SolaTubes for reef tanks
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hahnmeister
In Memoriam
A couple of the 10" ones should be plenty.
Reefski's
Active member
i would use the 14". as many as you can get over the tank, and even beyond the edge. standard framing is 16" between joists so the 14" fit without any reframing except to cut the holes.
Hanmeister, any pics of the 1500 gallon. that would be great to see how it turned out. how long ago was it set up? i would love to see more info.
Carl
Hanmeister, any pics of the 1500 gallon. that would be great to see how it turned out. how long ago was it set up? i would love to see more info.
Carl
Lordhelmet
Active member
any updated pics from the people with sun powered tanks? I love this thread.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Gosh, I havent been down to Chigago recently to take pics... I should. FWIW, Bill Wann's old tank should be about the same. Its in the same city/area, same gallonage, and about the same skylight even. FWIW, they are nearly identical applications. His tank was TOTM a while back. The only thing different would be that Bill supplimented his skylight with an automated halide array that would swing down and turn on with the flick of a switch. My design was to have a 8'x8' tank with a 6'x6' area of skylights, and then line the 12" parimeter with blue T5 bulbs. As of right now, there are 48 T5 bulbs in use (36 are blue+, the rest are actinic). The owner says he loves it, but I havent been down there in a while. Ill have to go see I suppose.
I was kind of putting it off in hopes that Bill Wann's setup would be completed some time soon, and maybe I could go down and see them both at the same time.
I was kind of putting it off in hopes that Bill Wann's setup would be completed some time soon, and maybe I could go down and see them both at the same time.
glassbox-design
New member
hahn, who set up the 1500g?
Reefski's
Active member
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic70159-13-1.aspx is a link to my tank i am starting.
700 gallon with skylight over the tank.
you can see the skylight here.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/reefski/DSC03776.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>
the skylight shaft is the same footprint as the tank and has been lined with anolux.com highly reflective material. 87% refective and good reflection in the UV. the skylight itself is opening single glazed acrylic which will pass 94% light and i think about 50-60% UV.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/reefski/DSC03638.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>
the tank is only on the stand now and i will start plumbing soon to let it run with sand and rock while the house is completed around the tank. next year it will get the livestock. PAR values will be measured as time passes. right now sunny days at what will be the water surface are about 1450 with some higher values occasionally.
PAR is measured with an Apogee PAR light meter.
you can see a few more photos on the other thread.
Carl
700 gallon with skylight over the tank.
you can see the skylight here.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/reefski/DSC03776.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>
the skylight shaft is the same footprint as the tank and has been lined with anolux.com highly reflective material. 87% refective and good reflection in the UV. the skylight itself is opening single glazed acrylic which will pass 94% light and i think about 50-60% UV.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/reefski/DSC03638.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>
the tank is only on the stand now and i will start plumbing soon to let it run with sand and rock while the house is completed around the tank. next year it will get the livestock. PAR values will be measured as time passes. right now sunny days at what will be the water surface are about 1450 with some higher values occasionally.
PAR is measured with an Apogee PAR light meter.
you can see a few more photos on the other thread.
Carl
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
1450 is very high... but I take it that thats the peak level... so the rest of the day is most likely less... then its actually pretty natural. Cool. One thing though... you may want to carry the 'grid' aluminum, as in the large cross-pieces inside the shaft, all the way from the top to the bottom of the shaft. Thats how I ended up doing it.
Jimsreef, the reason I say 10" is because larger ones are pretty much equal to 400 watt halides in output, which you dont need. You need spread for such a low tank... a frag style tank. So thats why I said perhaps a couple or few smaller tubes rather than the larger ones... but with come creative diffuser work, or simply ending the light shaft farther up above the tank, you could get a good spread with just using a larger tube or two.
As for the 1500g in Chi-town... its a CEO buddy of the woman's folks. Not a member here or any other club. I designed the tank and its systems, and a chicago contractor handled the actual installation. I was present at the tank construction and plumbing (I actually did the plumbing myself for the most part).
Jimsreef, the reason I say 10" is because larger ones are pretty much equal to 400 watt halides in output, which you dont need. You need spread for such a low tank... a frag style tank. So thats why I said perhaps a couple or few smaller tubes rather than the larger ones... but with come creative diffuser work, or simply ending the light shaft farther up above the tank, you could get a good spread with just using a larger tube or two.
As for the 1500g in Chi-town... its a CEO buddy of the woman's folks. Not a member here or any other club. I designed the tank and its systems, and a chicago contractor handled the actual installation. I was present at the tank construction and plumbing (I actually did the plumbing myself for the most part).
