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Unread 07/16/2006, 11:46 AM   #751
Agu
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"I am going to frame the 20" tubes in a false chimney
It will raise them to get more direct sun light "


That's a great idea For people with a steep roof pitch or if your tubes are on the "wrong" side this would be an idea.


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Unread 07/16/2006, 02:45 PM   #752
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Quote:
Originally posted by onetrickpony
I am in the process of remolding my next house
The room I will have my next tank in faces east
So the tubes will be on the East side I will have them straight down I am planning on using the 20" tubes
So today the east side got sun from 7am to 5 pm
I am going to frame the 20" tubes in a false chimney
It will raise them to get more direct sun light
I think it make a big difference in the winter with the shorter days
But as plans go, I will have too se how things work out
Ken
WOW!!! That is good thinking for the location issue I have with the two I have to install, a "light chimney" great idea!!!

Tim


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Unread 07/26/2006, 09:52 PM   #753
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Nice thread. I currently researching solatubes for my 225. I about to move it into the garage and would like to doway with my MH and save some $$ on electricity. What are people doing about the UV filters on these types of skylites? Are you replacing the filter with something else (acylic)? Does it even matter?

Thanks


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Unread 07/27/2006, 04:54 AM   #754
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Tag... Thanks for leading me hear Jim, great thread! Solar tubes are going in as soon a warrentee runs out (maybe sooner)


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Unread 08/06/2006, 06:16 AM   #755
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I am considering two 48" x 48" skylights like you, Herpervert. Mine will face south and be on a roof with an 8/12 pitch.
As the light enters the tank, I'm bound to get all kinds of different angles as the light bounces around the light tunnel. Rather than a diffuser at the skylight, I thought maybe using eggcrate as a tank cover. And maybe paint the eggcrate blue first.

Any opinions?

Joe


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Unread 08/21/2006, 01:23 PM   #756
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Couple Updated Pics

Here are some updated pics. I recently dropped back to (02) T5's from(04) because I was blocking a lot of natural light from the tubes.

Here ar a couple top down and other misc pics..









Just getting over a wicked case of Monti Eating Nudi's.. Sure you can see the destruction evident in my Orange Cap.

Later,

Jim


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Unread 08/21/2006, 05:26 PM   #757
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nice colors. now for some front shots.


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Unread 08/21/2006, 06:35 PM   #758
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Couple of front shots from tonight, only T5's... I'll get some Natural light shots tomorrow...



My red cap in the middle just got crushed by monti nudi's.. I had to frag him to get to all the Nudi's and Eggs...



Later,

Jim


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Unread 08/21/2006, 07:31 PM   #759
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thats an interesting way of mounting frags.


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Unread 08/21/2006, 08:33 PM   #760
JMBoehling
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Quote:
Originally posted by Lordhelmet
thats an interesting way of mounting frags.
Yep. Filling up my glass with living corals.

Later,

Jim


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Unread 09/10/2006, 07:35 PM   #761
Rod the Roofer
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Hi Guys and gals on the other side of the world!

Well there has been a lot of talking, planning and R & D, but I’ve finally done it!!

My dream was to have natural sunlight supplementing my Mh’s.

A bit of background:

I set up my 4’ 6” x 18” x 20” three years ago and have been keeping mainly stoneys. I ventured into the realm of SPS only a couple of years ago.

I have an Eheim 1260 main return pump and another 1260 closed loop giving me over ten times flow.

There are two sumps. In one I have live rock, caulerpa and heaps of pods. The other houses the return, heaters, auto top off (dosing Kalk) and the Turbofloater 1000. I also run a Calcium reactor.

I have two x 150w Mh pendants supplemented with actinic.

Here’s a pic ;



After following various threads on skylights and natural lighting I decided to go for it!

My thought was that the extra light would be supplemental to the Mh’s and wouldn’t replace them. The tank was settled and mature and was already capable of supporting SPS.

