My Greenhouse FARM In the making!

[scubadude]

Originally posted by vtec si
What is your ultimate goal with thw coral/frag farm? Are you going to be a supplier for LFS? Are you going to sell any from a/your web site?

Hey Vtec
My ultimate goal is to have fun! As far as supplying to LFS's yes Im already doing that, but its no biggie (Im not doing it on a massive level) a bunch of hobbyist do this already, I sell them my softies that I need to liquidate for crowd control anyway. Yes I am selling to individuals at the moment I doubt I will become any big time wholesale outlet anytime soon....My main interest lies in quality not quantity so I market the retail industry NOT the wholesale.

Originally posted by qwuintus
Scuba dude, do u have problems with the weather, I have a tank outside and I have to insulate it. Does the greenhose really keep it warm?

If not ever thought about digging a hole and then a ramp so u can have tanks under ground? Just a thought.

Do u have any plans on the skimmer? I would like to try it.

Not any major problems....I did have some cold snaps but I havent seen the tanks get below high 60's and that was for a very short time. I havent lost any corals to weather issues that im aware of (I have lost only a couple of species and I blame them either on light issues or flow) YES the greenhouse does keep it much warmer! I am working on other more effecient heaters which are basically solar generated because the 800w heaters that I was using are energy hawgs! I have thought of digging a hole in the ground and ramp up like you mentioned, and still may do that. BTW the skimmer plans can be found here:

http://www.hawkfish.org/snailman/snailmandiy.htm

[vtec si]

Scuba,

Keep up the good work. It look like all your hard work is paying off!
Save some frags for me.HE, HE, HA $$$

VTEC SI

[cuc]

scuba, if you could find a solar panel for a hot water heater that didn't use copper tubing then I think that would work great. I know you have plumber friends, ask them if they make such a solar panel, then just try to get a used one. Maybe that would work.

[NaCl]

Those are wonderful frags Scuba! My only exposure to
such are through pictures--haven't seen a lot in person,
but those look fantastic!

[scubadude]

Thanx Vtec, cuc, and NaCl

The greenhouse has been doing great and I am hoping to be selling my house and getting 5-10 acres to try this on a larger level now, which will hopefully take place within the next year, or two. The temps this time of the year are very stable 78-80, and I have been keeping my buffer, calcium, and all other requirements up to par, the growth levels have been phenomenal recently and I now have to feed my fish because they have started to nip at corals, but all appear very healthy. I have totally redone both of my systems (sps, and softie) complete with eggcrate racks, and taken out ALOT of LR that was basically there just to get the systems cycled. Its been almost a year now since I started this.

Heres the newest picture directory
http://www.coralfragz.com/images/greenhouse/mar03/

[DukeDog]

Hey man it looks like I need to come up and visit you again soon! Some great looking corals
Jeff

[Amphibious]

Hey Rocky

Those are some great pics. Looks like everything is going great.

Is that a Derasa clam? You don't let the dogs in the greenhouse unescorted, do you?

Those are beautiful Ricordias.

Talk to you soon, buddy.

[Reefland]

Man Rocky, it's been almost a year already? Seems like a couple of months ago you were putting all this together.

Have there been any significant developments of late?

Regards,

[scubadude]

Sorry I havent posted in a while, been pretty busy actually

Originally posted by DukeDog
Hey man it looks like I need to come up and visit you again soon! Some great looking corals
Jeff

Come on bro! I Have seen you holding up a sign in front of the LFS "Will work for frags"

Amphibious (is that you ReefRocks? quite changing nicks on me :P )
Thanx for the kudos! And you made my day with the pic you sent me of the ricordeas ;;

Man Rocky, it's been almost a year already? Seems like a couple of months ago you were putting all this together. Have there been any significant developments of late?

Scott,
Yeah it has been a year now almost, I have just been working on keeping my levels very stabile in the GH tanks, the one thing that I have been doing now is dosing w/ Hydrated lime using a slurry method mentioned by Anthony Calfo this has so far proven very stable for maintaining my Ca and Alk levels, but I Had to find the right ratio to mix....I got my PH a little higher than I wanted on a few occasions but now that I have the levels right and dosing regimene right everything has been rawkin!

For those interested in some pics I hosted the Tampa Bay Reef Club meeting for March

http://www.tampabayreef.com/pastmeeting.html

and Heres a few others I recently took.

[Lunchbucket]

sweet can't wait to see more pics

Lunchbucket

[hcp28]

I'm just tagging along.

[scubadude]

Well the business has grown enough for me to buy this 2.5 acre track in an agricultural zoned area (which is where I need to be) with Mobile Home and a greenhouse already on location. Theres not a lot of value in the greenhouse but the guy that I bought the tract from was using the greenhouse to fish farm FW though not SW. Theres alot of sweat equidity there though.

[Reefland]

So when does the move begin?

[DukeDog]

Cool I cant wait to come and see
Keep us up to date .
Jeff

[ricksreef]

dang bro! sweet deal.
are you moving there or just settin' up shop.

[scubadude]

Hey Scott,
I will probably be closing the deal either monday or tuesday...and after I close I will start moving more than likely. Ya know unfortunately this deal kinda cancelled my Macna plans Im sure it will be worth it in the long run though.

Jeff,
Get your work clothes on and come help me hehe :P

Rickster,
Im pretty sure Im gonna havta sell the house but I may rent it to my Daughter for the time being. Me and the misses are probably gonna build a new house on the land.

[zhenya]

Hey Rocky ,

Good luck with the move,it looks like a sweet piece of land to build a house and your farm.Too bad I'll never see your previous greenhouse becouse you'll probably tear it down before I get to Florida
Wish I lived closer,I'd be over there helping you build your house bro. I do have experience in that ;)

[scubadude]

Hey Rocky ,

Wish I lived closer,I'd be over there helping you build your house bro. I do have experience in that ;)

Hey Gene

I got one for ya...How do I calculate the yards of fill dirt I need say if I have a 40'x60' area that needs to be elevated 2.5' higher than it is? I know there is a formula for that right? If you notice on the first picture and in other pics they used dirt from the tract to buildup the MH pad and the drive back to the MH (mobile home) I want to elevate the rest of my land to the same height and want to figure out approximately how many dump truck loads of fill dirt I will need.

[almostdiva]

Rocky,

GOOD LUCK!! Looks like a great piece of land (lots of trees, but nice open spaces so the greenhouse gets good sun, too!).

I can 't tell from the pics (I am BAD at this kind of stuff) -- is your "new" greenhouse bigger than your current one?? Can you move your current one to the new spot and have 2?? How fabulous will that be!!??

Rebecca

[tvan]

WOW,
Rocky, looks like you bought the farm I finally bought the lot behind me. After a little clearing I will be burying pipe(I hope it stops raining). Need any help give me a yell.
Tom