Budget Greenhouse Project

[hamburglar]

Thanks again guys for the encouragement. Like Justin74 brought up….I sure how this all works out. It would be embarrassing to admit defeat on the thread That is why I waited a little while before starting the thread. I wanted to make sure the tank would spin, and the surge tanks would work.

Time for an update. I have just finished filling the system with RO/DI water. I also added 250lbs of Southdown Sand to the top tank. I will add the salt and fire up the MAG7 this week. It's probably time for me to order some snails and crabs. I just know I'm going to get some algae growth early on. I will try to get some test corals in the system a few days after adding the salt. Probably some cheap stuff like star polyp, xenia, and mushrooms.








Here is a little trick for getting rid of a "southdown cloud". Just add a powerhead with a DIY filter made of filter floss and a 20oz bottle. You should have clear water within 24-48 hours.





Here is some more detail of the lower plumbing. Like I said earlier... The top tank has a 1 1/2 inch drain pipe. The pipe is in the center of the round pool, so it just spins around. This spinning pipe slips into a 3 inch pipe coming up from the bottom of the lower "sump" pool. There is about 6 inches overlap. An output tube ensures constant water rotation in the lower pool. This is important since a heater (or 2 or 3) will be placed down there.





Just a reminder....we are on real-time now. This thread will be updated as I get steps finished. Next picture update will probably have some corals!

[Tras]

Can't wait to see more!

[Justin74]

Are you not concerned about proper mixing of salt?Not being a pro myslef, but came up with some flags at your process in my head.First the salt being fed after the sand is in.I know in displays you need to pre mix to get more of a "dynamic" result w'proper PH.Wondering how long the salt will need to be in the system before it properly mixes with the sandbed as opposed to having freshwater pockets in the DSB? Also arent you concerned that the system would need to cure before housing any "easy"corals?It sounds as if you know something that Im obviously not aware of.Do tell

-Justin

[hamburglar]

Justin,

You read my mind I had that very same though the instant I dumped the first bag of sand in the tank. I had that, "I hope this is not a stupid mistake" thought running through my mind.

Well, I went ahead and dumped all 5 bags in I will add the salt a little at a time and see what happens. I plan on running the system with salt for a few days before adding test corals (possible victims) to it. I will keep the hydrometer out there, and probably test the water a couple times per day. I can always add a little bit of salt at a time, as the salt migrates into the sandbed. The sandbed is only about 3-4 inches deep.

Now in a home reeftank, I would wrap it up in black trashbags for a couple of months while the bacteria grow and the system cures. In this situation, I will probably just have to fight it for a few months. I am fully aware that I am going to grow funk in all colors of the rainbow. I will just have to get a massive cleanup crew to fight it off. I might even add some "easy to remove algae's" for nutrient export.

[Justin74]

-Justin

[alatza]

Man, you inspired me. I will try to design a small greenhouse for coral prop too.
I think everything will be ok in your system, you are doing a great job.
Conglaturations!!!

[H20ENG]

Nice work, burglar
You are correct that you will get good water motion in a circular tank.
So the tubs dont spin all the time, right? Just when you need to reach the other side? I think people are under the impression that the tanks rotate constantly.
Great use of space!
I designed a similar large surge system before for a large (4'dia x 6' high) half cylinder display full of kelp. The water normally came in along one side behind the rockwork, forcing the kelp to one side of the display. Every few minutes about 300 gallons would dump in through a 6" pneumatic valve and pipe on the opposite side of the tank, sending the kelp fronds across the display. As the surge died off, the current from the return would slowly return the kelp to the other side. Fun stuff

[coralfarm'n]

looks cool!

[JuniusX]

hamburglar, I assume you know who this is. Anyways, just had to get me an account so I could follow along with your project. It is looking real good!

[Randall_James]

[welcome]
JuniusX

Hey can we go swimming while you are waiting for stock?

[hamburglar]

Dropped in some test corals today. 13 Tan Xenia, 5 star polop, 2 zoo's, and 1 White Xenia. I also added a couple scoops of sand from my indoor system. If the corals are still alive next week I will drop in some more.

I also added 3 heaping handfulls of whatever branching algae species I have in my frag tank. I figure I have some nutrients in the system that could be exported with this algae.

Just so everyone knows what page I'm on......I have been skimmerless in my indoor system for about 3 years. I grow some branching algae in my smaller frag tank, and manually remove some of it every now and then. I don't even know what type it is. I bought it for my yellow tang, but he ain't interested. I would like to go skimmerless on the greenhouse system as well. but, I am keeping an open mind about it. If I feel like a skimmer would be benificial, I will certainly add one.

[hamburglar]

Update time:

First, here is a pic of the pool.



Sorry the picturs is hard to see. I will probably have to setup a small glass tank for coral pictures. There is just a lot of current and light to contend with.

