SolaTubes for reef tanks - Page 38

wvt9527 · 01/23/2007, 08:04 PM

What I am thinking is a flat skylight that faces south with 3 solartubes as it is only a 180 gallon.
I dont think Starphire would be a good choice as it has low iron in the glass. Dont know how well it would hold up if something hit it.
How often do you have to clean the glass on the outside?
I do plan on sealing the tube with glass at both ends.

tariqchaudhry · 01/23/2007, 08:23 PM

Hello again,
I am a bit confused about Solatubes and U.V lighting.
In common reef practice, M.Halides have U.V proection shields, for obvious reasons. However some people in the forum are talking about modifying the Solatube to get more U.V light for the corals. Any thoughts?

hahnmeister · 01/23/2007, 09:13 PM

Halides, even the 250wattDEs with a sheild, still pass a good amount of UV through the sheild. Which type is the major concern.

UV-C or short wave UV is bad, in any amount or duration. It kills, it burns, but luckily, its also the easiest to filter out. Most glass filters, even non Lo-E, block UV-C.

UV-A is the closest to purple, also called long wave UV. Its almost in the visible spectrum, and is actually considered a benefit for most corals. Some actinic bulbs like the G-man true actinic03, put out levels of UV-A to help coral growth and pigmentation.

UV-B is 'so-so'. In moderation its alright, and it does filter out in water rather fast, so its usefulness is doubtful. In humans, it causes our pigments to fill in and give us a tan, but in large amounts it can kill like UV-C, or at least cause cancer. Crocea clams are perhaps the only organism I can see benefiting from UV-B.

Most lamps that have a significant actinic output also put out UV-A, and UV-A passes through glass sheilds rather easily. UV-C is made by unsheilded halides and merc-vapor lamps, so it needs to be filtered. These filters dont block out as much of the UV-A though.

As for UV-B, there just isnt much out there. Its the middle ground of the two extremes in almost every respect. A true actinic03 bulb might have a slight UV-B output, but in such small amounts it prolly doenst even penetrate more than an inch of water. And even in low amounts... there is little out there to suggest its even that bad.

Rod the Roofer · 01/24/2007, 12:32 AM

Hey Walter,

Check out my pics on page 31, I have a flat skylight that faces north (your equivalent of south) with 3 solartubes bringing the light down to about 6 inches above the water.

I haven't needed to clean the glass yet, it seems to stay reasonably clean just with rain washing it.

Rod.

tariqchaudhry · 01/24/2007, 09:38 AM

Thanks "hahnmeister" for the excellent explanation about U.V's

rickyjai8 · 01/24/2007, 04:54 PM

does any one in nyc is using this ?

wvt9527 · 01/24/2007, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rod the Roofer
Hey Walter,

Check out my pics on page 31, I have a flat skylight that faces north (your equivalent of south) with 3 solartubes bringing the light down to about 6 inches above the water.

I haven't needed to clean the glass yet, it seems to stay reasonably clean just with rain washing it.

Rod.

Rod those pics are what have me inspired go with solartubes.

Walter

miatawnt2b · 01/25/2007, 12:53 PM

interesting indeed. Is there anything you need to modify with the stock Home Depot models to make them effective? like changing glass or leaving out UV shields?
-J

hahnmeister · 01/25/2007, 04:26 PM

IF the unit has some sort of LoE coating, see if you can get it in clear instead. Regular glass blocks almost all UV-C if the atmosphere hasnt already completely (the higher the UV-C levels, the thicker the glass needs to be to block it all out, but we get relative low levels at the earth's surface), and LoE is there to block the rest. You can let UV-B and UV-A in though. The UV-A will help pigments, and UV-B will get absorbed by the top layers of water so its not a problem.

billsreef · 02/15/2007, 01:16 PM

Test.

AJT · 02/15/2007, 01:31 PM

Anyone else getting multiple emails from this thread? Poster hllywd??

hllywd · 02/15/2007, 01:33 PM

SolaTube.com states their standard dome passes .03% of the available UV. I doubt you're getting a tan with that. The light then has to pass through the diffuser, my guess is that brings it even closer to 0%.

Tim

hllywd · 02/15/2007, 01:36 PM

From me???

billsreef · 02/15/2007, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hllywd
From me???

The thread was apparently stuck and not taking your post, but sending out notifications that you posted anyway. It's an odd software glitch with large threads. I've fixed it for now.

reef_research · 02/15/2007, 01:47 PM

I don't know if this has already been addressed here, but could someone direct me to where I might find information pertaining to the coordinate ranges for effectiveness when using the solatubes.

