I've heard sunlight is not good for reefs because of algae ...

[aquaguy]

Then I found this (!!!) ,

 

[Reefing102]

I didn’t understand a word in that video, but I think a lot of the “no sun” comments is maintenance. I don’t know how often he cleans the glass or anything but that’s the main concern I think is just the “increased” maintenance and possibly extra heat. There was a guy, I can’t think of his user name, that was running a reef with solar tubes

 

[aquaguy]

I'm going to ask about that in the video comments

 

[griss]

I didn’t understand a word in that video, but I think a lot of the “no sun” comments is maintenance. I don’t know how often he cleans the glass or anything but that’s the main concern I think is just the “increased” maintenance and possibly extra heat. There was a guy, I can’t think of his user name, that was running a reef with solar tubes

I couldn’t understand the language either, but I agree. There was a trend some time ago where people were installing solar tubes in their house to light their reef tanks.

 

[OldReefGuy]

 

[OldReefGuy]

IMO Natural sun...good except for the aquarium glass walls.....

 

[kharmaguru]

Theres a few sunlit tanks on here. This one is a classic.

Our 400 Gallon In Wall Natural Sun-Lit Reef"

 

[Reefing102]

Theres a few sunlit tanks on here. This one is a classic.

Our 400 Gallon In Wall Natural Sun-Lit Reef"

That’s the one I was thinking of!

 

[Twisk]

I don’t recall ever seeing LED or Kessels hanging over the coral nurseries I’ve worked on in the ocean?

 

[Misled]

Way back machine again. About 35 years ago a good friend of mine was writing a book on coral propagation. He had green houses in his back yard. There were a few lights, mainly because we live in Pittsburgh. There was very little algae. All mainly in a scrubber desinged for that. It can be done, but maintenance is the key. Regular water changes was a major part in this.

 

[aquaguy]

I didn’t understand a word in that video, but I think a lot of the “no sun” comments is maintenance. I don’t know how often he cleans the glass or anything but that’s the main concern I think is just the “increased” maintenance and possibly extra heat. There was a guy, I can’t think of his user name, that was running a reef with solar tubes

He replied : 10% water change and cleaning glass every 10 days, he has blue aquarium tops and blue greenhouse roof to avoid red and yellow light to reach the tanks...He's going to post YT video explaining materials , heat control , insulation and maintenance soon

 

[Timfish]

Sunlight is not that much of an issue if you provide some shade for your reef system.

 

[Misled]

His way is very good. Love the mangroves. Also with the sheen on the leaves, most of the sunlight becomes reflective. If you need a little more light on the left, trim it a little.

 

[Timfish]

His way is very good. Love the mangroves. Also with the sheen on the leaves, most of the sunlight becomes reflective. If you need a little more light on the left, trim it a little.

It gets trimmed a lot, it puts a lot of effort in stealing light from the LEDs from the corals.

 

[Timfish]

FWIW, the two issues I've seen with sunlight is the 5800K spectrum doesn't promote the colors most reefers want to see and the intensity can be harsh on most corals. As mentioned above, blue filter panels solves both issues.

 

[mellotang]

Mother Nature probably should have installed artificial Light over the Great Barrier Reef since that sunlight is bad