The pool now contains the following species:

tan xenia, white xenia, orange mouth button polyps, green star polyps, yellow polyps, watermelon mushrooms, metallic green hairy mushrooms (i expect sky blue tips soon since they did that under halides), orange montipora, green montipora, green acro, and tri-color acro.

My local weather has been rather warm lately. We have been getting mid 80's on cloudy days and mid 90's on sunny days. Nights have dropped down into the upper 70's at the lowest. Humidity has been freak'n nasty high!

The system temperature is swinging from about 77-85 from night to sunny days. On cloudy days the system has been swinging from about 77-82. I am happy with the temperatures so far because I do not expect to see many hotter days than we are having right now.

I used right at 20 Kilowatt hours the first week of operation. This is about 2.86 KWH per day. That is costing me only 29 cent per day (yes I am getting raped at 10 cent per KWA) The winter should be interesting when I cut on the electric heaters I'm keeping a log on electricity usage, so I will share that information.

I am getting some diatoms, but they are totally expected. I have been supprised however, that I have not had anything else blooming yet. I hope I didn't just jinx myself Snails and crabs are coming in the mail tomorrow anyway.

[sales weasel]

Great report. I look forward to reading more. I think most people would be rather happy about $0.29/day in electricity to operate a greenhouse. Good luck!!

[alatza]

Really cool! Yesterday I was thinking: "Where is that guy and his greenhouse?". Man, keep us informed about your experiment, I am learning a lot!
Great job!!!
I agree, skimmer could not be necessary. Some organic compound will be good for some corals, like Xenia.
What about light? Do you think the system is absorbing enough for good growth rate?

[hamburglar]

I'm not sure about the light levels just yet. Everything I have put into the tank is still alive. I guess that is a good sign I do have a 30% shade cloth over the entire greenhouse.

The problem is that everything is still in that adjustment period. I will report the first signs of new growth as soon as I spot them. I am really curious about the motipora and acropora that I added. They have been slow-growers under my PC lighting indoors. I hope they grow faster and maintain good colors.

[cwbroden]

Wow.... looking good. Keep the updates coming.

[yellowtruck75]

^

[hamburglar]

Week 2 power usage was about 19 KWH, or an average of 2.43 KWH per day.

I had a couple of really hot days where water temps rose to 87 and some change. I started making RO/DI ice chunks in my garage freezer, so that I can drop some in, in case of emergency. I should be able to keep a good stockpile of the "whip cream container" ice chunks.

I might add a second 30% shade cloth to help control day-time heat, but I am not convinced just yet. Those hot days were mid 90's with full sun non-stop. If it gets any hotter I'll move up north

Corals are all doing great except for one bleached Green Acropora. It was a dieing piece anyway. I tried to save a small frag of it from my indoor tanks. The indoor portion also died, so I think it was on it's way out.

Today, I added lots of loose mushrooms from my indoor tanks substrate. I put frag rocks in a plastic container, and then poured the loose mushrooms onto the frag rocks. I also made a test cut of a nice green leather. I also have 2 other species of leathers waiting for test cuts.

[hamburglar]

I just dug my old "upgraded" CPR SR2 (sump style bakpak skimmer) to the sump. It is driven by a Maxi Jet 1200. I checked the power useage and it is using only 16 Watts.

I will run the skimmer for a little while because I want to cut a bunch of leather frags.

I also want to modify my surge tanks today. They operate by one of those black ball floats, pulling up a toilet flapper. Long story short....the ball keeps dropping into a strange position that does not allow the flapper to close back. I keep having to free up the balls almost daily. I love the surge tanks, and the current is super sweet! I just need to make them more "hands-off".

[H20ENG]

Maybe use a piece of rod, rather than the plastic chain?

[X88&94GT]

just taggin along looks nice!!

[SaveOurReefs]

I want to know about if your going to use a skimmer or not, and how the corals are doing, awsome idea man, looking good, keep us updated on those pics.

[hamburglar]

Still not sure if the skimmer is going to be used long term. I plan on raising mostly soft corals, and just a little bit of SPS. I have had better luck with soft corals by going skimmerless and exporting nutrients with branching algea's.

The CPR SR2 skimmer is WAY undersized for this system, but some skimming is better than no skimming. I am mostly interested in running it because of the leather cutting that is taking place.

I think in a larger greenhouse I would seperate SPS from soft corals. I would probably use large DIY skimmers on the SPS systems, and planted lagoon tanks for the soft corals. The lagoons would also be great for pods, snails, and shrimp breeding

I will try to do a picture update this weekend.

[JuniusX]

Looking good hamburglar... ( :

Randall_James > Thanks for the welcome!

[yellowtruck75]

hamburglar:
Does the little swimming pool rotate on its own or only when you want to reach the back? Would a small motor to spin the pool help with flow and heat transfer?