NATURAL SUNLIGHT

[hammer-head]

Hello,

I just wanted to get some advice on natural lighting. If I can maintain the temprature in the tank steady, can sun light coming into the room where the tank is located replace the need for PC lights? I know not entirely, but perhaps for a few hours a day?

Any responses would be greatly appreciated.

 

[brandon4291]

Hello HammerHead, that can surely be done. In some scenarios, green algae will develop in parts of the system but as usual this is more of a function of system nutrient loads rather than lighting source. However, my tank seemed to lose the green algae once I moved it away from the windowsill but so much varies tank to tank you'll just have to try it and see.

I know of commercial growing systems that use just greenhouses to grow clams and coral, so letting some natural sunlight into your tank will only benefit your creatures as long as the particular setup won't be infiltrated by green algae. It won't hurt anything and if you get algae on the walls or in the sand bed just close the blinds and restrict a little more light. I suppose that regular sunlight exposure would make your corals brighter for the periods they are under man-made actinic lighting; flourescent proteins and pigments abound in corals that are kept under natural sunlight.

Good luck

Brandon M.

 

[shalegac]

My corals loved the o'natural sunlight. Unfortunately so did the gren hair algae :roll:

 

[MandarinFish]

Natural is the way to go, IMO.

My tank is supplemented with it, and my anemones have always grown darker, larger, and stronger, AND move directly toward the light (away from the viewing area, sadly).

That should tell you what animals hosting zooxallenthae think about it.

Supplement with a lot of actinic light, and some red/yellow MH ( I run 2x 150watts on a 135 gallon, only until early afternoon).

My rose anemone has nearly doubled and split, and I got it about 3 weeks ago.

Oh, and make sure you have a phosphate sponge, a refugium, and a EuroReef to be sure.

You will really need the filtration. I'm still battling the algae and need to get my EuroReef fixed right away. But my corals are most certainly happy.

 

[Expos Forever]

I avoided a window for fear of heat issues. If you have a quality chiller and as others have said a good skimmer/source of nutrient removal you should be ok.

 

[Saltykirk]

I have noticed both the algae/coral happiness deal. I wonder spectra of light glass in home windows tends to filter from sunlight. Is the effect of sunlight different in other areas of the country or world due to "sky filtering"? Sunlight @ the equator isn't the same as here in W. KY is it? I don't know in the famous words of Jeff Spiccoli.