Ie; How far away can you get away from the equator and still have this work w/ out supplementals?

Just some points if you happen to know:

Connecticut (unlikely, but if not, please post)

North Carolina

Florida

Puerto Rico

Thank you,

hllywd · 02/15/2007, 03:38 PM

I'm in NW Ohio. IMO the one I have in the dining room would need suppliments if it was over a tank from late fall to early spring. In the summer it can be very intense. It would still be wise to have the supliments for cloudy days here even in the summer.

Tim

reef_research · 02/15/2007, 03:48 PM

What do you use for supplementation lighting?

Thank you.

robcropper · 02/17/2007, 12:32 AM

thats crazy

zeusfc · 02/17/2007, 02:15 AM

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!

g3ka4 · 04/07/2007, 09:29 AM

bump

DouglasTiede · 04/08/2007, 10:24 AM

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.. )

DouglasTiede · 04/08/2007, 10:24 AM

sorry a tripple post..

DouglasTiede · 04/08/2007, 10:24 AM

...

chris wright · 04/09/2007, 07:35 AM

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.

herostar · 05/06/2007, 09:34 PM

Has anyone done tests with light meters to see how much intensity is lost from the roof to the outlet of the tube?

How much light is lost through the length of tube? How does a 20 ft tube work compared to an 8 ft tube?

01/24/2007, 12:32 AM	#929
Rod the Roofer Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Adelaide, South Australia Posts: 53	Hey Walter, Check out my pics on page 31, I have a flat skylight that faces north (your equivalent of south) with 3 solartubes bringing the light down to about 6 inches above the water. I haven't needed to clean the glass yet, it seems to stay reasonably clean just with rain washing it. Rod. __________________ Acromaniac

02/15/2007, 01:16 PM	#935
billsreef Moderator 10 & Over Club Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: Long Island, NY/North Miami Posts: 36,538	Test. __________________ Bill "LOL, well I have no brain apparently. " - dc (Debi) Current Tank Info: Far too many tanks according to my wife, LOL.

02/15/2007, 01:31 PM	#936
AJT Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Houston Posts: 856	Anyone else getting multiple emails from this thread? Poster hllywd?? __________________ " You get what you pay for" Now lit with 12 G3 Pros & Reef Link! Current Tank Info: 380 Gallon, Lit by 12 G3 Pros

02/15/2007, 01:33 PM	#937
hllywd Premier World Traveler Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,293	SolaTube.com states their standard dome passes .03% of the available UV. I doubt you're getting a tan with that. The light then has to pass through the diffuser, my guess is that brings it even closer to 0%. Tim __________________ "The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it..." J.M. Barrie Current Tank Info: 210 AGA RR, Apex, 3x Kessil A360W & 2x 80W T5s, GEO 618 Ca Rx, BM220 CS2 skimmer, Tunze 6100s, 42" ETSS/AE Tech refugium/sump

02/15/2007, 01:36 PM	#938
hllywd Premier World Traveler Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,293	From me??? __________________ "The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it..." J.M. Barrie Current Tank Info: 210 AGA RR, Apex, 3x Kessil A360W & 2x 80W T5s, GEO 618 Ca Rx, BM220 CS2 skimmer, Tunze 6100s, 42" ETSS/AE Tech refugium/sump

01/23/2007, 08:04 PM	#926
wvt9527 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Houston Tx. Posts: 4	What I am thinking is a flat skylight that faces south with 3 solartubes as it is only a 180 gallon. I dont think Starphire would be a good choice as it has low iron in the glass. Dont know how well it would hold up if something hit it. How often do you have to clean the glass on the outside? I do plan on sealing the tube with glass at both ends.

01/23/2007, 08:23 PM	#927
tariqchaudhry Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 5	Hello again, I am a bit confused about Solatubes and U.V lighting. In common reef practice, M.Halides have U.V proection shields, for obvious reasons. However some people in the forum are talking about modifying the Solatube to get more U.V light for the corals. Any thoughts?

