Tidal Gardens Greenhouse
My friend Than, the owner of Tidal Gardens, has written an article describing the design decisions that went into the construction of his greenhouse. From the article:
An interesting feature of Tidal Gardens is its greenhouse aquaculture facility. It houses three 1,000-gallon reef systems. There are several benefits to using a greenhouse for growing large volumes of coral.
First, it provides arguably the best light available. Some aquarists spend a great deal of time and money assembling complex lighting systems complete with timers and moonlight effects. One can argue that a greenhouse is essentially the perfect light on the perfect timer with practically no maintenance.
The second benefit is the greenhouse's resistance to water damage. Large volumes of salt water can really damage the immediate surroundings of standard construction. Salt spray and humidity (especially considering the volume of water involved) would make quick work of most residential style buildings.
Lastly, the greenhouse provides a very temperature stable environment for the corals. Even on cold winter days, the greenhouse is a warm 80 degrees when the sun comes out. It is only during the cold winter nights that the gas furnace activates.
The greenhouse setup drew a great deal of interest, so we decided to give our readers an inside look at the process of building a greenhouse for coral reef aquaculture. It came with its own set of unique challenges, but the finished product was very rewarding.
Tidal Gardens is now open for business, so if you're in the market for some fine aquacultured coral for your saltwater reef tank, stop by for a visit.
Technorati tags: coral reeftank aquarium saltwater aquaculture