Natural Sunlight

[Lyfey]

Does anyone have any guidlines on how to use natural sunlight with a reef tank? i plan on keeping sps on my 75gallon rr that is in my bedroom (i am currently setting it up) and i am thinkin of puttting it near my window to suppliment some extra light.. should the lights of the tank be run with accordance to the sunlight? like if sunlight is brightest from 9am to 6pm.. should i run the actinics and daylight with that timeframe? or should i run the lights from noon to 8pm? .. does anyone have any info on this subject?
thanks
chris

 

[MileHighFish]

i have heard you dont want to much natural sunlight due to algea issues.. if you have the correct lighting i would try to avoid the window all together.. whats your set up like?

 

[Saltcity]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13583512#post13583512 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by g stone
i have heard you dont want to much natural sunlight due to algea issues.. if you have the correct lighting i would try to avoid the window all together..

I've heard the same thing.... I think natural daylight is in the 6-6500K range which is basically what guys use to grow algae in a fuge. The sunlight in the ocean is filtered by the depth of water and it changes the spectrum depending on the depth so its not the same as just opening a window and letting the sun shine in....

 

[kobesan]

the sun can also raise the temp of your tank if there's too much sunlight

 

[tmcgaughey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13583512#post13583512 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by g stone
i have heard you dont want to much natural sunlight due to algea issues.. if you have the correct lighting i would try to avoid the window all together.. ?

+1. You want to have as much control over the tank as possible. With a person creating an enviroment like a reef. It would be a large variable that you wouldn't be able to control (very well atleast)

 

[big bank hank]

you'd be better off cleaning our your closet and setting the tank up in there. would make you a nice nightlight

 

[nikon187]

agree with all of the above. Don't place it in front of a window unless you like algae

 

[Rae C.]

I'm not sure how much algae it would produce, that's mostly a nutrient issue. However, like everyone's been saying, it could wreak havoc on a consistent tank temp, which is hard on any inhabitant.

I have mine on an inside wall that gets occassional sunlight from a skylight. It is amazing how the corals open up inthe light, how much brighter the light is than with the artificial lights. But that light comes in far enough away, and only for about 30 minutes, that it doesn't contribute significantly to the heat of the tank.

 

[crvz]

I wouldnt recommend in the method you're implying. If it's not coming straight down (I have seen the use of solar tubes increase recently), you'll not get the results you're hoping for.

 

[Flipper62]

Natural sunlight === heating the water, algea.....Bad Bad things....

 

[WaterKeeper]

Exactly Flip,

Natural sunlight is about the best lighing one can have. The drawback is that a tank sitting in full sun all day quickly becomes a hot tub. If you have a good chiller then go for it.

 

[billford]

i have my tank in front of 3 windows.not a prob. with algea,but the heat.i have 2x the amount water of my dt in a basement sump,helped keep it cool during the summer.

 

[Flipper62]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13586489#post13586489 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WaterKeeper
Exactly Flip,

Natural sunlight is about the best lighing one can have. The drawback is that a tank sitting in full sun all day quickly becomes a hot tub. If you have a good chiller then go for it.

WaterKeeper....How are you?......long time no talk.

Ya, I did try it with a chiller, but I had to turn the chiller temp down to 77 just to keep the tank at 80 ( because of the sun ) It was realy making the chiller work. Also, I still got algae in the front of the tank.

The best was to move the tank

 

[Agu]

Aside from the heat issue natural sunlight is the best light for a reef tank imo. Depending on the season one of my nano tanks gets some mornining or evening sunlight. The corals never look better than when they're getting natural sunlight.

jmo,

 

[Flipper62]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13587045#post13587045 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Agu
Aside from the heat issue natural sunlight is the best light for a reef tank imo. Depending on the season one of my nano tanks gets some mornining or evening sunlight. The corals never look better than when they're getting natural sunlight.

jmo,

Agu.......I do agree on the corals, but the algea in front was not good, not to mention the chiller had to be set at 77 just to keep the tank around 80.

I'm in the Chicago area........Not sure how that would differ from Venice, Fl.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13587045#post13587045 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Agu
Aside from the heat issue natural sunlight is the best light for a reef tank imo. Depending on the season one of my nano tanks gets some mornining or evening sunlight. The corals never look better than when they're getting natural sunlight.

jmo,

gotta agree.
the heating issue is moot if you keep your house cool via AC and the algae issues are moot if you control (limit) PO4 & nitrates.

Lyfey- there are many threads regarding the use of natural sunlight in a reef aquarium on RC but the 'New to the Hobby' forum' isn't a good place to find them.
Search the 'Advanced Topics' and general 'Reef Discussion' forums using natural sunlight as your keywords. Remember to search the RC archives, too.
FWIW I run my aquarium lighting when sunlight is striking my aquarium. The important thing is to have a period of darkness.

 

[WaterKeeper]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13586827#post13586827 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Flipper62
WaterKeeper....How are you?......long time no talk.

You don't read the sports section very much do you? Well, I was the coach for the, highly touted, U.S. Olympic checker team. When we reached Beijing in August we found that they play with marbles instead of real checker pieces. During practice I found our geriatric players had a hard time balancing two marbles on each other if we made King. Pulling on my RC experience I had the solution; Super Glue Gel. How was I to know it was a substance banned by the International Olympic Committee?

The team was ejected from the games and I sent to prison. That was awful as they don't seem to know how to make good Chinese food over there. Finally the U.S. negotiated an exchange where we gave them the plans for the B-2 bomber and I was freed and sent home. After all, if they build them they will cost far less than if we do it. Anyway, I'm back.