Budget Greenhouse Project - Page 7

Treeman · #**151** 03/26/2006, 03:45 PM

Lets go for it

panic · #**152** 03/27/2006, 06:54 PM

oh, a GH forum would be soooo great!

redox · #**153** 03/29/2006, 05:47 AM

hey you need to get up with me this weekend have some new developments in the gh . Ive got a cap that is purple with red polyps that i would like to send a frag home with you to try

RedSonja · #**154** 03/29/2006, 09:09 PM

Hi hamburglar!

I just read through your thread as I'm thinking of doing something similar, eventually, here in Durham. We may even have met at the MASC meeting last summer, I recall turning down someone that had a lot of xenia to trade.

And I see you're the lucky person that got that chiller in the end.

And I'm all for the GH forum as well. I'm still working my way through Anthony Calfo's coral prop book but it certainly sounds like GH is the way to go. He's going to be speaking at SaltwaterU in Atlanta the first weekend of May, Cloudancer and I are hoping to make it down there for that.

-Sonja

hamburglar · #**155** 03/30/2006, 10:17 PM

Hey RedSonja,

Yep that was me with a cooler full of Xenia. I might have to rent a truck this year to bring some of the stuff I have banked up.

I will be there for sure!

My #1 piece of advice would be to go a little bigger than I did. I was a little overly interested in saving cash in the beginning, and I got the 8x6 for about $300. Harbor Freight now has a 12x10 for $600 (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93358).

Overall, I am quite pleased with the Harbor Freight Greenhouse. It is VERY nice for that low price. I expect it to last several years after this project has moved on to something bigger. I look forward to growing veggies and stuff in it when my kids get old enough to enjoy it.

I'm still waiting on that 14K Metal Halide bulb to show up. I am really paying the price for shopping with marine-madness on EBay. They sent me the incorrect bulb after 2 weeks of waiting. Then, they insisted that I send that bulb back before they exchange it. I am going to file both ebay and Paypal claims if I have not seen a bulb by next Wednesday.

I promise promise promise that I will only do business with Premium Aquatics from now on

I will devote a day to taking pics and updating this thread properly after I get it set up.

RedSonja · #**156** 03/31/2006, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by hamburglar

My #1 piece of advice would be to go a little bigger than I did. I was a little overly interested in saving cash in the beginning, and I got the 8x6 for about $300. Harbor Freight now has a 12x10 for $600 (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93358).

Yeah I've looked at the 12x10 on that page a few times now.

Our problem is a small backyard with crappy sun and living in a subdivision with an HOA. We'd have to buy a piece of land somewhere to put it on, which would be a pain in several ways (buying the land and all that entails, travel to site every day, etc.) Ideally we'd find a piece of land large enough to live on someday and put the GH first and a house on it later.

-Sonja

raaden · #**157** 03/31/2006, 11:12 AM

Red,

I am working on something like this in North Raleigh, and I can definitely appreciate what you are saying. It has taken me about a year to get to the point where I am ready to start construction. I can give you some of the info I have if you would like pm me.

Raa

hamburglar · #**158** 03/31/2006, 01:28 PM

Raaden,

I'm a die-hard Hurricanes Hockey fan, so I am up there at least every other weekend it seems. Give me a shout sometime if you ever want to do some swaping or something. I'm also interested in your project when you get it running. We need that greenhouse forum so that we can launch lots of threads like this one, and have them easy to find.

Redox, have you got any new pictures of your project?

raaden · #**159** 03/31/2006, 01:56 PM

hamburglar,

Very nice, I am hoping they can get back to their winning ways soon. We are in the process of closing on the property so when we get in and get our permits finalized I would love to have some people up. I am looking to come down your way in the near future as well. Redox/Coastal is going to put me in touch with his vatbuilder so I can get the custome jobbies that he is using.

Raa

redox · #**160** 03/31/2006, 07:10 PM

ham yes I have pics but my picture taking lacks a few things like visability . I even made a new veiwing box to take pics but the glare is to high , any advice?

hamburglar · #**161** 03/31/2006, 08:49 PM

hehe We will have to learn how to get the good pics together. I'm sitting on some money to buy a digital SLR camera as soon as CircuitCity puts the one I want back on sale.

