natural lighting

[rjm1983]

Wondering if having a tank by a window with natural sunlight can benefit a reef aquarium????

 

[TekCat]

IMO, no.
Sunlight is the best light source there is. However, it is very hard to channel it to light up everything in tank. Also there is an issue with heat. Sun will heat up your tank quite a bit, so there will be HUGE temperature swings between night and day.

 

[Pandora]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6687354#post6687354 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TekCat
IMO, no.
Sunlight is the best light source there is. However, it is very hard to channel it to light up everything in tank. Also there is an issue with heat. Sun will heat up your tank quite a bit, so there will be HUGE temperature swings between night and day.

Generally, I think all this is very true, especially as applied to your average beginner's tank. It is very hard to channel and control both intensity, direction & temp, I wouldn't recommend it for most people starting.

I should point out however, that there are a number of larger systems, including this month's TOTM that utilize natural sunlight. Down in Hawaii, I've seen quite a few large systems use this also, and a few even used the tides and natural seawater to do the water changes! Natural sunlight i is also commonly used for aquaculture. Again, just want to stress that this is harder to implement in your average display tank because of the problems mentioned.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/totm/index.php

 

[rjm1983]

thanks for the advice!

 

[DaveAngie79]

NO, however i have heard of someone putting one inside of a greenhouse and only used natural light havent heard how well that went