Natural sunlight?

[B.C.theReefer]

After reading about Anthony Calfo using natural sunlight for his coral propagation. I decided to move my reef in front of a south facing window. There is almost nothing outside the window so it the sun hits it just about all day. The tank is 90gal. and I have two 70w 14000k MH and a 4' 420nM actinic for supplementary lights. Before it was in the window I also had a Nova Extreme 4' T5 HO fixture on the tank. But since putting the tank in the sunlight the T5s are no longer needed. It has been two weeks and my corals have never looked better. No increase in algea growth like I expected. It actually seems to have slowed it's growth. When I only had freshwater aquariums sunlight was a surefire way to get green water. But it is absolutely amazing for the reef aquarium. I'd like to hear more about using sunlight from others who may have tried it. I really hope to get some feedback.

 

[Herzberg]

if there's no nutrition in the water for the algae to feed on, then sunlight or no sunlight your algaegrowth should always be at a minimum.

Isn't the light very yellow though? When sunlight hits my tank, I always think the light is very yellow and ugly looking. I would hate for that to be my main lighting.

 

[B.C.theReefer]

The halides and 420nm actinic even out the spectrum. And the health of my coral is more important than the appearance. Anyway, the zooxanthellea algea in the coral is thriving in the sunlight. So at night ,when only the actinics are on, the flourecence is more brilliant than ever before. I think it's worth it. And I save alot of money on my power bill too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

[garygb]

You can't beat mother nature. Pics?

 

[WarrenG]

At the surface of the ocean the sun's light on the water is about the same as the light coming in your window, but 10-20 feet down in the ocean where you find a lot of our corals the natural light has 50-90% of it's red light filtered out, so there is relatively more blue light (and much less red light) at that depth than the light coming in your window.

Have a look at the graphics here...
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i4/fluorescent_lamps/fluorescent_lamps.htm

 

[fishdoc11]

This is the nicest reef tank I have seen pictures of using natural sunlight. The pictures in the article are terrible as far as showing color and even the setup. Supplimenting sunlight with other means like MH is typically the way people go but if yours seems to be working that's great. Of course a lot depends on the type of corals kept etc.....
I think the old dogma that keeping a freshwater tank by the window will increase algae relates a lot to most freshwater tanks have very little light compared to natural sunlight whereas our reefs are normally kept with a much larger amount and so moving one to a window, in theory at least, wouldn't seem to effect the algae one way or the other much.
Chris

 

[B.C.theReefer]

As I originally stated, I have 14000k halides and a flourecent actinic for supplementary lighting. Although during the afternoon they are barely noticable. Also the lights don't go off until 8:00pm. So they are on for three hours after it gets dark here. No pics yet. But I plan on lots of pics and some short video. My SPS and LPS are lovin' the sun. The zo's and shrooms love it too, of course. Herzberg makes a good point about the direct sunlight making the corals look a little drab. But I'm usually gone during that time. So I see it mainly when the halides and actinics are the main source of light. I think it is totally worth it.

 

[ezcompany]

I love the look of my corals and clams under the sun. Though drab, there is something to appreciate about the natural beauty it shows. Purples come out especially strong under sunlight, and everything seems to love it.

 

[yrema]

hi BC, here are a couple pics of my sunlit tank: (not much, just some pics from a camera phone)

from 3 pm to around 5 pm, the tank looks like this:

view from top

the tank is almost 2 years old.

 

[demonsp]

What you want is total control of your tank. I would think you would take one of the most important variables out. I also think the increased magnification from glass would increase tanks temp ifnot only a little its another important variable. For the least amount of problems and much more successful system you need to have as much control as possible.

 

[yrema]

I agree, the biggest problem with sunlit tanks is maintaining proper temperature, and maybe UV? opinions?

 

[fishdoc11]

Flat glass magnifies light.....how? It changes the refraction a bit but I don't think it's magnified. Not being smart just curious

Most glass blocks almost all UV light if I remember correctly.

Chris

 

[B.C.theReefer]

Marty, thanks for the pics. The tank looks great. I hope to have some new pics of my own soon. And my clams are lovin' the sun too. I have never seen them extend so far and their color so bright. The acroporas also look better than ever. And about the temp. I have a large fan that blows directly on the tank and I leave the window cracked open a little. When I get up in the morning, the temp. is about 77.5. In the late afternoon when the sun is at it's full intensity the temp. is about 78.5. To me that is an acceptable amount of fluctuation. I plan on having a chiller by the summer. So I'm really not concerned about the temp. Oh yeah, I just watched a clip on youtube of this guy in Fiji walking out on a tide flat. And there are SPS everywhere sitting out of water in the baking sun. This happens to them every day. But they are healthy and fine. They don't grow that big. But hey, they grow there. And Anthony Calfo uses greenhouses for his coral propagation. So really, the benefits are huge and thedraw backs are quite small.

 

[yrema]

no prob, BC. and thanks!

Most glass blocks almost all UV light if I remember correctly.

I see, so there'll be no problem at all, except heat.

 

[WarrenG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11670219#post11670219 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by B.C.theReefer
... I just watched a clip on youtube of this guy in Fiji walking out on a tide flat. And there are SPS everywhere sitting out of water in the baking sun.

And what color are they? Golden brown. When I was diving in Fiji the colorful acroporas were about 20-45 feet deep, and a few were around 10 feet.

 

[B.C.theReefer]

Thank you for the trash talk WarrenG. But no, they weren't brown. Some were nice shades of pink and purple. Also, I know what I wrote. So no need to copy and paste from my comment. Maybe you should go to youtube and see the clip for yourself. Then work on your people skills.

 

[yrema]

can you post the link, BC? I wanna see that too!

 

[peanut95]

Any pic.s from Fiji?

 

[B.C.theReefer]

I forgot the name of the clip. But I 'm sure if you search for reef videos you'll find it. Sorry.

 

[fishdoc11]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11673883#post11673883 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by B.C.theReefer
Thank you for the trash talk WarrenG. But no, they weren't brown. Some were nice shades of pink and purple. Also, I know what I wrote. So no need to copy and paste from my comment. Maybe you should go to youtube and see the clip for yourself. Then work on your people skills.

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The quote feature is used to keep things straight as far as who is responding to who and can be very usefull in threads

Chris