Coral farm outside...Am I Insaned?

[scubadude]

Well after months of thinking about this, and now being in a position to possibly put dreams into reality, I am seriously thinking about putting a greenhouse in my backyard and start building glass aquariums and a coral farm. I am thinking of starting with a greenhouse of 800-1000 sq. ft. There are a 3 main things that concern me, which I would like everyones opinions and suggestions on.

1. The whole setup of equipment which Im sure I will start out small and grow into the size I want to....But I was thinking along the lines of have 8 tanks all of them approximately 200gals (frag tanks) each and one tank around 400gal + (or should this be two tanks as well? .. serving as a colony tank s ) And then having a couple of huge vats one serving as a refugium/mudbed (for all the systems) and the other serving as a clam pond....I am still undecided on the size of these vats. The type of greenhouse sheeting will be of two different layers of a plastic UV protective with air circulation/venting in between each layers for insulating and will for the most part be DIY With at least 2 - 4000 CFM fans and vents at the other end of course. I am thinking of possible mobile indoor air conditioning units such or possibly mist air cooling (like for orchids...thoughts on this?) I Have even thought of doing the majority of the plumbing underground to act as a cooling factor from the Hot florida sun. I am also planning on making mass quantities of DIY LR ...possibly for sale....aquacultured, but much more porous then the types out right now.

2. Cost on everything will definately be relative to how involved I will be. My goal directions are from the heart and NOT from my wallet, HOWEVER I will need some type of supplemental income for the said operation to be successful. I am also looking into getting some type of grant for sacrophyton, as I may have a tank or two setup for these species as it has been very resourceful in possibly finding cancer treating medication, as well as other corals. Selling frags of all species that I grow...Yes I am gonna try it all...Softies, LPS, SPS and clams. Please also realize that my intentions are to make the majority of this greenhouse to be aquacultured species, with low/no impact on our reefs.

3. HEAT!! as mentioned above I believe this will be my biggest obstacle. I am in S. Florida which will give great light intensity maybe too much (causing heat...Im not worried about UV etc)? All orchid growers/coral farmers or anyone feeling they have knowledge to assist me in my endeavor I would greatly appreciate it.

Rocky

[ January 21, 2002: Message edited by: scubadude ]</p>

 

[MandarinFish]

Use fans, of course. Keep air flowing.

Maybe chillers?

I'll buy from you.

 

[danmhippo]

Is your property closeby the beach? If yes, and you can run a line from the beach, your heat problem is solved. Other wise you will want to invest in a swamp cooler.

Another potential problem I see is hurricanes. If the operation is out door (not greenhouse type), you will have salinity and wind damage to think about. If it's indoor, you are set, but you will have cost factor to think about too.

 

[SteveP]

Well, being outside you'll save a ton of money on lighting, but be prepared to deal with a TON of algae. Also, I'd be reluctant to plumb all of the tanks on one system. Just in case something goes wrong with water quality, infestations, infections, etc. you won't have everything at risk.

Oh, and speaking of risks, how often are you hit by hurricanes in your part of Fla?

Steve
8{I

 

[newreefman1]

Pick up Anthony calfos book on coral proagation if you havent already. He has or had a greenhouse outside of pittsburgh and addresses all the answers you need.

Im still working on the prop system in my garage. All in all about 3k worth of water volume. It gets more expensive then you will realize but its still be fun planning it all out.

The name of the book is The Book Of Coral Propagation .....Not expensive. 1 ed.

J

 

[scubadude]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by newreefman1:
<strong>Pick up Anthony calfos book on coral proagation if you havent already.
J</strong><hr></blockquote>

Yes...I have read this book and it has great tips!

 

[MandarinFish]

Hurricanes is a very crucial consideration.

They wiped out C-Quest.

 

[Anonymous]

I have similar ideas, but am not ready to build the setup until I move. I have looked at the ground temperature, where I will do my set up and found that down 4' it is a steady 54 degrees F. I intend to bury several hundred feet of black tubing (this is also done on water based heat pumps) and then run it through a heat exchanger to cool my tanks. I don't know what South Florida soil temps run but they may be low enough to help.

 

[danmhippo]

OMG, I am jealous! Looked like a project I would like to tackle one day too!

Great work! Let me know when you have things in operation/production. I will buy the captive breds from you too!

 

[Anonymous]

Awesome! Nice to see dreams becoming reality.

If you decide to use any kind of shading cloth- keep in mind that it should be suspended above the exterior of the greenhouse by a foot or so, and not laying directly on it. I see a lot of pictures of greenhouses with the shading done that way, but it can actually trap more heat if right on the glass.

 

[jamesw]

Holy smokes!!!!!

Scubadude, you take the award for "dedication to detail." Bravo.

How fast do you circulate the water in your underground heat exchanger? How many GPH approximately?

