Am I Insane?! help...kinda long

[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

[Reinhold]

scubadude:

Do you know anyone who can put up the greenhouse for you? (Just kidding.)

If anyone can pull this off, you can. I realize you might need to chill everything, but will you need to worry about cold weather?

I'll be the first to order from you.

[scubadude]

hehe...thanx reinhold ;) I build large party tents for a living which is very similiar to greenhouse's .....the actual structure is not gonna cost that much for me to build....its the equipment and cooling expense....but I think I will try to build my own tanks ....probably with glass....but im gonna experiment with some plastic tubs too (refugium and clam lagoons)

[cod]

Hi Scubadude

Man, I wish my situation would allow me to do somthing like this(one fine day )

Sounds like you definitely have a plan. I like the idea of putting your plumbing underground to help cool.

The only thing I don't see is a back up power source in case there is an electrical outage.

Good Luck!

[organicreefer]

im sure most of us here dont think youre insane,but what does youre wife think!!!!!! :eek3:
sounds awesome.maybe you could have some large underground container (sump)for extra water volume ,and to keep the water cool.or one of those systems where you bury pipes to keep it cool.i dont know ,if i think of anything youll be the first to know.....since i cant do it ,i can live vicariously through you

[organicreefer]

oh, duh ,you got the pipe thing covered

[reefhead]

if its in a greenhouse won't that just make it hotter? Sounds like a good idea, the underground plumbing sounds like a good plan to cool the water as it passes underground. could you imagine the battle with hair algea in the cycle.

sweet idea,

Good Luck---Joe

[Mikeman]

I'll be the second to order from you


you might also want to think about a 75g or so tank with just BTAs, it would be nice to have a dealer that sells proged anenomes as they have a better chance of survival as you know.

you have my good wishes

[thezookeeper]

Rocky:

You have my support. Anything I can do to help, let me know. As you know, Anthony did this so if there's anything I can help with by way of research for you, I'm there. Hell, it'd be worth the trip down your way to help you do it! If I had land to do it on, I'd consider it someday. Perhaps someday I will, but this would be a fantastic idea. I know Anthony must know all the ins and outs and he's always there with advice! Keep me posted! As for me, I'm thinking of doing a couple prop tanks in the garage. So we'll see!


Joanne

[bongobrian]

Scuba~ I think this is an AWESOME idea! and I think we should all follow suit and start farming corals. Keep us updated with this! I'm especially interested to see if you get any kind of grant for the cancer research. Very cool man. Oh, and thanks for giving me an excuse to visit the tropicorium

[naser]

well youve done lost your mind...... good luck

[Northman_with_reef]

Go for it, man!!!!

Maybe you'll even ship to norway one day......

Good luck!
Thomas

[FishTechie]

here'a another idea to throw around, just like your doing with the water pipes underground, maybe u can use one of those big red goldfish ponds, bury most of it like they normally are and use that as a clam lagoon, this would help maintain a constant cooler temp... just an idea....

[scubadude]

Originally posted by FishTechie
here'a another idea to throw around, just like your doing with the water pipes underground, maybe u can use one of those big red goldfish ponds, bury most of it like they normally are and use that as a clam lagoon, this would help maintain a constant cooler temp... just an idea....

Excellent idea FT! There is only one problem with that...with the water level being very close to ground level there could be runoff issues, and it would be very easy for dirt/dust to settle into the tanks....But the idea does definately deserve consideration! I will ponder on this for a while

Thanx everyone for supporting me on this.....it means more than you realize!.....I was only gonna do this if I sold a part of my business....which did happen today! So I have a good portion of the funds in hand right now to start on my new venture

[FishTechie]

heheh, got ya covered dude, thats why i said bury Most of it, you probably wont have it filled to the rim so you can probably bury up to the water line....

and as far as dirt, you can use the black plastic gardening covers that go between the dirt and gravel around most flower beds to prevent grass from growing.

i love engineering this kind of stuff and tweaking ideas...

[organicreefer]

sold a portion of the business?!?!funds in hand?!?!







OMG, HES SERIOUS:eek3:





if you get this thing going ,youll have all of us on youre side 100%
well be youre customers ,and youre best advertising
"naw man, you should order from scuba,his stuff is aquacultured/captive bred/hardy;) "

good luck buddy

[Burt Reynolds]

You should talk to the people at Harbor Aquatics, they cure their LR and propagate coral and clams all in a greenhouse. Since they're in Indiana they only have to worry about heat in the summer, but contrary to what the rest of the country thinks, the midwest gets very hot and humid in the summer.

[Biomanjcs72]

DUDE!!!! THat's a great idea!!! You are living my dream, (except for the totally self-sufficient house on a island, part ).

IMO, you should try to see if some of the current culturing houses will either tell you their tank dimensions and mean growth rates, or if they are stingy about their data, then set up an experimental system with some tanks of different dimensions, and see what grows fastest in which tank. It would seem logical to me that you'd get diff growth rates out of diff sized tanks, (correlated against species measurements, ie: one sp. might grow a little better in one shaped/sized tank than another.)

THat being said, (sorry guys, first post in a couple of weeks, new job and all) I like the idea of burying the pipe underground to help W/cooling. I think, you may be able to get better flow rates out of smaller tanks, with fewer/less powerful pumps, but that's only a maybe. Efficiency is the thing here, I doubt those culturing houses are making just boodles of money, but they are obviously making enough to stay in business.

Hey, good to see everybody still around.

[Reinhold]

scubadude: are there any zoning regulations which would restrict you from either putting up a greenhouse, doing the underground plumbing or raising livestock in your backyard?

[scubadude]

Now you guys are starting to roll!!

Burt,
Thanx bud....I will call them....and I am gonna try calling Dick Perrin (Tropicorium owner).....I dont want to infringe on their secrets though! I would love to talk to Anthony Calfo too......perhaps Joanne could get him involved into this thread for us ;;

Bio,
1st of WB bro! I would love to discuss tank sizes in more depth....Here are some sizes im considering.

48"x48"x18" 180 Gallons
72"x48"x18" 270 Gallons
48"x36"x18" 134 Gallons
72"x36"x18" 200 Gallons

and maybe some some Large Rubbermaid tubs (proly 100gal)

I really think that shallow tanks will be the most effecient way to go so I can utilize the intensity of the natural light as much as possible, as you can see that I have chosen them to be 18" tall, as all of them will have about a 6" SB so there is only 12" of water column. There are so many relativities involved. If I change one thing it can throw many other factors.

There is a major Catch22 with this greenhouse idea and thats heat versus light intensity....The more light i let through the greenhouse the more heat I will get....but this is ineveitable and will just have to be dealt with in the most effecient manner.

Reinhold....its funny that you mentioned zoning regulations....cuz I was just in the building/zoning dept. today looking into it.....As long as I make sure to stay up to code and submit a site plan and make sure that im not intruding on easements etc etc. they told me that I could do it w/out any problems