Here’s a pic ;



Being a roofer I just happened to have a few skylights hanging around.
I joined two 2' x 2'8'' skylight frames together as I needed a long rectangle to suit the tank. Living in a high bush fire danger area I couldn’t use the domes (Plus I didn’t think I’d get enough light through them) so I discarded them and after much research ordered a sheet of 1/2" clear laminated glass to go on top.
Fortunately the roof faces north so it picks up max sun. (Equivalent of south facing for you guys)
I liked the idea of Solatube style tubes to bring the directed light right down to the tank and thought that three tubes alternating with the pendants would be good.
As you can see in the pic, my ceiling is raked so I had the added hassle of different length tubes. The shortest is 4' up to the longest at 5'6".
Another problem was that the Solatube tubes only come in 18" and 2' lengths that you stick together with tape, which I thought was going to look pretty ordinary inside the room.
The way I got around that was to give them a twin skin of HIP – high impact polystyrene.

Here are some pics of the install ;







And here’s a pic of inside ;



I had to re-think the actinic light issue as the old fittings were in the way of the tubes. So I suspended a 4’ just in front of the lights/tubes.
So I could still get into the tank I installed retractable suspension cables.

Here’s a pic of the tank with all lighting in place ;
(Just skylight, about 9am, no lights on)



Here’s a pic of tubes and actinic, about 9.30am



And all lights on, about 11.30am



I purchased a light meter to check just how much I was getting. (Readings at 12 noon 10.9.06)

Under the 150 Mh – 150000 Lux (6" from lamp)
Under the skylight – 190000 Lux (6" from tube)
Outside in full sunshine – 160000 Lux

Observations so far :

Incredible natural dawn. (Mandarin and shrimp love it!)
Very natural fluctuations in light as clouds go overhead.
Amazing moon light.

Well that’s it!! I think that during summer I will probably be able to turn off the halides. During winter I will need them and during spring and autumn, we’ll wait and see.

Rod.


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Unread 09/10/2006, 08:28 PM   #762
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Wow! Now there is an awesome first post. Very clean job there. You made it look very professional. I wish I had that kind of talent for construction.

Here is a link to my tank. I have skylights and halides also.

I am sure I have posted pics to this thread in the past but a friend recently updated them for me.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...22#post8118722


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Unread 09/11/2006, 12:33 AM   #763
Rod the Roofer
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Thanks Herpervet,

I have been following this thread for some time now (Lurking) and I am very impressed with your tank.

In fact it was tanks on this very thread (and others in Aus.) that inspired me to launch into my own project.

As we are approaching our summer I'm very excited to see how the natural light will go.

So far I'm quite pleased with the amount of light, considering we've just come out of winter.

Rod.


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Unread 09/11/2006, 05:51 AM   #764
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Excellent, I'm sure that thread will motivate a lot of us (hopefully Me -
Under the 150 Mh – 150000 Lux (6" from lamp)
Under the skylight – 190000 Lux (6" from tube)
Outside in full sunshine – 160000 Lux

Dont know much about Lux - can you talk a little more about this? Are you saying the Skylight is actually brighter than the MH?


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Unread 09/11/2006, 06:16 AM   #765
Rod the Roofer
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Thanks Hef,

I'm no expert on these matters but according to Wikipedia "Lux is a unit of illuminance. It is used in photometry as a measure of the intensity of light."

As Herpervet has mentioned, there is a focused spot of light from the tubes that moves with the sun. I measured this spot with the Lux Meter. To be fair, I measured the brightest spot under the Mh and got the best reading I could from the sun as well.

I measured the light readings at 12 noon and yes, the reading from the skylight was brighter than the Mh and indeed the sun outside. Earlier and later in the day the skylight was not as bright.

Hope this answers your question.

Rod.


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Unread 09/11/2006, 08:16 AM   #766
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Thanks, I would be interested in light readings for a few different times of the day if you get around to doing it.

Try to get us a photo of the tank with just natural light from the same angle and size as the other photos.