Cheers
James Wiseman

 

[Anonymous]

Scubadude- You are the man.

I live if Fort Myers and would love to come vist your setup once it is up and running.

Good luck!

Louey

 

[sfla_pb]

Scubadude, Hope it turns out great for you. What about winter? I live on the east coast across from you and the wind and couple of days of cold in the winter might be to much for thin wall milar. What can you do, heat each tank separate or will your underground pipe be enough? We get a lot of storms too. Just asking because seems like a cool idea in a much smaller (Sq.ft.) scale for me. I live on lake system and thought of liquid cooling with fresh water (just like yours but run out into water) to keep temp down. I know someone that cools his house ac compressor unit this way. BTW hippo, swamp coolers do not work well in south florida, to much humidity. If you misted wouldn't you have to use ro/di water? Please keep us up to date of your triumps and problems so we all learn. Wouldn't mushrooms be a fast money maker to help with costs? Good Luck. I happy to see not everyone just dreams.(I dream)
Habor Branch Oceanographic Institute, in Ft. Pierce Fl. grows all kinds of marine fish and inverts. They might be able to help. This quote is from their site. "The 60-acre Aquaculture Development Park is an incubator for new businesses that are testing concepts and developing pilot-scale facilities. The Park provides opportunities to develop new aquaculture technologies; collaborate with a broad variety of private sector & commercial partners; and receive training in a wide range of aquaculture disciplines."
HBOI home page

 

[scubadude]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by cwa46:
<strong>I don't know what South Florida soil temps run but they may be low enough to help.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Thanx cwa

I used this concept! I have 300 linnear ft. of 4" thinwall pvc 5' underground that the tan water pumps through. the tank is a 200g. I will have two of these systems to start and may plumb 100g rubbermaids to them as refugiums heres some pics of where im at now.

So far the temp outside has been 92 and the tank hasnt gone over 80 and I still havent turned on my fans for the greehouse

 

[scubadude]

Thanx everyone for kind words and ideas! I have considered alot of issues that I will be dealing with this GH (greenhouse). I have been over to Harbor Branch and I LOVE THE PLACE what can I say! ORA is the branch that is handling the coral and marine fish culturing there, and there is alot of closed doors to that place but what I was able to see was very impressive.

Hurricanes is definately an issue! but what can you do? Im not gonna stand here and tell you that this GH will withstand hurricane winds/pressure cuz it probably wont but I did build it to withstand quite a bit of wind/pressure. The top needs to be replaced every 1-2 yrs (its cheap only about 60bux. I still have enough to do the top once this one wears out. The anchoring to this GH is 12 - 6' post cemented into the ground 3', I also have installed wind braces on the frame.

The two fans in the GH are bought from HD they are 4500 RPM variable speed fans, I will be hooking up some thermostats to them, each fan cost me $112 (around that)

I do live very close to the beach, when I was digging for the radiator underground the water level seemed to be about 4-5' and if you dig that deep and wait more than an hour all your walls will start caving in and turn into mud because of the water table where im at.

DanConnor
Thanx for that tip on the shadecloth, my plans are to just put small sections about 2-3' above the tanks (inside the GH)? what do you think about that? I know that it would cool the GH much more if I put it over the whole GH but that would be very tedious

James
Im not sure bout the GPH but my buddy who is a professional plumber (seen in one of the pics above) said that the only part thats actually have head on this system is the part above the intake of the tank which is very little he said something like 4-6' of head I believe. I wouldnt be surprised if im getting 2500-2800 GPH.

Louie
No Problem, just give me a couple mos. to get in order and then email me

Im gonna be working on some Surge devices (probably RCSD's) and I will be also building my own Beckett skimmers and some CA reacs.

Check these temps out, now bear in mind this was middle of the day, and Im not sure this is even close to accurate but this thermometer is saying its 116 F outside and 78 F in my tank

 

[Anonymous]

wow!!

scubadude, you have a great thing going! that's something i could only wish for in dreams... *sigh* my mom lives in florida - maybe (one of these years) i could come see your project on my next visit to florida.

 

[esmithiii]

Scubadude- can you give us an update? Do you plan on any supplimental lighting?

Ernie

 

[Anonymous]

Ernie,

I don't think scubadude has time to frequent this board anymore. He does still update his original post over at reefland. I visited his greenhouse a few months ago and must say it is impressive. What is also impressive is the 300G reef he has inside his house. It is tricked out to the max. Chiller mounted outside and plumbed though the wall, closed loop feeding couple of seaswirls, kalkreator, refugium, double ended HQI's,a and just about any think else you can think of. He cultures his own plankton as well.

When I was there was just after he was getting the system clear of hair algea. He was not yet stocking any frags in the greenhouse tanks.

He is a true reef fanatic!

Here's a link to the reefland thread: http://209.151.83.92/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6763&highlight=greenhouse