IS SUNLIGHT BAD? maybe a stupid ?
- Thread starter EXOTICAQUATIX
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remember there are no stupid questions, the only one that may be are the ones that you don't ask ... or something like that No Sunlight is not bad at all, in fact it is good and it is also what shines on the coral reefs all day long from morning till evening, right ? So what we all try to do is emulate that light as best as we can with the resources available to us and currently one of the better methods that we have is advanced LED lighting but depending on the type of corals in the tank using T5's or T5HO's mixed with actinics or not, and Metal Halides are other options.
The more sunlight the better ... in fact when the sun shines on your tank you should notice that your corals all "perk up"
FWIW
+1 for sure, Sunlight is great and will make corals perk up and your point on possible algal growth is not the sun but the result of real good light (sun) and excess nitrates and phosphates in the water ... FWIW ...
The reason for that was that because hobbyists had too high levels of nutrients in their tanks they wanted to avoid sunlight because it made algae grow real fast but with low nutrients that should not be the case (I cover that in my new book btw) so as long as your nitrates and phosphates are low the sunlight should not cause any algae growth. But low means undetectable even on low range test kits of course. FWIW
Sunlight coming through windows should not heat your tank's water up unless the window is open of course and the tank is right where the open window is. Not sure where yours is and how far from the window but if it is several feet away the sunlight should not be heating up your tank IMO.
Please see my other responses ... even if it did heat up the tank a little it should not affect anything as the rise will be slow and small. Can be more specific about what you mean by temp regulation maybe ... thanks
OurReef
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I've read that book front to back several times. I plan on using it as a guide when I build my own tank and subsequent frag and Refugiums. Going for a 500g mixed reef and a 75g "nano" tank. With over 1000g total water volume.
Wow that is quite a system ... is that for a store or personal ... 1000 gallons ?
o2manyfish
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ExoticAquatix, I use a geo thermal chiller in the summer time. Basically its a 400g tank buried in the ground. A motorized ball valve flows water through the underground tank using gravity. Keeps everything cool and stable.
In the winter time I have been using 4 800w titanium aquarium heaters. But they have a really short life span and at least one a winter dies. So this past summer I invested in a 5000w 220v Titanium Immersion heater. It's only running at 110v cause the freeze weather got here sooner than I planned. But even running at 110v (1250w) its keeping things stable the past couple of weeks.
I evaporate a lot of water 15-20g on a rainy day, and 50g+ on a hot summer day. I top off with all RO Kalk water. I do a 200g water change about every 3-4 months using tap water.
Take a look at the display tank, live webcam (74.62.193.110) lights are on from 5pm to midnight PST.
Dave B
In the winter time I have been using 4 800w titanium aquarium heaters. But they have a really short life span and at least one a winter dies. So this past summer I invested in a 5000w 220v Titanium Immersion heater. It's only running at 110v cause the freeze weather got here sooner than I planned. But even running at 110v (1250w) its keeping things stable the past couple of weeks.
I evaporate a lot of water 15-20g on a rainy day, and 50g+ on a hot summer day. I top off with all RO Kalk water. I do a 200g water change about every 3-4 months using tap water.
Take a look at the display tank, live webcam (74.62.193.110) lights are on from 5pm to midnight PST.
Dave B
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EXOTICAQUATIX
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man that is too cool!!!!!
Very interesting indeed ... wonder why those heaters give up on you so soon though. Any thoughts on why that would be? Any pics as I can't seem to link to the cam
OurReef
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Personal, with potential income from frags.
Good luck with it and keep us posted and yes if it is that large you should be able to grow some SPS and LPS corals and frag them and sell them, and if conditions are right you can get fish to breed and set up a grow out station using maybe a Kreisel type set up to raise the fry.
All the best with it
mcarroll
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I've never been impressed with the quality of any of the generally available titanium heaters, but this is even worse than my own experience. I'd take a raft of old-school (glass) Visitherms by preference any day....I can't seem to kill them (with due care given) and they have a lifetime warranty.
It'll be interesting to hear if there's any better luck with this 220v heater.
-Matt
Yes indeed it seems that even the more expensive heaters are not reliable, and often "stick", and are not accurate either and are always a degree or two, or more sometimes off the setting one selects for some reason. Guess lab quality ones are better but then a lot more expensive.I've never been impressed with the quality of any of the generally available titanium heaters, but this is even worse than my own experience. I'd take a raft of old-school (glass) Visitherms by preference any day....I can't seem to kill them (with due care given) and they have a lifetime warranty.
It'll be interesting to hear if there's any better luck with this 220v heater.
-Matt
