Has anyone tried using sunlight for lighting aquariums??

[kochu]

Hi. I am an absolute newbie. My aquariums are in India but i am now in africa.
It is my dream to have a wall to wall aquarium - marine - reef. What deters me is the cost of electricity :roll:
I know Sunlight can really heat up aquariums. I also know that overlighting will bring algale problems. I was thinking of using an insulated glass cover so that heat is not transmitted downward. I am also planning to have small black round dots to reduce the intensiy.
Any ideas?
I know the rule is fools tread where angels dare not. If u think I am loony, tell me. But we have to think out of box so that we can progress. If i am wrong I will admit and move on. Anyone who will help??

 

[Anonymous]

Post edited for violating the User Agreement. Futher violations may result in the revocation of posting privileges - RR

 

[Anonymous]

If you had the proper strength sunlight, you could use a chiller to compensate for heat. The money/energy conserved on the lack of supplemental lighting would be around the same or less.

 

[SnowManSnow]

I've seen aquariums with sunlight... yes,

but it seems a risky proposition at best.

b

 

[Anonymous]

Over lighting does NOT bring about algae issues. Algae will thrive with the right spectrum of light (of which sunlight has plenty of ), and nutrients. The nutrients are the biggest issue. You could run a fishless tank and hardly see a spec of algae in the whole tank, not being sloppy with protein skimming helps a tad too

As to the heat issue, simply run a secondary water volume that's not lit by sunlight, if this secondary system is large enough with respect to the sunlight one you won't have much of an issue with sunlight.

I have a little 10g prop tank that's on my porch (greenhouse style), now this is hooked into about 100g of other tank volume that's inside the house, and the temperature is not an issue. Now algae is a bit of an issue in the outside tank (not so much inside), but I have fish in my tank, so nutrients are in the system, not out of control because I I dont have to do much in the way of cleaning the outside tank (ironically I clean the inside one moreso than the outside).

I do have some macro-algae in there and it's green and mean and growing strong, also have some other corals in there (some frags) and one thing I notice is polyp extension unlike anything I've seen in my inside tank. Now there is no direct sunlight on this tank, it's filtered through semi-transparent fiberglass, and there's only bright light from about 9am to 3pm (due to my fricken neighbor and his fence o' hell, 12 feet tall from my yard.. but I live on a hill so it's "legal" height).

 

[wetworx101]

At RC there is a whole mega thread on people using sola tubes on their reefs. Also, Bill Wann is using a skylight to light his 1000g...works great. He plans on using sunlight on his 10,000g future display.

 

[kochu]

whats RC?? can u gimme the link?? and I live in sunny Kerala where there is sunlight 365 days an year. It is in the southern tip west coast of India.

 

[Anonymous]

Reef central



oops, did I post that here

 

[tinyreef]

i wonder what cwa said?

sunlight is optimal imo. i'm running a pico with sunlight (see the link in my sig). i was quite pleased with the coloration although i was very worried about bland colors and insufficent light levels in the beginning (started the pico in october).

heat and light direction are the two main issues i had to deal with. that's assuming you dealt with the usual reef issues (evaporation, compatability, nutrient import, flow dynamics, etc.).

the heat can be dealt with by using a simple fan. i use an oversized fan on my pico but on an oscillating movement. keeps the temp way low, heater works during the day and i let the two fight it out to keep temps between 76F~78F. it stays closer to 77F~79F at night when the fan switches off. while it's a 'usual issue' too, the daylight does super heat the tank if left without cooling. i'd suggest setting up for a week without livestock to track temp ranges first.

light direction was a new one for me though. i was used to lighting emanating above, from our fixtures. placing the tank like a houseplant, i got a different dynamic. lighting predominantly from the side. not a problem per se but you have to re-think how you aquascape the corals to get them optimal lighting. unless you're doing skylights or sola-tubes but the side lighting does give you a view normally reserved to overhead viewing due to light source and angle.

i'll also 2nd the sola-tube thread on reef central's advanced forum, very good info.

hth

 

[CiXeL]

i had a 60 gal tank when i lived in california where a band of light would cross it as the sun set. had spectacular effects on corals but because i was living by the beach all i had to do was leave the window open and the canopy open to keep it cool enough. i am now in miami and with the amount of infrared in the sunlight here there is no way that could be possible without skyrocketing tank temps. the sun is VERY different here.

 

[kochu]

Thank you all. yes i arranged for the fans to directly impact teh water. I think that MAY solve the problem. Whie North india is reeling under a heat wave, we in teh south, I am told, are having rains. Probably that will cool the temperature. This is with respect to the 200 Gall tank I have.
The planning for the mega one 3000 gallons is on. I have maybe 2 years to slowly build up so that the financial strain will be low (me being in africa now).
So i can first collect all material and then go on.
My main worry is regarding teh display window. I dunno whether it should be glass or Acrylic and if so what thickness. Any help??