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  #26  
Old 04/13/2007, 10:48 AM
phat phat is offline
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stunning man really cool!!

what is inside you're sump??
  #27  
Old 04/13/2007, 04:02 PM
jacmyoung jacmyoung is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by blkdrgn
We were at the Waikiki Aquarium and they had an outside tank just like yours except it did not have a cover. The water would overflow over all sides. Next time I go there I will ask how they maintain their tank such as salinity. The water was crystal clear. I noticed that you cleaned up the wires. What about making another shed to cover the refrigerator? Great looking setup!
That is the tank you saw, they use natural seawater BTW:



It is a clam tank with only one convict tang. Clams look very colorful viewed from top, fish on the other hand are best viewed from the side.

This in-ground tank is indeed a fascinating setup, I have been thinking how to do a large tank with all the energy conservation options possible, you just give me something to think about.
  #28  
Old 04/13/2007, 06:15 PM
vitor pestana vitor pestana is offline
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Hi.

This is indeed a great setup, but has some problematic issues, for exemple the water salinity drop cause by the rain, temperature losses, and feeding time.

Salinity losses:

If the tank do not stays under a cover, and if it rains the water salinity and pH will drop very fast, this problem will be only solved if someone stays 24/7 taking care of the tank... bye bye vacations...

Temperature Losses:

The 5 sides of the tank are in direct contact with the ar, this means that if is to could or to hot outside it will be very hard ($$$$) to keep the temp betwen 25ºC and 26ºC.

Feeding Time:

In this setup the water flows from the inside do the outside, this means that all the food you put in cames out very quicly , and will be remove by the skimmer.

Cleaning Time:

I think that algea will grow in bouth sides of the glass, that means you must have twice the hard work to remove them.

Final conclusion, this is a very nice and beautiful setup but very hard and expensive to keep.

Best Regards

Vitor Pestana
  #29  
Old 04/13/2007, 06:27 PM
vitor pestana vitor pestana is offline
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Hi.

I'm working on that part of the chiller cover now... baby steps.

I've seen that tank, it's a very nice ideia, but some issues trouble me, for exemple the feading time, cleaning the algeas from the glass, and the temperatures losses at night.

Regards

Vitor Pestana
  #30  
Old 04/13/2007, 06:50 PM
shouldabenacowboy shouldabenacowboy is offline
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very nice setup!

SBC
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  #31  
Old 04/13/2007, 07:09 PM
jacmyoung jacmyoung is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by vitor pestana
Hi.

I'm working on that part of the chiller cover now... baby steps.

I've seen that tank, it's a very nice ideia, but some issues trouble me, for exemple the feading time, cleaning the algeas from the glass, and the temperatures losses at night.

Regards

Vitor Pestana
They can be resolved simply by moving the tank indoor or in a green house. In fact the invisible edge tanks are sold in many stores here, I am sure in Europe too. The problems I have seen are, a very powerful pump is needed to create the smooth flow over all sides, and humidity indoor. It is by no means an energy saving setup compared to your in-ground tank.
  #32  
Old 04/13/2007, 07:34 PM
vitor pestana vitor pestana is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by jacmyoung
They can be resolved simply by moving the tank indoor or in a green house. In fact the invisible edge tanks are sold in many stores here, I am sure in Europe too. The problems I have seen are, a very powerful pump is needed to create the smooth flow over all sides, and humidity indoor. It is by no means an energy saving setup compared to your in-ground tank.
Hi jacmyoung!

I agree.

This setup works perfectly in a green house, in the open air is very complicated.

Note: If the tank stays indoor (shade) and does not receive direct sunlight the all purpose is lost.

All the best

Vitor Pestana
  #33  
Old 04/14/2007, 05:16 PM
Migas Migas is offline
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Hi Vitor,
First of all...thank you for cherring with us your ideas, thoughts and dedication to this hobbie and most of all, for showing that there´s no limits when we believe in something! It´s a very difficult project to reach sucess, but i think, with the dedication that you´ve showned, others will follow you.
Best of luck and keep posting...it has been a pleasure!

Miguel Gonçalves
  #34  
Old 04/14/2007, 08:30 PM
Je®vis Je®vis is offline
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Innovative... definitely out-of-the-norm... love it!
  #35  
Old 04/14/2007, 09:17 PM
wilson0204 wilson0204 is offline
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very very cool
  #36  
Old 04/14/2007, 10:12 PM
samson78945 samson78945 is offline
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wutta great idea!!! i love it
  #37  
Old 04/14/2007, 11:19 PM
tanya72806 tanya72806 is offline
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love it best of luck
  #38  
Old 04/14/2007, 11:23 PM
Carman34L Carman34L is offline
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I dont know about portugal, but here in Minnesota we get severe thunder storms frequently, that can have golfball upto baseball size hail. golf ball sized hail will shatter windshields in cars, Do you have a cover incase severe weather?


