Solar tube lights?

[jdhuyvetter]

Framed out and ready for wood. Next step install actinic supplements........will it ever end?!

[jdhuyvetter]

Pics from today (4/5 about 2:15 pm). It is partly to mostly cloudy, so the tank is not at it's brightest. PC supplements are installed.

Fist pic, no supplemental lighting



With PC supplements on (on timers, usually come on at 4 and go off between 8 and 10 pm)

[jdhuyvetter]

A few top down shots. Compare to earlier pics

Under old lighting, coral was green with purple tips. Coral color is just beginning to come back, but still looks mostly brown. At night under PC's the color is better.



Look at the growth difference in the growth of the green cap. Also, note that I pulled the rock and softies from the back of the tank and shuffled some of the SPS around. Everybody has more room.

[mscottring]

I didn't want to invest in the tubes, so I mounted the aquarium on the roof.

[david426]

Nice set up. How long do you think it will take before the solar tubes pay for themselves without having to pay electric for halides? It seems to have a more natural look also.

[jdhuyvetter]

About 24 months. That is a guesstimate based on the first months power drops. I've made a bunch of changes since then with frag tank lighting and pumps. First power bill was $152 less. If it stays at that rate, more like 16 to 18 months. But I wasn't running MH on the frag setup yet. The bill I get in May will really be my first apples to apples comparison.

[jdhuyvetter]

My house now smells like polyurethane. Three or four more coats and I can put the plywood up! Saturday if I'm lucky and don't decide to goof off this weekend.

[aquawolf]

That is a great looking project. How long do you think it may be before the corals respond well and get their color back?

[jdhuyvetter]

Chalices looked better in a matter of a couple of days. Monties, 3 days to a week depending on the species. Acros about 2 weeks to start getting color back.

Also, I added my light blue filter back with the tubes but no diffuser. I had previously pulled them because I was losing about 30% of the light. However, with just the blue filter, I am only losing about 10% and the color change was immediately noticable to the naked eye for the blue and purple corals

Pic shows the blue tint acrylic with the optical diffuser. I went to the acrylic place in town and ordered the lightest blue tint I could find. They fit perfectly inside the solatubes (custom cut) and knock some of the yellow tint out of the sunlight.

[jdhuyvetter]

Couldn't resist this one. tonight at feeding (with flash)

[aquawolf]

Thanks for the answers about the coral coloration. That last pic is also pretty cool.

[jdhuyvetter]

The plywood I ordered to box in the top came wrapped in cardboard. I was patching the holes above the tank so I could touch up the ceiling paint before hanging the plywood. I used the cardboard to protect the tank. The cardboard is sitting on top of the tank about three inches above the water line. It gave me a perfect view of the light distribution of the tubes. I adjusted one of the tubes and took these pics. Pics are at 1130 am on a mostly overcast day.

[mscottring]

That's a heck of a lot of light, looks awesome.

[jdhuyvetter]

Sun came out for a minute. Better pic. You can clearly see the edge of the tubes in the reflection

[jdhuyvetter]

For comparison, this pic has the PC's on. About 120 watts of 10k and about 460 watts of actinic