01/23/2007, 09:13 PM	#928
hahnmeister Moved On Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Brew City, WI Posts: 10,156	Halides, even the 250wattDEs with a sheild, still pass a good amount of UV through the sheild. Which type is the major concern. UV-C or short wave UV is bad, in any amount or duration. It kills, it burns, but luckily, its also the easiest to filter out. Most glass filters, even non Lo-E, block UV-C. UV-A is the closest to purple, also called long wave UV. Its almost in the visible spectrum, and is actually considered a benefit for most corals. Some actinic bulbs like the G-man true actinic03, put out levels of UV-A to help coral growth and pigmentation. UV-B is 'so-so'. In moderation its alright, and it does filter out in water rather fast, so its usefulness is doubtful. In humans, it causes our pigments to fill in and give us a tan, but in large amounts it can kill like UV-C, or at least cause cancer. Crocea clams are perhaps the only organism I can see benefiting from UV-B. Most lamps that have a significant actinic output also put out UV-A, and UV-A passes through glass sheilds rather easily. UV-C is made by unsheilded halides and merc-vapor lamps, so it needs to be filtered. These filters dont block out as much of the UV-A though. As for UV-B, there just isnt much out there. Its the middle ground of the two extremes in almost every respect. A true actinic03 bulb might have a slight UV-B output, but in such small amounts it prolly doenst even penetrate more than an inch of water. And even in low amounts... there is little out there to suggest its even that bad.

01/24/2007, 09:38 AM	#930
tariqchaudhry Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 5	Thanks "hahnmeister" for the excellent explanation about U.V's

01/24/2007, 04:54 PM	#931
rickyjai8 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: new york Posts: 113	does any one in nyc is using this ?

01/25/2007, 12:53 PM	#933
miatawnt2b Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 1,467	interesting indeed. Is there anything you need to modify with the stock Home Depot models to make them effective? like changing glass or leaving out UV shields? -J

01/25/2007, 04:26 PM	#934
hahnmeister Moved On Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Brew City, WI Posts: 10,156	IF the unit has some sort of LoE coating, see if you can get it in clear instead. Regular glass blocks almost all UV-C if the atmosphere hasnt already completely (the higher the UV-C levels, the thicker the glass needs to be to block it all out, but we get relative low levels at the earth's surface), and LoE is there to block the rest. You can let UV-B and UV-A in though. The UV-A will help pigments, and UV-B will get absorbed by the top layers of water so its not a problem.

02/15/2007, 01:47 PM	#940
reef_research Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New England Abroad Posts: 239	How far away? I don't know if this has already been addressed here, but could someone direct me to where I might find information pertaining to the coordinate ranges for effectiveness when using the solatubes. Ie; How far away can you get away from the equator and still have this work w/ out supplementals? Just some points if you happen to know: Connecticut (unlikely, but if not, please post) North Carolina Florida Puerto Rico Thank you, __________________ Thomas "Success is moving from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." Winston Churchill "Build it and tell us if it works, conjecture only goes so far." Agu Current Tank Info: In process of restructuring

02/15/2007, 03:38 PM	#941
hllywd Premier World Traveler Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,293	I'm in NW Ohio. IMO the one I have in the dining room would need suppliments if it was over a tank from late fall to early spring. In the summer it can be very intense. It would still be wise to have the supliments for cloudy days here even in the summer. Tim __________________ "The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it..." J.M. Barrie Current Tank Info: 210 AGA RR, Apex, 3x Kessil A360W & 2x 80W T5s, GEO 618 Ca Rx, BM220 CS2 skimmer, Tunze 6100s, 42" ETSS/AE Tech refugium/sump

02/15/2007, 03:48 PM	#942
reef_research Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New England Abroad Posts: 239	What do you use for supplementation lighting? Thank you. __________________ Thomas "Success is moving from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." Winston Churchill "Build it and tell us if it works, conjecture only goes so far." Agu Current Tank Info: In process of restructuring

02/17/2007, 12:32 AM	#943
robcropper Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: virginia beach, va Posts: 108	thats crazy

02/17/2007, 02:15 AM	#944
zeusfc Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Cyprus Posts: 352	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! __________________ STOP TRYING TO READ THE INTERNET AND GO TO BED... Sleep is far more important! Current Tank Info: 16 months with a temporary tank... That Reefspace can't come soon enough!

04/07/2007, 09:29 AM	#945
g3ka4 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: SoCal Posts: 3	bump

04/08/2007, 10:24 AM	#946
DouglasTiede Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Kaukauna,WI Posts: 1,018	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.. )

04/08/2007, 10:24 AM	#947
DouglasTiede Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Kaukauna,WI Posts: 1,018	sorry a tripple post..

04/08/2007, 10:24 AM	#948
DouglasTiede Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Kaukauna,WI Posts: 1,018	...

04/09/2007, 07:35 AM	#949
chris wright Moved On Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Orange Australia Posts: 835	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.

05/06/2007, 09:34 PM	#950
herostar Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Denver Posts: 1,024	Has anyone done tests with light meters to see how much intensity is lost from the roof to the outlet of the tube? How much light is lost through the length of tube? How does a 20 ft tube work compared to an 8 ft tube? __________________ Do a good turn daily. Current Tank Info: 58g Oceanic (Est. 2007)