Solatubes in Miami/So. Fla?

Jgoal55

Jgoal55

Active member
Do any of you know of anyone who currently uses Solatubes here in South Florida.

They house I will hopefully be moving into in the next 75 years (when the remodel is done) has a flat roof and the aquarium will be on the second floor. It would be really, really easy to add the Soaltubes during the construction phase and I am seriously considering them.

The plan would be to allow natural sunlight to come in approx. 4-5hrs per day. They have optional diffusers that I can hook up to the Apex to "turn them off." I would then also add supplemental LED lighting for color and maybe a couple of T5 tubes (though not sure that would be necessary at all).

I would love to see them in person if you know someone.
 
I don't know of anyone around here, but Jeff D'huyvetter of SWFMAS in Lehigh Acres had them for years. Not sure if he still has them.
 
I think its a great idea. I've thought about it personally and love the "natural" look, and the green factor is great, considering how much electricity everything else wastes. If you end up doing it, I'd love to check it out, LOL! There are a lot of nice threads on natural sunlit tanks. I think the consensus is that colors are always better with artificial lighting but you can compensate by adding some supplemental lighting. Good luck!
 
I would love to check it out too. I'm designing a house now and that's a very interesting idea. Still not sure if I'm going to add the tank to the design of the house but that would be an interesting add to a home. Would like to see how much the costs comes out to.
 
If I every build a house I'd definitely design with tank and small fishroom in mind. Just do it so that if you ever sell that room would be a useful closet or bathroom even.
 
G_Sanab922 said:
I would love to check it out too. I'm designing a house now and that's a very interesting idea. Still not sure if I'm going to add the tank to the design of the house but that would be an interesting add to a home. Would like to see how much the costs comes out to.
Click to expand...

That's the boat I'm in now. I definitely added the tank into the design, but like Rovster mentioned, I did in a way where the space can be used for other things. The tank will be on the second floor and all equipment will be in climate-controlled garage underneath. One thing I did do is add plumbing to the garage for a sink and I also added a drain into the middle of the floor (in case of floods).

As for the solatubes, if I do them, all are welcome of course. That said, don't hold your breath. I haven't even broken ground!


Thanks for the links to Jeff's threads Lacy. And thanks ace for that other thread. Really cool stuff.

Edit: Wow. I just made it to the end of the thread you posted ace. First of all, amazing thread and very cool build regarding natural sunlight. Secondly, everyone should read that thread. We can all learn a few things from Joe. Not about reef tanks, but about real life and all its ups and downs.
 
Last edited:
Jgoal55 said:
That's the boat I'm in now. I definitely added the tank into the design, but like Rovster mentioned, I did in a way where the space can be used for other things. The tank will be on the second floor and all equipment will be in climate-controlled garage underneath. One thing I did do is add plumbing to the garage for a sink and I also added a drain into the middle of the floor (in case of floods).

As for the solatubes, if I do them, all are welcome of course. That said, don't hold your breath. I haven't even broken ground!
Click to expand...

I think I'm going to leave a small area for fish room that can be a storage room for someone else as well. But right now I'm just trying to design the house. It's a lot more difficult than I expected lol
Having the equipment underneath in a climate controlled garage is a really cool idea.

Was thinking of making a thread to get ideas on what people would put into their fish room or how they would design their home to better accommodate their tank or a dream tank.
 
G_Sanab922 said:
I think I'm going to leave a small area for fish room that can be a storage room for someone else as well. But right now I'm just trying to design the house. It's a lot more difficult than I expected lol
Having the equipment underneath in a climate controlled garage is a really cool idea.

Was thinking of making a thread to get ideas on what people would put into their fish room or how they would design their home to better accommodate their tank or a dream tank.
Click to expand...

Check out Mr. Saltwater Tank's latest project on youtube. LOVE his fishroom. Simple and well thought out. If I ever do one I'm stealing a LOT of his ideas.
 
so these tubes.. do they have some sort of filter in them? How do you keep it from cooking the livestock? The sun in miami don't play.
 
Jeff who is in Ft. Myers says they don't add any extra heat. Same goes for Joe who is in New Port Richie.

This is the link that ace posted. It really should be read even if your not interested in the solar tubes (like me :)).

Below are some of the comments made by jdpiii3.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2040499

jdpiii3 (Joe)
"I wanted to see how the temperature would be effected by the Sun-Domes. Over the last week the temperatures in the tank have been max 79.1 min 76.7 I keep our home at 76-78 degrees when I add two 12 inch fans blowing on top of the tank I can get the water temp to drop to 75.3 degrees.
So what I can figure no heat added to the tank!"

"Hi everyone, I have an update on the tank lighting, yesterday I added a light filter to the sun-domes it’s called ChromatiNet Blue. It’s a shade cloth, it reduces the spectrum of red and far-red light and increases the blue light spectrum I went with the 30% cloth. I’ll be watching it to see what type of effect it will have on the coral."

"There is a slight color change to the water and sand bed. I went with the 30% cloth, I'm going to order other grades of the cloth. It definitely looks like my reef is in deeper water. The coral still has the natural look witch I like, we feel like we're snorkeling in our living room all of the time."

"The cloth during the summer months adds needed shading for the domes because they are so bright, I took the cloth off for the winter."

Check out how hobogato did his. Instead of hiding them you can see them. Looks interesting.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1457056
 
The more I read about these things the more I am convinced that I will go this the natural sun route. I will still add supplemental lighting in the way of T5s, and maybe some LED strips for color enhancement and viewing corals under blues, but I think having the sun as a main source of lighting is a clinched deal.

Going to speak to my GC about adding these into the plans.
 
By the way, cool stuff by Mr. Saltwater tank as far as waterproofing the floor.

I do have a closet right next to where the tank will go in the new house that I could technically turn into a fish room, but I am so hooked on the idea of using the garage (so much more space). There is already plumbing in the garage and a floor drain. That said, the idea of not pumping water up to a second floor is enticing.

I could theoretically add plumbing for a sink and a floor drain to the closet though. Hmmmm. Decisions, Decisions...
 
Charlie0101 in Punta Gorda has them on his tank. Has supplemented with DIY LEDs and Ocean revive uploadfromtaptalk1465312624566.jpg
0dfc6a85e0e5dd3faaf465751e6b9691.jpg

uploadfromtaptalk1465312551974.jpg
 
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