SolaTubes for reef tanks

[JMBoehling]

Has Anthony ever installed skylights on his reef tank or tanks? I am in no way shape or form a Lighting expert. I got a wild hair one day and decided to do the Tubular lights because it seemed to make some sort of logical sense.

As I have mentioned in previous threads, the jury is somewhat out with my reef as well, but now that I have Non-Light related reef issues (Major ones at that..High Nitrates, High Phosphates, Low Calcium, and extremely high Salinity) corrected I have seeing some awesome growth and polyp extension on my SPS.

I just introduced a Cali Tort frag, I have taken a pic of it today and plan to take a pic in 6 months... Proof will be in the pudding, as they say

[gatohoser]

Sunlight contains all colors. Water only filters out certain spectrums. When you say it is shifted towards one spectrum or the other you are just saying which is most prevalent. Therefore yes the sunlight may appear visually different but will still contain all the correct PAR at all latitudes.

[Herpervet]

Jm: I think I asked you this before but how close are your tubes to the water surface?

Nice screen name Gato. I think I get it.

No doubt all the spectrum is there but the question is wheather or not the shorter wavelenths hurt anything and of course esthetics.

My tank has some issues also I believe and I am not really trying to grow sps because of flow and filtration issues. (skimmerless on a large tank with relatively low flow and the only sps in the tank is one P. damicornis frag that is languishing along with some hitchiking Porites sp. that is also not extending polyps)

[JMBoehling]

Originally posted by Herpervet
Jm: I think I asked you this before but how close are your tubes to the water surface?

9 inches from the water surface.

[hllywd]

FWIW I live in NW Ohio and installed a 10" Solatube about five years ago. It's over our dining room table and my wife keeps a ficus tree under it throught he cold months. There is of course some difference in the intensity of the light because the tree will drop some leaves once we bring it inside. I do have 2 more 10" units that are not installed yet that I've toyed with using over a 75 or 90G tank I'd like to set up I do think I'd suppliment them with a couple of VHOs or PCs but that's just my preliminary thinking. Also if anybody has some ideas, I really don't think due to the cold here I could eliminate the difuser at the bottom, obviously the diminishes the intensity but I don't see any good alternative.
I am very pleased with the product quality and performance of our first unit. It really is all it's advertised to be and I think it's got great promise over a reef tank.
There's my 2 cents,
Tim

[JMBoehling]

Originally posted by hllywd
FWIW I live in NW Ohio and installed a 10" Solatube about five years ago. It's over our dining room table and my wife keeps a ficus tree under it throught he cold months. There is of course some difference in the intensity of the light because the tree will drop some leaves once we bring it inside. I do have 2 more 10" units that are not installed yet that I've toyed with using over a 75 or 90G tank I'd like to set up I do think I'd suppliment them with a couple of VHOs or PCs but that's just my preliminary thinking. Also if anybody has some ideas, I really don't think due to the cold here I could eliminate the difuser at the bottom, obviously the diminishes the intensity but I don't see any good alternative.
I am very pleased with the product quality and performance of our first unit. It really is all it's advertised to be and I think it's got great promise over a reef tank.
There's my 2 cents,
Tim

Tim,

I originally had a local glass shop replace the platic diffuser with a 1/8" piece of glass and siliconed it into the cover. I removed it because of condensation issues.

Jim

[hllywd]

Did you get condensation on the glass or up in the dome? I've never had condensation on the original difuser of the tube I have installed.

Tim

[xouttheeyes]

Also, did you try using rainx or fogx. I'm not sure if it would work or not but its just a thought. May be too late now though.

[JMBoehling]

Originally posted by hllywd
Did you get condensation on the glass or up in the dome? I've never had condensation on the original difuser of the tube I have installed.

Tim

Condensation in the tube.. I have since run it weithout covers with very little problems. There may be a little dust build up but not enought to cause any major problems for my SPS..

Jim

[wazbot]

Just for interest sake with the condensation, whats the local humidity and are you running air con?

