SolaTubes for reef tanks

[Scuba_Dave]

My project is still 2 years off, as I'm doing the design work for a 900 sq ft garage w/equal size great room over that, plus a 480 sq ft walk up attic.
I did install a 14" suntube in an upstairs bedroom so I can measure the results.
Now I just need someone with a par meter
Oh, and ssome nice weather in MA

[Herpervet]

Originally posted by chask
It seems like most of you guys out there who start tank projects using solar for lighting get far enough along to look like the tank is about set up then drop off the face of the earth. I realize everyone gets busy from time to time (boy I sure do) but it seems like on the solar thing someone is about there or knows someone who is about there then you never hear from them again. And not just on this thread - I remember one recently where the guy got it set up with a skylight then had to move before it was running more than a month. What's going on with anyone out there actually trying this or knows someone who is? Does anyone have any concrete results, yeah or nay?

Thanks
Charles

I feel your pain. I had my 300 gallon at home set up for a month with plain tubular skylights and then the tank leaked. That was about a year ago. I just got the tank repaired.

My 600 gallon project at the office is progressing at a snails pace for various reasons.

[Shoestring Reefer]

Originally posted by Scuba_Dave
Now I just need someone with a par meter

Are you a BRS member?

[Scuba_Dave]

Yes, I am

[mborn]

I set up a 300 gallon tank with 4X14 inch Solatubes. The tank is illuminated with Solatubes only and has been up for about 1.5 months. Here are some pictures I took last weekend. These are my "before" pictures and in 3 to 6 months I'll start posting some after pictures.



The light isn't as yellow as I expected. I thought it would be more like 6.5K Iwasaki's but it's more like 10K XM without actinics. The blues and purples show up well.

[Hef]

Finally!! Some real photos.
Mborn, what are the dimensions of your tank?
Could you take the time to give us a little detail on the installation - specifications of the SolaTubes? How many hours of light are you getting per day?

[mborn]

A. pulchra with blue tips.



Fluorescent green looks tan. This A. valida is green with purple tips under 20k MH but under natural light it is tan with purple tips.



The clams look pretty good. T. maxima and T. derasa.



and the RBTA looks pretty good as well.

[Herpervet]

How close to the water are your tubes? What kind of diffusor did you use at the distal end of the tubes?

Looks very nice btw.

[mborn]

The growth is pretty good for some of the corals so far considering the tank is very new and the corals are still adapting to the new conditions. the Seriatapora has started to grow at the tips of the branches. You can see the white growth at the tips. As the branches continue to grow the white becomes pigmented. The growth tip is always white at first.



The approximately 1/2 inch light colored tips on this Montipora is new growth under the solatubes.



and the plating Montipora have about 1/2 inches on the green and 1/4 inches on the orange.



The Monti's are fast growers so this growth isn't a big deal. Growth for the Acropora has been a little slower so far so I'll post some afters in some months for a better effect.

I'm going to drive home from work now so I'll respond to specific questions later.

[baja_01]

SWEET

Finally some proof!

It looks great mborn. I think with a bit of blue lighting it would be perfect. Also some more rock, it looks empty with all the empty space above.

Good job, and dont forget to update

[Fursphere]

OMG!

Thanks for the pictures!

[RedEyeReef]

mborn, That is awsome. You have to give us the dimensions of your tank and more info on your solar tubes.

[wazbot]

Awesome stuff!

This is as far as my project has gone at the moment. A bit more work on the room behind before the plumbing and sump and stuff before I get water into the beast!

[corro]

wazbot: WOW! Very nice! Cant wait to see pics of it up and running.

mborn: Thank you for the pics!!! Looks great! Are you going to have any type of supplemental lighting? I'm wondering how the corals would look with actinics.

[JMBoehling]

I am a new member and have a 10" Solatube on my 90 Gallon Reef. It's been up an running for 6 months, frags (primarily Monti's) are growing like mad.. I have just placed an order for some Acro's from www.pacificeastaquaculture.com and am excited to see how they do..

If you can work the tubes into your tank design I highly recommend them.. One note, I do recommend some suplemental light, especially Actinic, as the color of the light is very White....

It is amazing to see my coral polyps extend with the natural light. As soon as I figure out how to post images, I'll get some on this thread for you to see..

Also a quick note, I live in Richmond, VA, pretty far from the tropics and the sunlight seems to be plenty strong (even on overcast days...)

Later,

JMB

Once again,I HIGHLY recomend natural light on your reef...

[corro]

[IMG]http://*******.com/4h5e89[/IMG]
TO REEFCENTRAL!

Sound like a fantastic tank! Looking forward to seeing some pics!!!

