Sun Powered Reef - Page 5

vitor pestana · 04/27/2007, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bph0013
do you know what species of hermit crab the one in the first picture is with the red and white dotted claw? It's beautiful.

Hi!

The scientific name is Calcinus tubularis, to me one of the most beautiful hermit crabs.

Regards

Vitor Pestana

vitor pestana · 04/27/2007, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chris wright

Just curious to know what your tank looks like under a full moon. I know a lot of people try to mimic this, but your prime position would be ideal. If you think of it and us following your thread, would you mind taking some photo's of your tank at night, on or near a full moon? I cant even imagine how beautiful your tank would look.

Thanks mate, cheers.

Chris.

Hi Chris

Did some testes with my camera and telescope, the moon is easy, very bright, but the moonlight is very complicated, my camera is a sony DSC-P93A not a very good one for this kind of job in almost complet darkness, never the last i live you with what is possible:

This is the moon Today, has you can see is not completely full, a pic with my telescope:

Moonlight over the tank, this pic is very pour, i donÂ´t have enough light yet:

Monday ou Tuesday i'll try to improve the pics, maybe with another camera.

All the best

Vitor Pestana

chris wright · 04/28/2007, 06:42 AM

Well I hope it works out. Your tank is amazing by day, and ive seen some beautiful things at night, so im crossing my fingers that your photo's turn out, It will be amazing, if not just give us a discription, we'll believe you.

RRodrigues · 04/29/2007, 05:10 AM

Hi Vitor,

Did you notest yet any coral growth improvement comparing with metal halide ligthing?

vitor pestana · 04/29/2007, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by RRodrigues
Hi Vitor,

Did you notest yet any coral growth improvement comparing with metal halide ligthing?

Hi Ricardo Rodrigues. (You are invite to visit my tank any time you want)

Yes, big changes, i've use metal halide and T5, neither can match the natural light, all corals grow faster.

The greater change was in colour, the coral have a diferent colour after a few days in natural light, maybe the natural UV is the secret.

I letf you some pics so you can see the diferences:

Two week ago:

Today

One month ago

Today

1 week ago

Today

chris wright · 04/29/2007, 05:00 PM

Wow, the sunlight makes a hell of a difference.

Where I live, the winter is to cold to have a tank outside, but a few good skylights would nearly be as good.

You'll have to keep posting pics like that, its great to see the difference in such a short period of time, cant wait to see them in 6 months

Hint hint

Beaner3 · 04/30/2007, 08:46 AM

I have just read this entire thread and am completely amazed. These are some of the best tanks I have ever seen. I love the fact that you are using natural sun and moonlight to supply your animals with thier essential requirements. I'm getting the hell out of Minnesota to somewhere warmer so I can bury my tank in the ground too. Awesome work Victor! Tank of the month material for sure!!!!!!

Beaner3 · 04/30/2007, 08:56 AM

Also Victor, I thought that is was awesome what you did with your clean up crew, If we all respected nature this way, imagine how strong all of the worlds ecosysms woul be. Very nice work.

vitor pestana · 04/30/2007, 01:06 PM

Hi guys.

Beaner3, thank you for your kind words, i'm not doing anything special, nature is.

I still have tons of work to do, and time is always short.

Chris, today is a cloudy day, i don't think that the moon will show up today, maybe tomorrow.

I letf you guys some pics of the work today:

Hell of a day, it rained a lot:

I Finally manage to instal and sicronize the Limewater Reactor with the Calcim Reactor, now the pH is more stable:

petedoc · 04/30/2007, 01:07 PM

Vitor, I like to see the difference real sunlight makes! I don't know if I could install light tubes in my home or whether they would work as well, but it may be worth looking into. I live in a very sunny climate as well, but not warm enough for outdoor tropical reef tanks.

vitor pestana · 04/30/2007, 01:07 PM

Talking about my sump, someone ask me a few days what did i have in it, nothing special, just the ordenary equipment used on every reef tanks:

Calcium Reactor + Skimmer DELTEC APF600:

A 5 stage Osmose:

A 300Watts heater + phosfate filter remover:

And Finaly my O3 generator:

And Finally the new acquisition:

Next time will try to clean up the wires...

Hope you enjoy the pics

Best Regards

Vitor Pestana

petedoc · 04/30/2007, 01:31 PM

Vitor, what are your thoughts on ozone? I keep hearing the plus and minus of ozone sterilization. By the way I really enjoy the photos, someday I hope to be able to post pictures of your quality. Thanks Dave

vitor pestana · 04/30/2007, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by petedoc
Vitor, I like to see the difference real sunlight makes! I don't know if I could install light tubes in my home or whether they would work as well, but it may be worth looking into. I live in a very sunny climate as well, but not warm enough for outdoor tropical reef tanks.