I am very interested in applying this to a third tank that I intend to add the first part of next year. I am currently remodeling so now is the time to plan this addition to the roof.
I wonder how much supplemental light I would need and came across this link for Manila's weather. I was really surprised how much average daylight Manila receives. Dallas seems to be at least equal in amount even if that light is more seasonally variable due to its distance from the equator.
Am I reading this info incorrectly? Do the tropics really "enjoy" that much cloud cover? If so, how might it alter the application of natural sunlight to our captive reefs?
I notice that the results from using natural sunlight are obvious and tremendous but I do note that many have opted for supplemental lighting. I begin to wonder, so that I can plan appropriately, what the break point is.
TIA!
And kudos to those that have already trod this path! :thumbsup:
I wonder how much supplemental light I would need and came across this link for Manila's weather. I was really surprised how much average daylight Manila receives. Dallas seems to be at least equal in amount even if that light is more seasonally variable due to its distance from the equator.
Am I reading this info incorrectly? Do the tropics really "enjoy" that much cloud cover? If so, how might it alter the application of natural sunlight to our captive reefs?
I notice that the results from using natural sunlight are obvious and tremendous but I do note that many have opted for supplemental lighting. I begin to wonder, so that I can plan appropriately, what the break point is.
TIA!
And kudos to those that have already trod this path! :thumbsup:
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Keep in mind that most corals come from 5-30m deep...these areas have hardly the peak intensity of the surface, so unless you are keeping shallow water species (very rare in the hobby), the sunlight in even the northern states is enough because its not going through the same water depths.
The idea for supplimental lighting is because sunlight will be very yellow unless you have 10' or so of water to filter it through to get it bluer. So to suppliment all the yellow, red, green, etc... adding blue and actinic bulbs is what I did with T5s. Others have used 20,000K halides in the past, but watt for watt, the T5s generate more blue light without creating even more daylight which isnt needed.
The idea for supplimental lighting is because sunlight will be very yellow unless you have 10' or so of water to filter it through to get it bluer. So to suppliment all the yellow, red, green, etc... adding blue and actinic bulbs is what I did with T5s. Others have used 20,000K halides in the past, but watt for watt, the T5s generate more blue light without creating even more daylight which isnt needed.
hahnmeister: Thank you for that clarification on the reasons behind the supplementation.
I have been considering how to incorporate spotlight MH's, similar to invicible's. I would need to go into the particulars of the remodel but it suffices to say that I can "skirt" the perimeter of the tank at ceiling level and hide the enclosure for the spots in that skirt. My assessment is that the height of the skirt above the perimeter of the tank would allow the loss of area to compensated by light spread as it comes through the skylight, allowing total coverage of the tank's surface.
My immediate concern is that I am getting enough blue into the system. I had thought to use spots on the three visible sides but I could do spots on the two short sides (the ends, if you will) and T5's on the long sides.
The tank will be somewhere in the range of 60-72"w x 24-32"t x 32-36"d. At the moment, I would prefer that it be four-sided but I may clip the corners and make it six-sided to facilitate ingress to a doorway and allowing the larger dimensions.
Thoughts?
I have been considering how to incorporate spotlight MH's, similar to invicible's. I would need to go into the particulars of the remodel but it suffices to say that I can "skirt" the perimeter of the tank at ceiling level and hide the enclosure for the spots in that skirt. My assessment is that the height of the skirt above the perimeter of the tank would allow the loss of area to compensated by light spread as it comes through the skylight, allowing total coverage of the tank's surface.
My immediate concern is that I am getting enough blue into the system. I had thought to use spots on the three visible sides but I could do spots on the two short sides (the ends, if you will) and T5's on the long sides.
The tank will be somewhere in the range of 60-72"w x 24-32"t x 32-36"d. At the moment, I would prefer that it be four-sided but I may clip the corners and make it six-sided to facilitate ingress to a doorway and allowing the larger dimensions.
Thoughts?
Reefski's
Active member
yes, the 1450 PAR was in the middle of the day. but because of the reflected light those values stay high for hours during the day.
when the sun was directly down the shaft at the summer solstice coupled with the reflected light it was actually more than 2000 PAR, i don't know how much more as the meter stops at 2000 PAR.
however it is cool the way the sun moves around the shaft and lights the tank. should get a more natural growth than the point source of MH.
i am not going to decide how much additional lighting to add until i can measure the natural light over a few months. i definitely will have additional lighting if only for winter and evening viewing.
the tropics is tropical because it rains a lot which means that there is cloud cover a lot. sometimes for weeks at a time.
here in Los Angeles we have a lot of sunny days. near the beach where i am we do have more days that have at least morning clouds but that means we don't have the extremes of heat and cold too, even compared to other parts of SoCal.
