newaqua Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Hi Everyone. I like the fact that the 'aqua' hobby is a DIY hobby, hence I would like to start a discussion on Sun Light. I am currently finding as much info as I can about marine tanks, I will (this time next year) be setting one up. I plan to do it properly the first time, and hopefully not run into to many issues, hopefully around 1000L or so. By planning it, I am hoping to be able to deal with the main running costs (heating & lighting) before I begin. As far as heating goes, I have a solar heat exchange system sorted, that a friend (who installs solar heating) has helped me with. Lighting on the other hand is a different story... I have found many discussions on the internet with regard to Sun Light. However, they all seem to say its bad for the tank, rather than good. Ideas such as, the light intensity can burn the fish, its to variant over the seasons etc etc. I was thinking of installing a unit that directs light from the roof, (http://www.google.co.nz/images?um=1&hl= ... =&aql=&oq=) through an opening, and 'funnelling it to the tank'. Using this system, we would also run into the issue of variations in the light throughout the seasons. To try to ammend this issue, normal marine aquarium lights could be installed, to try to smooth out the fluctuations in light. Could this work? Obviously the idea is to use the light from the roof, and 'send' it to the tank. What are your thoughts? As I say this is just an idea, and I would be greatful for people to let me know their thoughts on it, or any other systems they have designed to make use of the light from the roof. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 good topic i had an outside rockpool that had partial shade and had no issues with it maybe different with tropicals as they may have higher light levels in their natural habitat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 its a thing well worth researching more, ive seen a tank online which was lighted using solar tubes and additional 400w metal halides (it was a large tank) as for sunlight hurting fish well i find that hard to believe as all fish in the wild are directly exposed to it (note as long is your tank is deep enough that shouldn't be a problem) glass will also cut a lot of the harmful uv rays as for mild seasonal variation and the odd rainy day this could be a good thing depending on your goals with the tank as southern encounter aquarium installed a system that made the lights brightness mimic the sunlight outdoors so on a rainy day it was dimmer etc they found this encouraged certain fish to breed ( im sure someone else could tell you a bit more about this as there are some people that have worked there on this forum. the only problems i see with using natural light are that its probably not going to be enough light you will need some form of additional lights for coral growth especially in winter and perhaps actinic lighting as well perhaps a solution could be led spotlights with narrow lenses directed at individual corals(will also help with the colour) heat even though you will have a large tank which will maintain a more stable heat , the sunlight in summer; when air temp is up around 30 may cause the tank to overheat also it may not be that attractive to look at(subjective issue) . many people light the light to have a blue hue to it on a marine tank as this tends to make the colours pop im talking colour temperature of 14000k to 20000k where sunlight is 2500k at sunset to 8000k at noon on a clear day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Keep looking, there are a number of people using solar tubes to light tanks. No one I know in NZ is doing it yet, but the Aussie marine forum has a few guys that are doing it. Some use filter to change the colour temp of the light, other use supplemental lighting like actinics. More interested in your heat exchange? Most issue with marine tanks are cooling rather than heating, also about the only metal you can use in contact with the saltwater is titanium (this is whats used in chillers). I'd be interested to know how your going to run your system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newaqua Posted March 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Hey Guys, sorry, I should have been a bit more clear, the tank will be tropical marine, and Im in Christchurch, so as far as heating goes, i will have more issues with keeping it warmer, than cooler, from what I can tell. The solar heating guys reckon to make a basic heat exchanger for a system like this to... Get a barrel, or small water holding tank, not clear, to stop algae etc. Inside this, you run thin walled, plastic piping, a reasonable length, with one end the return to the tank, and run the other to the ouput of a pump running in the aquarium, so no water is going into the barrel (from the aquarium) just passing through the tank. Then... The barrel, or small water holding tank, is filled with water from the solar unit, between the solar unit and the barrel is a thermostat, either electrical or manual, which will control the temperature inside the barrel, if it gets to cold, hotter water is allowed in from the solar unit. The excess water from this tank can be recycled back into the solar system. This is the basic way of explaining it, but I think it gets the message accross. It obviously depends on the length of pipe in the barrel and the aquarium temp, solar temp and external temp as to how efficent the setup would be. Awesome to see the replies above on lighting. As I said earlier, the more ideas the better! Thanks, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Even in Chc I think you'll find that cooling is still more of an issue than heating. Even getting bit's from a friend I'd be really surprised if your heat exchange would be more efficient or cheaper than putting in a heater. Pumping the water from your tank to the heat exchange lone is likely to cost you more than running the heater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newaqua Posted March 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Thanks for the reply. I think that in the long run, (over 2 or 3 years) the heat echanger will most definatley be cost efficient. The size of the tank I'm looking at is at least 1000L. So its going to require alot of modifications in the roof (for light - at this stage) and the exchange unit will be right beside the tank. Having a tank this large is a commitment, hence i'm not worried about modifiying the house (we built it for a start!). I have a 200W heater, and It just keeps up with a 220L tank. Hence I'm going to need at least 1Kw of heating, this is a heap! Hence over the long run, a pump should be cheaper. Also with my current tank at 220L, i experience a 2 degree increase in the hotest summer days. Hence, a larger body of water, should take longer to heat up due to the weather in the summer, so I'm not to worried about cooling at this stage. What do you think? Thanks for your thoughts, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 in summer 2 300w heaters moved my 3.000l tank up 2 degrees over an 8 hr period passing the water through 30m of 25mm black alkathene pipe coiled on the top of tank increased temp by 12c in the same period Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newaqua Posted March 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Yea, using sunlight for heat will work, (more in summer at least), thats the idea of having a 'holding barrel' in which the temperature is stable. It could work much like a hot water system does in your house, letting hot water enter (from the solar) when its to cold, and letting cold water enter (from mains) when its too hot. Hence, trying to keep the 'holding barrel' at the same temperature, should help to keep the tank at the same temperature. The idea of the holding barrel is to try to protect against the fluctuations in temperature, where here in Canterbruy, are massive from winter to summer. All of my friends who have larger tanks 500L+, dont seem to have issues with over heating in the summer, if anything the larger the tank, they seem to get less temperature fluctuations. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 The difference with marine over fresh water in terms of heating is the amount of pumps (generating heat) and light that you have on/in the tank. On a fresh water tank of the size your talking about you have maybe a 11w cannister filter and ~80watt of lighting. Or about 0.4w of heat producing equipment per liter. On my marine which is similar to the size your looking at I have over 200w of pumps (water movement, return, skimmer, etc) and about 1000w of light, or 1.2w per liter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newaqua Posted March 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 Yea, thats one aspect (the amount of gear heat) that I had not considered. However with using natural sunlight, (from what I have read) (and even if its going to be possible) the heat should be less. However, using the heat exchanger that they have explained to me, it should be able to cool it somewhat aswell, (as it can add cooler water into the exchanger, instead of cold (if need be)). Also, on the lighting note, has anyone had anymore ideas/thoughts on using natural lighting? Thanks Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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