of concrete. Can someone please point me to a thread or site that has the explanation on how to do this?
thanks
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
3 22" tubes would cut it. You would still want to add some supplimental light, for blue... like a few rows of T5s... and that would fill in as well as bring up the whole tank to the light levels you need.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
No, the blues have a peak at the 450nm range (blue light). Actinics have a spike at 420nm (purple), but purple is much harder to make than blue, so as a consequence, the blues are often 50-100% brighter (in fact, the blue+ style bulbs rival many daylight T5s in output and longevity... they are great bulbs).
You can get the same bulb in PC (they make blue/7100K/450nm bulbs as they are labelled, but the output of PC's is about 1/3 that of T5s per watt because T5s are about 50% more efficient, but also allow for individual parabolic reflectors that are very effective.
LED's are also not very efficient at all, and I wouldnt consider them either.
There are 20,000K halides you could use a backup, but as halides, even with a huge blue spike, the bluest of halides will still put out lots of daylight, and so the effect isnt very effective.
The T5s are the best bet really. On a tank in Chicago, 1500g, 8x8x3' high, we used 4 bulb banks of T5s to suppliment the daylight of a 4x4 skylight. It worked out very well.
You can get the same bulb in PC (they make blue/7100K/450nm bulbs as they are labelled, but the output of PC's is about 1/3 that of T5s per watt because T5s are about 50% more efficient, but also allow for individual parabolic reflectors that are very effective.
LED's are also not very efficient at all, and I wouldnt consider them either.
There are 20,000K halides you could use a backup, but as halides, even with a huge blue spike, the bluest of halides will still put out lots of daylight, and so the effect isnt very effective.
The T5s are the best bet really. On a tank in Chicago, 1500g, 8x8x3' high, we used 4 bulb banks of T5s to suppliment the daylight of a 4x4 skylight. It worked out very well.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Sure, glad to help.
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