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Unread 09/11/2006, 09:58 AM   #767
salty joe
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Rod,
Very nice looking tank.
Did you use low iron glass (the real clear stuff like Starfire brand) for the skylight?

Also, if you take lux readings at different times of day, could you measure both under the tube as well as outside?

As a side note, the light from any artificial source will drop off dramaticlly as the distance from the lamp increases. This is not a concern with sunlight. I think the formula is in one of Sanjay's articles on light.


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Unread 09/11/2006, 09:58 AM   #768
hawaiianwargod
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Rod the Roofer,

Very nice work!!! Impressive. I probably implement solatubes next summer.


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Unread 09/11/2006, 01:44 PM   #769
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Ron very nice tank even if you have the sun facing the wrong way.


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Unread 09/11/2006, 10:13 PM   #770
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I can't wait to get my own tank and do a solar tank.
i hope to se growth pics in a few months.


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Unread 09/11/2006, 11:01 PM   #771
Rod the Roofer
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Thanks everyone for your encouragement.

Hef,

Here are some light readings during the day: (Please note today we had light whispy clouds)

10 am - skylight - 20 000 Lux
- outside - 130 000 Lux

11am - skylight - 95 000 Lux
- outside - 147 000 Lux

12noon - skylight – 150 000 Lux
- outside - 159 000 Lux

1pm - skylight – 130 000 Lux
- outside – 153 000 Lux
From 2pm more cloud rolled in and made it impossible to get any more meaningful readings.

It was interesting that today with light whispy clouds the reading from the sun at 12 noon was only slightly lower than two days ago, but the reading from the tubes was a fair bit lower.

Here is a shot of just natural sunlight at 12 noon:



Salty joe,

I didn’t use Starfire glass, just standard clear glass.
It’s laminated as there are quite a few legal issues and codes to comply with for overhead glazing. It’s two sheets of ¼ inch glass (notice I’m using imperial for you?) with a .38mm laminate (couldn’t be bothered working that one out in imperial)

Also, as you have stated “the light from any artificial source will drop off dramatically as the distance from the lamp increases. This is not a concern with sunlight.”
This is correct and I did ponder what distance I should take my readings from. I settled for 6” (imperial again) from the lamps and the ends of the tubes. (Which is water level on my tank).

Also, here are the other links to threads that have inspired me that you asked for in your Email:

http://www.masa.asn.au/phpBB2/viewto...313&highlight=

This link contains other links.


RGibson,

LOL, the main problem reefers have here in Australia is keeping water in our tanks as we are upside down as you know! Oh yeah, my name is Rod.

Rod.


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Unread 09/12/2006, 12:53 AM   #772
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Quote:
Originally posted by Rod the Roofer
LOL, the main problem reefers have here in Australia is keeping water in our tanks as we are upside down as you know!




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Unread 09/12/2006, 01:27 AM   #773
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FWIW, I did a skylight system for a 1500g reef tank in Chicago, and Velux Skylight Company was able to make laminate clear glass skylights for me... but thats as good as it gets, unless you can find an acrylic maker, but thats a whole other can of worms. Best of all, the Skylights (three of them 21" wide by 70" high) were laminate, so they are strong, and they cost no more than regular velux skylights.

Just for those who need to know. Sorry I cant post pics, hes a CEO and he cares not to have pics taken of whats inside his home. But I was lucky enough to help set it up and see it when I like. Who knows, maybe some day he'll want to show it off...


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Unread 09/12/2006, 06:53 AM   #774
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Rod,
Welcome to Reef Central!

You have a great looking tank and I like the way your light tubes look. I believe you have a great mixture for lighting. If you start your own thread on RC about your tank PM me so I can subscribe to it.


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Unread 09/12/2006, 04:03 PM   #775
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Hey Rod,

I do appreciate the imperial units. So, what material is the .38mm laminate. And isn't there a name for a tenth of a millimeter? Just kidding.

I used to do nothing but roofing - you do nice work.

Joe


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