[hllywd]

Ours is in the 70 - 80% range and higher (I'm estimating) in the summer and generally lower than that in the heating season, probably 30s or 40s indoors. We do have AC. I've never had a problem with condensation using all the supplied materials with the kit. It's sealed at the top and bottom so there shouldn't be much air exchange to allow humidity into the tube. The tube is uninsulated. Strictly talking about it as a skylight we couldn't be more happy, my interest is for a near future tank I'd like to install. I already have second and third 10" units in the attic to install when the time comes. I'm convinced.
Tim

[mmoore0803]

So my celing is vaulted above my 90g....can the tubes work? The light would have to pass through approx 8 feet of open air (from ceiling to the bottom of the tank) I love this option of natural light...I live in Southern California and want to keep heavily light dependent corals (currently my tank has about 500W of PC lighting over it)

Mike

[THE GIMP]

Do I get a prize for reading this entier thread?

Great job guys in going for something new. I am impressed. Thanks for the pictures. I have considered this before, as I am sure others have, reading this thread. I was unsure of the intensety, having installed suplimental light in sola tubes in a couple of kitchens.
I have been planing a major upgrade for a couple of years, and after reading this I am going to use light tubes for at least part of the system, probably for the 300 gal grow tank in the garage.
Thankyou for taking the time to share.

[hllywd]

I really think it can only help, I think here in Ohio and with how I need to locate mine on the roof they will be supplimental but I have 2 of the 10" units waiting in the garage...

[coreygoforth]

nice replies!

[Gusto]

Amazing, in one more month this topic will have been alive for almost 4 years. This has got to set a record of some type...

[Hef]

Has anyone tried to go with more of a full skylight design, say 2 feet wide by 6 feet long. Use Reflective material inside down to the tank level. Or are the smaller Tunnels the only way to go.

[delnino]

Hef, there is much in this thread regarding skylights, including pictures and details of installation. I imagine this thread will still be going strong in 10 years. I have been doing extensive research on the future of the worlds energy supply and it ain't pretty. Things are changing fast right now and the majority of people on earth have no clue what is in store in the next 5-10 years. The US will probably suffer the most from steadily increasing energy costs. 1000 watt halides are a terrible investment if you care about your economic future. That said, I have 300 watts over my 25 gallon!!

[Reefbone]

Pretty cool stuff. How often do you have to replace those bulbs in the tube lights?

[Lordhelmet]

Any slowed growth or any change now that the sun is dipping lower in the sky. pictures would be great as well

[JMBoehling]

Originally posted by Lordhelmet
Any slowed growth or any change now that the sun is dipping lower in the sky. pictures would be great as well

The only thing that continues to slow the growth of my SPS is continually making bone head mistakes. For example, just 2 weeks ago a snail caused a mishap, causing my float valve to dump 5 gallons of Kalk into my setup.... To say the least, this will slow the growth of any SPS I am looking forward to 6 straight months where nothing goes wrong with my reef.. Imean it's been a little bit of everything 1st High Nitrates, then High Salinity, then High Phosphates and now oversaturating of Kalk which made my Calcium, Alk and Mag all fall to extremely low levels...

With all of this happening, I do have some SPS living... I wouldn't say they are lighting the world on fire with growth, but at least they are hanging in there. Here are some pics.. I hope some of you other Tubular Skylight users will chime in with your updates








If you look real close you'll see a Chips Acro I recently lost.. It was doing great until the Kalk issue.. UGHHHHH!



Can't forget to show off my favorite couple!




It is interesting that everyone is so concerned about light when for me it is just achieving some stability in my water parameters for my reef. I will keep updates posted as they seem fitting to do so...

Later,

Jim

[ol'reefer]

Glad to see some pioneers out there.

[cwloo]

I seem to recall someone use the skylight but not those tube type over his newly extended fish room... anyone can find the link ?

[hllywd]

I can't remember what that was about but the SolaTubes are basically a 10" hole using a reflective pipe to get light into the building. The dome on the roof has a reflector to help direct sunlight into the tube. The nice thing about these is they are on a scale where you can direct the light down the tube and into a tank. It would be harder to direct the light with a regular sky light but you might have a much larger hole in the roof to allow light in as well. I don't have a reason other than getting the light where you want it that a regular skylight wouldn't work.
Tim

[hllywd]

Actually assuming you could direct the light I would think bigger is better...