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Update on 150gal w/chiller

Started by Guest_creekcrawler_* , Oct 13 2010 09:46 AM

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11 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_creekcrawler_*

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Posted 13 October 2010 - 09:46 AM

Well, been about a year since I set up the tank.
Everything is working nicely.
I can control temps easily by varying on/off times on the lobster tank chiller.
A thousand thanks to Newt for the lobster tank chiller suggestion!
Last winter, I had the tank down to 45 degrees and slowly brought up the temps in the spring.
This summer the tank was hovering around 60-62 degrees.
With fall moving in it's running @53 deg at night and warms up slightly during day time hours.
Condensation was only a problem with the AC off this summer and a bathroom shower nearby.
Occasionally the whole tank would fog up - kinda cool.
Here's a quick vid of feeding time-

Edited by creekcrawler, 13 October 2010 - 10:13 AM.

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#2 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 13 October 2010 - 03:31 PM

It's very dark in that aquarium. Are you thinking about adding more lights?

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#3 Guest_daveneely_*

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Posted 13 October 2010 - 04:38 PM

Very nice tank. I'm not sure more lights would add anything (well, at least when you're not trying to take video in the dark), other than extra heat that would make the chiller work more. Besides, a lot of headwater trout/dace/creek chub streams are heavily shaded...

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#4 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 13 October 2010 - 08:50 PM

I'm not sure more lights would add anything (well, at least when you're not trying to take video in the dark), other than extra heat that would make the chiller work more.

Suspended lights wouldn't add any heat. Something five or six inches off of the surface of the water wouldn't affect it at all.

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#5 Guest_creekcrawler_*

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Posted 14 October 2010 - 11:32 AM

I'm thinking like daveneely.
I had some brighter lights in there and it looked very unnatural!
I thought the same thing, most small, cold streams are heavily shaded.
That's why I put the huge stump near the surface, it creates some nicer "shadowed" areas.
It's really not quite as dark as it appears in my crummy video.
Doesn't do much for photography, though.
I even thought about adding some lights just so I could get some good shots one night. . . .

Edited by creekcrawler, 14 October 2010 - 11:35 AM.

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#6 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 14 October 2010 - 02:20 PM

I had some brighter lights in there and it looked very unnatural!
...I even thought about adding some lights just so I could get some good shots one night. . . .

There are a whole bunch of different kinds of light bulbs. An LED light is different from an actinic light is different from an incandescent bulb is different from a fluorescent strip light.

If you want a more natural look, buy "full spectrum" bulbs that are around 6500 K (that's the color temperature of sunlight). The unnatural looking bulbs you had were probably less than 6000 K. Here's a table (it's in the second section on the right, just scroll down a little) that explains temperature in K: http://en.wikipedia....lor_temperature
So you can see from that table that different color temperatures give different levels of light. If you choose your light wisely then it can look very natural indeed.

Examples: Look at the different lighting effects used in the biotype aquarium entries of the Aquatic Gardeners's Association 2009 entries: http://showcase.aqua...tegory=1&vol=-1
This one looks yellow: http://showcase.aqua...=1&vol=-1&id=29
This one looks white: http://showcase.aqua...=1&vol=-1&id=33
The one is a blend: http://showcase.aqua...1&vol=-1&id=158
You can control your lighting to get exactly the effect you want. ^_^

Edit: Addition: Oooh, I really like this one: http://showcase.aqua...=1&vol=-1&id=65

Edited by EricaWieser, 14 October 2010 - 02:24 PM.

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#7 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 14 October 2010 - 07:38 PM

Erica, Have you ever visited a southern Appalachian brook trout stream? Most of them are so heavily shaded with rhododendron that very little light penetrates to the water at all. Most areas are so densely covered that you cannot stand upright, and during broad daylight, if you are fishing, it is nearly impossible to even see your dry fly floating on the surface. Then you crawl to the next pool, reach your fly rod out, and drop your fly into the water, because casting is impossible. IMO, these fish are actually in optimum conditions as far as lighting goes, and would likely be less comfortable in a more brightly lit aquarium.
Creekcrawler, I am green with envy! If this were my tank, I would probably have to dig out the little 2 weight rod, and cast to it a time or two. Barbless of course. :biggrin:

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#8 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 14 October 2010 - 08:02 PM

Erica, Have you ever visited a southern Appalachian brook trout stream?

No, I haven't, that's true.
You can do whatever you want with your tank, creekcrawler. I was just trying to be helpful.

Edited by EricaWieser, 14 October 2010 - 08:03 PM.

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#9 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 14 October 2010 - 09:42 PM

My granddad was an East Tennessee boy, and he called those streamside laurel-rhododendron-hemlock thickets "green hells". The reason isn't obvious until you have to fight your way through one.

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#10 Guest_creekcrawler_*

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Posted 15 October 2010 - 10:40 AM

Thanks for the ideas Erica!
The tank isn't quite as dark as it appears in the video.
There are many shadowed areas, but there are some brighter, "sunnier" areas too.

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#11 Guest_daveneely_*

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Posted 15 October 2010 - 12:01 PM

I electrofished some first-order streams in "laurel breaks" here in east Tennessee last summer; the attached pic shows just how dark they can be under the canopy, even on a bright, sunny day. Site was only 8 km from a road, but the last 2 km were thick - spent almost a whole day hacking a trail to the site with a machete, and then had to hack upstream as we sampled... fun times.