10 Gallon with natural sunlight

[joekidwell]

Tank is 5 weeks old seeded with rock from my established tank. My problem is cloudy water. It gets natural sun till 1 pm then the 150 watt halide comes on. Do I need a uv sterilizer? Or am I still building bacteria? All my tests say I'm done with the cycle, I had a fish store confirm this as well. The tank is a macro algae grow out tank the only reason for the strong lighting.

 

[joekidwell]

Forgot to mention no sump or skimmer on this tank.

 

[dorkymk3]

Add a small hang on back with some carbon media.

 

[joekidwell]

I believe the tank is looking a lot better today. Just waiting for diatoms to dissappear.

 

[shifty51008]

What substrate are you useing?

 

[gavinsepanik]

sweet little tank

 

[sde1500]

I really like that natural light look. Make the whole tank look realistic, not so blued out as some you see. I'm sure it makes taking pictures easier too.

 

[joekidwell]

What substrate are you useing?

It's a super fine sand I picked up from ebay years ago, it gets annoying when the clowns fan it with their fins.

 

[joekidwell]

I really like that natural light look. Make the whole tank look realistic, not so blued out as some you see. I'm sure it makes taking pictures easier too.

Yes it does : )

 

[shifty51008]

It's a super fine sand I picked up from ebay years ago, it gets annoying when the clowns fan it with their fins.

Almost looks like a silica base sand which is why i was asking cause that will cause your algae you have now

 

[joekidwell]

Almost looks like a silica base sand which is why i was asking cause that will cause your algae you have now

I never thought of that. Isn't there a way to test it with vinegar or something?

 

[joekidwell]

This is a close up if it helps to determine the type it is.

 

[joekidwell]

I believe it's calcium, I poured some vinegar in a cup full of sand, it's a slow boil as it dissolves the calcium.

 

[shifty51008]

Yeah if it bubbles then its calcium, you should be good to go.

 

[joekidwell]

Here is a couple tank progress pics. Still dealing with diatoms on the rocks and sand other than that I'm happy.

The tank shot from today is cloudy because I just cleaned the glass getting ready for a water change.

 

[theblennyman]

Nice!

 

[Thierry05]

Awesome! I saw someone try this with a 2 litre tank, it went well for them, good luck!

 

[Lil_rams]

that is a cool idea and wish I could get away with another tank. Question, how much does the temperature swing with the direct sun light "heat"?

 

[Thierry05]

well, depending on where you live, the ambient temperature could increase and decrease depending on the time of month, you may want to keep a thermometer, just in case, but usually (if you are using a heater, my project wont either, mine will be using solar powered lights only) the heater tends to regulate temperatures automatically (at least the one I have) otherwise, to keep your tank warm, you may want your room temperature to be at least a bit over 20 degrees, the ambient sunlight should be able to do the rest, for me (since I'm in the uk) I'm putting mine in my alcove in my bedroom (the light is charged from the windowsill) because its quite warm. Also, that 2 litre I was talking about? he submerged it in his main tank if the temperature was too high/low.