Great Idea, I do love it. very unique!
  #39  
Old 04/15/2007, 05:36 AM
Je®vis Je®vis is offline
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Those snails are definitely doing a great job
  #40  
Old 04/15/2007, 12:12 PM
oregonanenome oregonanenome is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by B.friend
That is awesome, Thats not going to be happening here in oregon but I wish. Good job for doing somthing new
B.Friend it could not happen in the W-valley but how about K-falls. You could regulate temps geothermally!

By the way vitor. I like it very much. How many liters evaporate per day?
  #41  
Old 04/15/2007, 05:18 PM
vitor pestana vitor pestana is offline
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Hello friends.

I'll try to anwser to each and every one.

Migas

Thank you for your kind words, they are inspiring.

Carman34L

In Portugal we could it "granizo" is very, very rare, and when it hapens it's only small balls, but if the weather turns bad i can allways put the night winter cover preventing some temperature loss, a piece of "Blue Roffmate" like this:



Je®vis

In my others reffs this kind of snails wore a little strange, some just comet suicide, the others toke to many time to adapt, i think the secret ingredient is the natural light cicle, they just miss the low tide efect.

oregonanenome

In this tank and in this time of year, it evaporate about 2 Liters per day.


And now the updat:

I did some work today, finish the calcium reactor pH controller calibration, now is working just fine:



Looking very closely i found some coraline algea growin... this tank has only about 1,5 month old:


Last edited by vitor pestana; 04/15/2007 at 06:05 PM.
  #42  
Old 04/15/2007, 05:19 PM
vitor pestana vitor pestana is offline
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A friend of my came by and left me these new residents:















  #43  
Old 04/15/2007, 05:20 PM
vitor pestana vitor pestana is offline
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Night Time:



The controllers painels are better seen at night:





All the best

Vitor Pestana

Last edited by vitor pestana; 04/15/2007 at 05:43 PM.
  #44  
Old 04/15/2007, 09:44 PM
heckel90 heckel90 is offline
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Vitor!! you think like me!!! We use sunlight.

it´hard to use sunlight but is posible. I have algae (a little) because I don´t have skimmer and my water is not RO.
I have an experimental system, smaller than yours, and diferent.
my system consist in a outdoor display and indoor surge device and sump.
the temperatures are fine all the time, even in summer, because my sump works like a regulator (is bigger than the display).
the link of the explanation of my system
http://www.clamsdirect.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2131

I have
2 Tridacna maxima
2 Montipora
1 sexy shrimp
live rock
no skimmer
no fish
parameters are fine

new pics 16.00PM




I´m not testing the sunlight (because I know it works), I´m proving if the rainwater is viable in a reef tank.
the next...is Acropora because is more dificult to maintain than Montipora.

Victor, your system is my goal...ok.
I enjoy your reef really.


martin
regards
  #45  
Old 04/15/2007, 09:57 PM
Kigs Kigs is offline
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great set up...love that night time shot. did you have to put on a fixture on top of the fuge for that? it's amazing to see all those corals in their natural colors
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  #46  
Old 04/15/2007, 10:36 PM
bogg bogg is offline
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Cool!, good job.
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  #47  
Old 04/16/2007, 02:04 AM
hawaiianwargod hawaiianwargod is offline
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Incredible!!!
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  #48  
Old 04/16/2007, 05:29 AM
kelvin88 kelvin88 is offline
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Wow, that's actually what I've been thinking to do, hey did you save a lot by doing this to your electric bills?
  #49  
Old 04/16/2007, 08:06 AM
vitor pestana vitor pestana is offline
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Hi friends.

I'll try to answer to each one:

kelvin88

I save about $70 USD each month, remember, i have 750 lt, if you use 2 watts per litre you will get about 1500Watts of power, the price of 1 Kwatt in Portugal is about 0,1011€:

8 hours X 1500 watts = 12Kwatts X 0,1011€ = 1,210€

12Kwatts x 30 days = 37€ ($50 USD)

THINK ABOUT THIS:

If you'll try to replicate the same ammount of light indoor that i receive in my outside pool the costs would be astronomical, not mentioning the cost of the lamps.

Now talking about the temperature, i made some changes this weekend in my setup, now i have a 2ºC diferential, this means that all the heat acumulated by day is preserved by night, this oscilates betewn 25ºC to 27ºC, in this time of year my temperature controller is in standby mode most of the time, the power consuption is very, very low.

kigs

This colours are the real thing, not the blue actinic fluorscent light that are used in a indoor tank.

heckel90

I like your espirit, it takes a lot of corage to take a step to the unknown like this.

Best Regards

Vitor Pestana
  #50  
Old 04/16/2007, 08:16 AM
Je®vis Je®vis is offline
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Nice SPS your friend left you with... good choice as the Monti Cap will look amazing from the top
 

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