Hi Petedoc, how are you doing?

You can always use this setup, the hearth mantains the temp for a long time after the water stays warm.

If the cold night is a problem, you can use a blue roofmate cover just like you see in my sump pics, i lost about 1ÂºC during the night in this time of the year and my heater is turn off.

If the weather turns bad and cold like 0ÂºC, there's another way to solve the problem, you can low the water level down so that a fine layer of air stays betwen the glass and the water, this way you get a green house effect.

If you decide to see the tank, you just have to raise the water level... it's very easy and practice.

All the Best

Vitor Pestana

petedoc · 04/30/2007, 01:38 PM

Good point about the green house effect! I built an outdoor tank in Minnesota many years ago, but it was for cold freshwater fish. This may be possible in our area, the Winter weather rarely gets below -10 C. I think I must first get my new 270 gal reef completed before any further projects. Although, my wife might prefer the next one outside!

vitor pestana · 04/30/2007, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by petedoc
Vitor, what are your thoughts on ozone? I keep hearing the plus and minus of ozone sterilization. By the way I really enjoy the photos, someday I hope to be able to post pictures of your quality. Thanks Dave

Hi again.

My opinion about O3 is the better, the water turns cristal clear... very nice and clean, aldow you must be very carefull, i advice the use of a ORP controller just in case.

Other problem is the residual O3, if you'll connect the O3 generator to the skimmer, the residual O3 will scape through the air exit holes of the skimmer, you must install a hose to a activaded carbon filter or connect it direct to the outdoor through a window or similar.

Remember, O3 is very dangerous in high amounts

Quote:

Originally posted by petedoc
Good point about the green house effect! I built an outdoor tank in Minnesota many years ago, but it was for cold freshwater fish. This may be possible in our area, the Winter weather rarely gets below -10 C. I think I must first get my new 270 gal reef completed before any further projects. Although, my wife might prefer the next one outside!

Good Point... the wifes issues... some day i'll change the name of this thread to "Wife proof tank"!

All the best

Vitor Pestana

Tang Salad · 05/02/2007, 05:24 AM

Vitor- that is an amazing tank. Your creativity is very inspiring. Please keep us posted as your tank progresses!

Abrigado (Is that "Thank you"? My Portugese is very limited

)

vitor pestana · 05/02/2007, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tang Salad
Vitor- that is an amazing tank. Your creativity is very inspiring. Please keep us posted as your tank progresses!

Abrigado (Is that "Thank you"? My Portugese is very limited )

Hi!

Thank you for your kind words, "Obrigado"!!!

As soon i have developments i let you guys know.

By the way, Havaii have a better climate then Portugal for these kind of tank.

Best Regards

Vitor Pestana

Tang Salad · 05/02/2007, 08:28 AM

Ah, yes, that's it: Obrigado!

I just had a crazy idea...

The bottom 1/4 of this picture, the area under the fence covered with stones. Would it be possible to dig this away?

If this area were .5-1 meter lower, you could put low chairs there, and the tank area would be at table-height.

Just an idea, might not be possible or desirable. But once again, great tank!!

fishresponse · 05/02/2007, 10:48 AM

Very cool tank Vitor. I love this concept. I'll definitely be tagging along on this thread.

vitor pestana · 05/02/2007, 03:48 PM

Hi guys!

fishresponse, thank you for your encouragement words.

Tang Salad, that was not a crazy idea, i thought about that to in the beginning of the project, but i realize that i would have a significative temperature loss in winter time, and decide for the upper view, this way i only have one side of the tank in contacting the air.

Regards

Vitor Pestana

vitor pestana · 05/05/2007, 02:04 PM

Hi guys!

New update.

The Summer time and the intense heat is comming, there for and thinking ahead i've install a shadow cover for the months of July and August, my chiller could handle it but this way i can save some money on the electric bill, see close in the pics, the shadow only is only about 50% of the total sunlight:

Look close were the fabric is join together, as you can see this fabric stops only about 50% of the total sunlight:

Some corals pics, note the natural colors of the natural sunlight... there is no actinic lights here:

vitor pestana · 05/05/2007, 02:05 PM

The Morning was over, after lunch i decide to colect some natural water to for a change tomorrow, about 45 gallons:

With a help of a friend and his worderfull pump, we wore able to gether about 60 gallons in about 50 minits in a depth of 22 feet:

ThatÂ´s all folks.

All the best

Vitor Pestana

RRodrigues · 05/05/2007, 03:27 PM

Nice pics and amazing colours!

Could you tell us more about temperature in your system? What are the max and min temperatures daily?

Where are you collecting NSW?

