natural sunlight, good or bad???

[champscorner]

good morning all!!! i'm setting up my new 90gal diagnally between to window. as you could guess i get quite a bit of natural sunlight through my east window(in the morning) but have the tank situated so it only gets hit partially by the sun between about 9am and 12pm. if i plan on running my t5's between 12pm and 10pm and my 2x250 mh's between 1pm and 9pm will there be any negative effects on the tank as far as to much light, temp, or anything else. thanks in advance.

 

[MrPike]

You should be fine, most successful aquaculture businesses use greenhouses to grow their corals. If anything, I think you will notice a benefit, just make sure to keep your nutrients under control.

 

[corals b 4 bills]

I would place something along the side of the tank (not against it) to block the direct sunlight but have only indirect lighting from the sun, I have my tank in the dining room (the wife calls it the fish room) there is a sliding glass door on either side of it with verticle blinds and no direct sunlight and I think my tank does a lot better with natural sunlight too and saves energy as well.

 

[rustybucket145]

My system gets direct sunlight from sunrise until about 10:30ish and my corals absolutely love it. That's the time when I get the best polyp extension no doubt. Don't get me wrong, halides are great, so are t5's but you just can't get any better than the real thing!

I say go for it, get as much natural light as you can. You're lucky to have a situation where you can use the natural light.

 

[champscorner]

good news!!! that means i don' have to move the tank. thanks all!!

 

[SCR]

I've got a tank in a window that faces south for over a year now and everything is doing great. I highly recommend it.

 

[antonsemrad]

What about heat?

That would be my concern if I was so lucky to have the REAL THING in my tank

 

[Tang Salad]

Heat can be a problem.

Also, in the early stages of the tank's life, natural sunlight seems to be better at supporting nuisance algae. I had this problem during the first 6-8 months on one side of my tank, the side that gets the sunlight.