RedSonja · #**162** 03/31/2006, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by redox
ham yes I have pics but my picture taking lacks a few things like visability . I even made a new veiwing box to take pics but the glare is to high , any advice?

What kind of camera are you using? We have a Canon Rebel XT and love it...

Ixthys · #**163** 04/01/2006, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by hamburglar
hehe We will have to learn how to get the good pics together. I'm sitting on some money to buy a digital SLR camera as soon as CircuitCity puts the one I want back on sale.

You eyeing that Canon 20d?

hamburglar · #**164** 04/01/2006, 09:51 AM

The cannon 20d is a little rich for me

I am looking at the Olympus EVOLT E-500 with the 2-lens kit.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Olymp...oductDetail.do

I bet I'll still have to get a macro lense to take good coral pics, but I'll try the Zuiko 14-55mm lens that come with it first.

Anyone have any sudgestions on good Digital SLR class cameras for coral pictures?

RedSonja · #**165** 04/01/2006, 10:18 AM

Amazon has the Rebel XT for $679 after rebate right now...

RedSonja · #**166** 04/01/2006, 12:34 PM

Quote:

[i]
Anyone have any sudgestions on good Digital SLR class cameras for coral pictures? [/B]

The nice thing about Canon DSLR's is they use lenses for all Canon cameras, so you don't have to worry about getting lenses that work with them. There's a forum here at RC on photography I'm pretty sure, I'll go look and see where it is exactly. I'm a wee bit biased I know but the Canon is a great camera, we've had ours for a little under a year now and no complaints and lots of rave reviews.

-Sonja

RedSonja · #**167** 04/05/2006, 12:04 PM

A few pictures here:

http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2k/reef200604/

More to upload soon

-Sonja

reefkeeper27439 · #**168** 04/06/2006, 05:03 PM

Good pics redsonja. And this is realy a good thread.

redox · #**169** 04/07/2006, 03:29 PM

The summer is upon us so... will my systems work and maintain temp ??? That is the question its a gamble

hamburglar · #**170** 04/07/2006, 11:26 PM

I just use the grey junk. It all turns purple in my indoor system within 3 months anyway. I've found that the aragocrete actually grows coraline faster than new live rock.

reefkeeper27439 · #**171** 04/09/2006, 12:29 PM

hamburglar i have a question for you how do you get your soft coral to attach?

redox · #**172** 04/09/2006, 02:11 PM

Im not sure how hamburglar does it but I have found a good way, if its a leather use a piece of fine mesh plastic and two rubberbands . This will work for clusters of zoes as well but induviduals I would use gel cyanocrylate ,

RedSonja · #**173** 04/09/2006, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by redox
Im not sure how hamburglar does it but I have found a good way, if its a leather use a piece of fine mesh plastic and two rubberbands . This will work for clusters of zoes as well but induviduals I would use gel cyanocrylate ,

Could you explain exactly how you use the mesh and rubberbands? Are you covering the entire frag in the mesh then rubberband it around it to a rock or plug, or what?

Thanks!

-Sonja

redox · #**174** 04/10/2006, 04:52 AM

i meant to say that yes you rubberband the mesh around a mount and in some cases the leather frag will grow into the mesh usually at that point it has allready atached to the rock and you can carefully remove the bands and mesh

hamburglar · #**175** 04/10/2006, 03:24 PM

Exactly what Redox said. You can use the rubberband to hold the mesh to the frag rock. The mesh forces the soft coral to sit still for a bit and hopefully attach to the frag rock.

Sometimes the frag attaches to the mesh instead.....no bother....just flip it over so the frag is on top of the mesh, and glue the mesh to the rock.

I only use the netting on fragile stuff. On hardy stuff like Xenia, I just rubberband the stalks onto rocks. Just make it tight enough to hold the frag down. It is also a good idea to wrap the rubberband over several different areas. Soft corals have a tendency to shrink up and escape.

For hard corals I use super glue gel.