Thank you for the invitation, someday I'll make you a visit.

vitor pestana · 05/05/2007, 04:01 PM

Hi Ricardo.

Very easy, i have a temperature controller with a 1ÂºC diferential, so the temperature never goes beyond 25ÂºC or above 27ÂºC.

For exemple, the heat of day is acumulated and release during the night with a diferential of 2ÂºC:

07h00 AM - 25ÂºC
15h00 PM - 27ÂºC

Using the same concept of natural resources, the electrical costs are minimal due to the termic materials wich i build the tank.

Sunlight - Free

Temperature - Almost free

Remember, i have only a 300W heater for about 260 gallons, only lose heat throw the top cover glass.

Regards

Vitor Pestana

chris wright · 05/05/2007, 07:28 PM

G'day vitor,

Your tanks looking as amazing as ever. Neat idea with the shade cloth to.

Just wondering if you got the chance to take some photos at night?. Looking foward to seeing more pics of your marvalous tank.

Chris.

04/29/2007, 05:10 AM	#104
RRodrigues Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Cascais - Portugal Posts: 260	Hi Vitor, Did you notest yet any coral growth improvement comparing with metal halide ligthing? __________________ "The natural world is, and probably always will be, complicated far beyond human understanding." J.E.N. Veron

04/30/2007, 01:07 PM	#110
petedoc Premium Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Lewiston Idaho Posts: 1,131	Vitor, I like to see the difference real sunlight makes! I don't know if I could install light tubes in my home or whether they would work as well, but it may be worth looking into. I live in a very sunny climate as well, but not warm enough for outdoor tropical reef tanks. __________________ Charter member of the Trial and Error Club, when that doesn't work ask the stupid question here on RC to get an intelligent answer. Current Tank Info: 270Reef w/Chrysurus Angel,Vlamingi Tang, Atlantic Blue Tang, Dispar Anthias, Sargassum Trigger

04/30/2007, 01:31 PM	#112
petedoc Premium Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Lewiston Idaho Posts: 1,131	Vitor, what are your thoughts on ozone? I keep hearing the plus and minus of ozone sterilization. By the way I really enjoy the photos, someday I hope to be able to post pictures of your quality. Thanks Dave __________________ Charter member of the Trial and Error Club, when that doesn't work ask the stupid question here on RC to get an intelligent answer. Current Tank Info: 270Reef w/Chrysurus Angel,Vlamingi Tang, Atlantic Blue Tang, Dispar Anthias, Sargassum Trigger

04/30/2007, 01:38 PM	#114
petedoc Premium Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Lewiston Idaho Posts: 1,131	Good point about the green house effect! I built an outdoor tank in Minnesota many years ago, but it was for cold freshwater fish. This may be possible in our area, the Winter weather rarely gets below -10 C. I think I must first get my new 270 gal reef completed before any further projects. Although, my wife might prefer the next one outside! __________________ Charter member of the Trial and Error Club, when that doesn't work ask the stupid question here on RC to get an intelligent answer. Current Tank Info: 270Reef w/Chrysurus Angel,Vlamingi Tang, Atlantic Blue Tang, Dispar Anthias, Sargassum Trigger

05/02/2007, 05:24 AM	#116
Tang Salad Algae skeptic Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: 78702 Posts: 3,098	Vitor- that is an amazing tank. Your creativity is very inspiring. Please keep us posted as your tank progresses! Abrigado (Is that "Thank you"? My Portugese is very limited ) __________________ Your algae is not special. Current Tank Info: TBD ADA 120-P SPS NLPS

04/28/2007, 06:42 AM	#103
chris wright Moved On Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Orange Australia Posts: 835	Well I hope it works out. Your tank is amazing by day, and ive seen some beautiful things at night, so im crossing my fingers that your photo's turn out, It will be amazing, if not just give us a discription, we'll believe you.

04/29/2007, 05:00 PM	#106
chris wright Moved On Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Orange Australia Posts: 835	Wow, the sunlight makes a hell of a difference. Where I live, the winter is to cold to have a tank outside, but a few good skylights would nearly be as good. You'll have to keep posting pics like that, its great to see the difference in such a short period of time, cant wait to see them in 6 months Hint hint

04/30/2007, 08:46 AM	#107
Beaner3 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Goodbye Minnesota, Hello Leadville CO Posts: 266	I have just read this entire thread and am completely amazed. These are some of the best tanks I have ever seen. I love the fact that you are using natural sun and moonlight to supply your animals with thier essential requirements. I'm getting the hell out of Minnesota to somewhere warmer so I can bury my tank in the ground too. Awesome work Victor! Tank of the month material for sure!!!!!!

04/30/2007, 08:56 AM	#108
Beaner3 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Goodbye Minnesota, Hello Leadville CO Posts: 266	Also Victor, I thought that is was awesome what you did with your clean up crew, If we all respected nature this way, imagine how strong all of the worlds ecosysms woul be. Very nice work.