Carl
when the sun was directly down the shaft at the summer solstice coupled with the reflected light it was actually more than 2000 PAR, i don't know how much more as the meter stops at 2000 PAR.
however it is cool the way the sun moves around the shaft and lights the tank. should get a more natural growth than the point source of MH.
i am not going to decide how much additional lighting to add until i can measure the natural light over a few months. i definitely will have additional lighting if only for winter and evening viewing.
the tropics is tropical because it rains a lot which means that there is cloud cover a lot. sometimes for weeks at a time.
here in Los Angeles we have a lot of sunny days. near the beach where i am we do have more days that have at least morning clouds but that means we don't have the extremes of heat and cold too, even compared to other parts of SoCal.
Carl
glassbox-design
New member
sorry ot- hahn did he happen to have a fowlr and reef in his office years back...the reef powered by a huge aerofoamer? (if you cant tell i forgot his name)
any pics? i'm guessing he's out in the burbs?
carlos- 1400+ par is impressive. you may want to look into blue g12 spot halides used for stage lighting...
any pics? i'm guessing he's out in the burbs?
carlos- 1400+ par is impressive. you may want to look into blue g12 spot halides used for stage lighting...
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Flint&Eric, Yeah... like 500-800 gallons if I remember correctly. Dont know about the Aerofoamer though. You never know. Thanks to the shedd, aquariums are a thriving industry in Chi-town, and always will be most likely. He's actually not in in the burbs.
As for supplimental blue... I would still strongly suggest T5s over halides. blue+ style T5s can make blue, and little to nothing else. Even the bluest 20,000Ks still add alot of daylight.
As for supplimental blue... I would still strongly suggest T5s over halides. blue+ style T5s can make blue, and little to nothing else. Even the bluest 20,000Ks still add alot of daylight.
glassbox-design
New member
the shedd?.... ehhh, perhaps :lol:
hahn, have you seen the blue mh's running for stage lighting or the like? they are far from 20k and make xm's and radiums looks white in comparison. even with that i'd still suggest t5's too. with such a large area it would take a lot spots...
hahn, have you seen the blue mh's running for stage lighting or the like? they are far from 20k and make xm's and radiums looks white in comparison. even with that i'd still suggest t5's too. with such a large area it would take a lot spots...
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
I dont know if those are true stage lights then if they are used for stage lighting. HIDs arent used on stages usually because they cant be turned on and off fast enough like halogen/tungsten. Are you sure you dont just mean those w/ a blue filter? They are huge bulbs like a halide, but they are just large filament bulbs.
I have the ballast number written down somewhere for the spotlight-fixtured MH's. One of the Japanese bulb manufacturers makes spectrum bulbs for them. It seems that the spots enjoy much wider usage in Japan than in the U.S., though the efforts of invincible569 may change that.
The "theory" behind the spot is to encourage pigmentation coloration at a different angle than "overhead" lighting provides. This allows us to actually see the pigmentation we see when looking down on the coral.
If you haven't seen invincible569's build, his thread is starts here but has split and its most current page is here. One will not have to go back many pages to see some great shots.
The "theory" behind the spot is to encourage pigmentation coloration at a different angle than "overhead" lighting provides. This allows us to actually see the pigmentation we see when looking down on the coral.
If you haven't seen invincible569's build, his thread is starts here but has split and its most current page is here. One will not have to go back many pages to see some great shots.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Ive seen 569's tank. I like the spotlights, and I am familiar with the spotlight bulbs, but I didnt think they were used with stage lighting. I can see plenty of other uses though.
Halides just arent as efficient with blue light though. The amount it would take to suppliment the daylight would end up being so much it would overexpose the tank. With blue T5s, you can suppliment the blue spectrums w/o boosting the other spectrums. Thats the main advantage.
Halides just arent as efficient with blue light though. The amount it would take to suppliment the daylight would end up being so much it would overexpose the tank. With blue T5s, you can suppliment the blue spectrums w/o boosting the other spectrums. Thats the main advantage.
glassbox-design
New member
they certainly use halide in stage lighting and in filming. often with lower K bulbs, but due to their efficiency they are used in higher K and blue bulbs as well....for wash lighting in particular.
there are many commercial and modern metal halide track lighting fixtures out there to use...they're pricey, but look great.
i'm still waiting for those 10k g12's
there are many commercial and modern metal halide track lighting fixtures out there to use...they're pricey, but look great.
i'm still waiting for those 10k g12's
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