[mborn]

Hey everyone, thanks for the nice comments and sorry for the late response. Work has been very hectic lately... been putting in late nights to hit project deadlines.

kheflw: My tank is 84" X 24" X 36". I installed the tubes myself. It wasn't too hard, just had to get over the fear of cutting holes in my roof. The flashing was a little wide so I had to overlap them to get the tubes that close together over the length of my tank. Because the flashings were overlapped they weren't completely flush with the roof so I had to use extra roof sealant to get a watertight seal. After I installed them a couple of big rainstorms passed though and the tubes didn't leak a drop. The room is east to west so the sun is over the room for most of the day. There is bright light for about 5-6 hours and direct sunlight for about 3 hours. It's much different than artificial light in that the angle the light enters the water changes as the sun moves across the sky. It's mostly apparent with the direct sunlight. Some spots in the tank get 3 hours of direct light and others get only from 30 minutes to 1 hour of direct sunlight a day. So I've placed the corals in the various spots depending on their light requirements. For example the acro?s that need lots of light to maintain color are in spots that get substantial direct light and the monti?s, which in general don?t need as much light, are in spots that don?t get any direct light just bright indirect light. I left off the diffusers to get as much direct light as possible because many of my SPS corals need very bright light and my tank is fairly deep. If you?re going to keep soft corals or LPS corals or your tank is not too deep you could probably get away with less intense light and use diffusers and get more even lighting across your entire tank for most of the day. The roof of my aquarium room has no attic space so the tubes are only 2 feet long with no bends so when the sun is directly overhead it shines right down the tubes and directly into the tank.

Herpervet: The tubes are 13 inches above the water. I?m not using any diffusers.

baja_01: The main reason I decided to use Solatubes for this tank was to save money on my power bill so I?m not planning on using any supplemental artificial lighting. I saved $110 on my last power bill compared to my last tank when I was using MH lighting. The tubes should pay for themselves in about 10 months. As far as the rock, I like the look with the corals low in the tank growing up into the water column. Hopefully in the coming years that empty space above will be filled with lush coral growth.

RedEyeReef: See above.

Wazbot: Your project is looking great.

Corro: No problem and thanks. See above.

JMBoehling: Yes, welcome to reefcentral. It?s nice to know your monti?s are growing fast under the Solatubes too. So far my acro?s have great polyp extension and are starting to grow. They?re holding their colors as well but it?s only been 1.5 months.

[Hef]

Only 2Ft. Long. Thats great. Do you know if there is a way to make them Retractable for about a foot? I want the best of both worlds for my tank. Natural Sunlight until about 5:00pm then slide in a light rack with Halides and Actinic. It would be easy to do if I could get the tubes out of the way.
You say you are 13" above the water...looks a lot closer than that in the picture. If I can stay that high up, I might be able to slide lights in without moving the tubes.

So I would think the Early Morning Light would look pretty cool coming in. Do you ever get light with an Orange Tint to it - Sunrise - Sunset, or is there not enough light?

Thanks for the Info.

Hef

[dgasmd]

Those pictures are very very impressive. Makes me want to relocate my tank completely and do it with all naturals sunlight instead of the MH. Simply impressive. I just wished I had a spot in the hosue where I could do this. Keep up the good work and the pictures coming from time to time. If there was any doubt if this thread was going to die, I think the pictures just made it inmortal LOL................

[Herpervet]

Mborn: Are you using a clear acrylic lens at the distal end of the tubes or is it open. I have been worried about condensation in the tubes without any lens at all.

Wazbot: same question to you. It doesn't look like there is anything at the end of your tubes.

I would like to avoid a lens but I am worried about the moisture in the light well (i.e tubes).

[corro]

I am wondering if you can fix any sort of reflector to them to get a wider spread. ?

[wazbot]

@ Herpervet: There is nothing at the end of the tubes, I am getting a little bit of moisture building up on the domes on the roof, but none that I can see on the tubes themselves. The moisture doesn't seem to make any impact on the amout of blinding light that pours out of these things, but if it gets worse I may put a thin clear acrylic cap on the ends.

Morning light is nice, sunset is better, and the moonlight is great!

[JMBoehling]

Same with my Tube.. Get a little condensation on the dome in the morning but it burns off by 9 to 10 am... Actually, it still gives a good amount of light into the tank..


As far as reflectors go, I bet Solatube would make one if they knew our market exists! It would be nivce to have a 10" and 14" round to 24" x 8" rectangular adapter for our tanks....

Also note: I do not use the diffuser on mine either... Check out my photo gallery..

[YodaHart]

JMB: Do you have actinics on your tank with the Solatube? I was thinking the amount with the nsl, you wouldn't even notice the actinic color. If you do have supplements, did you notice a change in the color of the corals?

[JMBoehling]

YodaHart:

Yes I do.. I have Coralife 65 w PC Actinic and 65 w 10,000k in each side... 2 strip lights on each...


I highly recommend Actinic to lift your colors, just like you do with MH's and other 10,000k bulbs, we always add supplemental Actinic...


Now that I see how well the Solatube is working, I plan to add an additional one soon, giving me one on each side of my 90...