04/30/2007, 01:06 PM	#109
vitor pestana Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Portugal Posts: 143	Hi guys. Beaner3, thank you for your kind words, i'm not doing anything special, nature is. I still have tons of work to do, and time is always short. Chris, today is a cloudy day, i don't think that the moon will show up today, maybe tomorrow. I letf you guys some pics of the work today: Hell of a day, it rained a lot: I Finally manage to instal and sicronize the Limewater Reactor with the Calcim Reactor, now the pH is more stable:

04/30/2007, 01:07 PM	#111
vitor pestana Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Portugal Posts: 143	Talking about my sump, someone ask me a few days what did i have in it, nothing special, just the ordenary equipment used on every reef tanks: Calcium Reactor + Skimmer DELTEC APF600: A 5 stage Osmose: A 300Watts heater + phosfate filter remover: And Finaly my O3 generator: And Finally the new acquisition: Next time will try to clean up the wires... Hope you enjoy the pics Best Regards Vitor Pestana

05/02/2007, 08:28 AM	#118
Tang Salad Algae skeptic Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: 78702 Posts: 3,098	Ah, yes, that's it: Obrigado! I just had a crazy idea... The bottom 1/4 of this picture, the area under the fence covered with stones. Would it be possible to dig this away? If this area were .5-1 meter lower, you could put low chairs there, and the tank area would be at table-height. Just an idea, might not be possible or desirable. But once again, great tank!! __________________ Your algae is not special. Current Tank Info: TBD ADA 120-P SPS NLPS

05/02/2007, 10:48 AM	#119
fishresponse Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 644	Very cool tank Vitor. I love this concept. I'll definitely be tagging along on this thread. __________________ –Andy 265g w/ 20" synergy overflow box Hamilton Cebu MH/T5 fixture w/ 250w Radium bulbs SPS/LPS mix \| 30g (long) refugium with cheato \| 40g sump

05/02/2007, 03:48 PM	#120
vitor pestana Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Portugal Posts: 143	Hi guys! fishresponse, thank you for your encouragement words. Tang Salad, that was not a crazy idea, i thought about that to in the beginning of the project, but i realize that i would have a significative temperature loss in winter time, and decide for the upper view, this way i only have one side of the tank in contacting the air. Regards Vitor Pestana

05/05/2007, 02:04 PM	#121
vitor pestana Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Portugal Posts: 143	Hi guys! New update. The Summer time and the intense heat is comming, there for and thinking ahead i've install a shadow cover for the months of July and August, my chiller could handle it but this way i can save some money on the electric bill, see close in the pics, the shadow only is only about 50% of the total sunlight: Look close were the fabric is join together, as you can see this fabric stops only about 50% of the total sunlight: Some corals pics, note the natural colors of the natural sunlight... there is no actinic lights here: Last edited by vitor pestana; 05/05/2007 at 02:11 PM.

05/05/2007, 02:05 PM	#122
vitor pestana Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Portugal Posts: 143	The Morning was over, after lunch i decide to colect some natural water to for a change tomorrow, about 45 gallons: With a help of a friend and his worderfull pump, we wore able to gether about 60 gallons in about 50 minits in a depth of 22 feet: ThatÂ´s all folks. All the best Vitor Pestana

05/05/2007, 03:27 PM	#123
RRodrigues Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Cascais - Portugal Posts: 260	Nice pics and amazing colours! Could you tell us more about temperature in your system? What are the max and min temperatures daily? Where are you collecting NSW? Thank you for the invitation, someday I'll make you a visit. __________________ "The natural world is, and probably always will be, complicated far beyond human understanding." J.E.N. Veron

05/05/2007, 04:01 PM	#124
vitor pestana Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Portugal Posts: 143	Hi Ricardo. Very easy, i have a temperature controller with a 1ÂºC diferential, so the temperature never goes beyond 25ÂºC or above 27ÂºC. For exemple, the heat of day is acumulated and release during the night with a diferential of 2ÂºC: 07h00 AM - 25ÂºC 15h00 PM - 27ÂºC Using the same concept of natural resources, the electrical costs are minimal due to the termic materials wich i build the tank. Sunlight - Free Temperature - Almost free Remember, i have only a 300W heater for about 260 gallons, only lose heat throw the top cover glass. Regards Vitor Pestana

05/05/2007, 07:28 PM	#125
chris wright Moved On Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Orange Australia Posts: 835	G'day vitor, Your tanks looking as amazing as ever. Neat idea with the shade cloth to. Just wondering if you got the chance to take some photos at night?. Looking foward to seeing more pics of your marvalous tank. Chris.