lighting with natural sun light

crashedin0

crashedin0

Member
the only problem i see is that the sun would only be over the tank for 4 or so hours when its directly over the house bad morning and night
but lights you can control how you want !
 
tormented

tormented

Member
Ive started lifting the curtains from the window my tank is near and the effect gives lots of extra light without the direct hit causing heat. For most of the day they get lots of light, which is great since im low on my wattage.
 
qreef

qreef

Member
Originally Posted by crashedin0
the only problem i see is that the sun would only be over the tank for 4 or so hours when its directly over the house bad morning and night
but lights you can control how you want !

This Solatube light collects the sun from dawn to dust if your house clear from tall object thats not blocking the sun (Trees or taller house next to your house).
 
lonestar

lonestar

Member
I agree with qreef. I built my house facing north and the tank is on the south side of the house thus making it to where I get no shadows from the roofline all day. Actually, there is light for a longer period of time 6am-7pm. Of coarse it is stronger near noon. I think I have a pic of my tank at about 11am a month or so ago with no water.
Jeremy
 
lonestar

lonestar

Member
As you can see from the pic above, the sun is a bit to the east which makes more light on the west side (right side in pic). As the sun moves across, the light also changes angles but always is 100% over the tank.
Jeremy
 
qreef

qreef

Member
Originally Posted by LoneStar
As you can see from the pic above, the sun is a bit to the east which makes more light on the west side (right side in pic). As the sun moves across, the light also changes angles but always is 100% over the tank.
Jeremy
Jeremy,
May I ask how much it cost just for the sola tube only and how many tube you have over that tank? Tanks Size?
 
lonestar

lonestar

Member
Tank is 898 gallons. 4 each 21" tubes. I think the cost was about $4,000. I think I am close on the cost but I bought them before I began construction on the house so my memory is fuzzy.
Jeremy
 
lonestar

lonestar

Member
By the way, the cost was a little higher because I bought special domes which blocked no UV. If you go normal domes, it is cheaper.
Jeremy
 
lonestar

lonestar

Member
Thank You. I will post some pics. As with all new tanks, they seems to get uglier before it gets pretty.
Jeremy
 
ameno

ameno

Active Member
That is a nice looking tank Jeremy. I would love to build mine in the wall like that when we add a room. The 80 gal is my learning tank so I'll know more of what to do when I go bigger, but theres know way I can get one that big my wife cringes when I mention 500gal. but maybe I'll have her talked into it when the time comes. The lights I saw at lowes were 14" dia. for $150 each. Don't know if thats gona be big enough or not, still researching. I'm thinking one that size for the 80 gal would be enough.
 
lonestar

lonestar

Member
I am not really sure how to size the lights. I am hoping I have enough light but only time will tell. The light appears to be intense to the eye. To get the most intense light, the tubes need to extend down as fas as possible. The farther it extends down, of coarse, the tighter the light beam. You are fortunate to be working with a hex as I think you will not require as many tubes as a long tank does. I would try to get the biggest tube u can, keeping in mind the rafter spacing (if uou do not want to modify the roof).
Easiest way to talk your wife into a new large tank...build her a new house.
Jeremy
 
ameno

ameno

Active Member
Good point on the rafter spacing. on the addition I used 24" centers but the old part of the house has 16" centers. So I might run into problems there. And that is how I'm gona get a bigger tank, I'm not building her a new house but totally redoing the old house. So I shouldn't have a problem getting my big tank. Just have to spend an extra 100k inorder to get it. I'm hoping to find someone here locally that has one of these lights, I would like to see just how much light it brings in, from what I understand it filters in and actually chanels the light through the tube. which means it does not have to go through the roof directly over the area it's coming in the house. But I'm not 100% sure on that.
 
lonestar

lonestar

Member
Most companies that sell the tubes offer bends so that you can channel down the light. I elected to go as straight as possible so that I have the full potential of light. Sometimes this is not possible (specially on a remodel). I think you will be surprised on the light spectrum. I expected alot more yellow. Keep me posted on your progress.
Jeremy
 
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