Natural light?

[HavinPhun]

May be some what of an odd question, but does it help corals and such to be kept in an area where they get a lot of sunlight in addition to the light they are already getting? Does that make any sense?

 

[Tackett]

I have seen some people keep coldwater outdoor tanks, though I wouldnt recommend it. You will have some monster algae problems.

 

[danmhippo]

It makes a difference whether sunlight is coming from the top or through the glass. I would guess that sunlight in through the glass won't help with the corals and will only benefit the algae.

 

[Anonymous]

My fantasy is to have an indoor tank totally illuminated with sunlight. Massive fiber optic feed from the roof to the tank or something like that. No bulbs to replace! 8)

 

[ChrisRD]

May be some what of an odd question, but does it help corals and such to be kept in an area where they get a lot of sunlight in addition to the light they are already getting? Does that make any sense?

Yes. Many aquaculture facilities rely primarily on natural sunlight. Two things you have to consider - temp control and nuisance algae. The latter can be controlled through reducing nutrient levels + grazing critters, but without a chiller or a well ACed room the former might be an issue. Aquaculture greenhouse facilities also rely on shade screening to reduce light/heat as needed.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

It makes a difference whether sunlight is coming from the top or through the glass. I would guess that sunlight in through the glass won't help with the corals and will only benefit the algae.

Agreed. I had a 7 gallon by my sliding glass door that had a monster algae problem. None of my other tanks did, and they were not getting direct sunlight.

 

[Tackett]

My fantasy is to have an indoor tank totally illuminated with sunlight. Massive fiber optic feed from the roof to the tank or something like that. No bulbs to replace! 8)

Let me know how you manage that buddy. 8O

 

[Anonymous]

If I have the time and money, I will use a set of auto-track mirrors to shine into a huge IR filter (filter out the IR, letting in the Vis), and use a high capacity fiber optic cable or liquid light guide to channel the light into a specially designed luminary for my reef tank.

For an equivalent of 10kW of MH light, I can do this for about a few grands, and a few week of time. But I have mortgage to pay, so I will put this off until retirment or something.

But if you have a few thousands to spare, you can always get someone to do all the work for you. Just need to sign a paper so that you won't sue anyone if you look into the fiber optic cable by accident and get permanently blind by it. If you neighbor is being nasty to you, you can convinently misdirect the mirror to start a roof fire on his/her house

 

[dennisd78418]

Seven-

Not to be overly critical, but your solution for getting natural sunlight to your tank seems to be over engineered. I just read a thread on reefCentral in which a fellow in Arizona has had great success with his tank using solatube tubular skylights (tubes with a highly reflective interior surface that re-direct sunlight into the desired area). Your Southern Cal. location may provide enough intense sunlight for the solatubes to work for you too. And its a lot cheaper than the high(er) tech setup that you envision.

Dennis

 

[Anonymous]

There is no such thing as over-engineering "problem" in this hobby

Solatube was discussed in many forums in past 5 yrs or so, and the general concent is that it is not bright enough compare to MH. The cross section area of solatube limits its light intensity. It is perfectly suitable for residential lighting application or for low-light LPS/softy setup, however.

What I describe above solve several issue:
1, overheating due to IR radiation from sun light
2, flexibility of tank location (solatube must be right above the tank)
3, higher concentration of light level (without the IR filter, you can cook burger with it)

 

[Tackett]

There is no such thing as over-engineering "problem" in this hobby

I have never heard a more true statement.

 

[HClH2OFish]

I also live in AZ. The Solatubes are all over the place. Essentially, they're a way to have a skylight in a home without a direct hole in the ceiling (hence, the tube)
They are in *no* way close to MH lighting! But they're a good solution to add a skylight without chopping a huge hole in your roof!

 

[Anonymous]

I've had great success with my softies and tank near a window that gets early moring into early afternoon somewhat direct sunlight. Of course, i do have a bit more algae on the side that faces it, but not that much that I don't mind hitting it with the magnetic scraper every couple of weeks.
I feel my polyps get the most out of it, as my parameters are the same in this tank than what they were when I have had other tanks, but the softies just seem so much stronger in stem and larger in head, and I feel I have had a healthier tank overall. Could be coincidence, but natural sunlight has got to be better than what we invent to replicate it I would think.
Just a thought, and not saying it's right.

 

[HClH2OFish]

Late afternoons when sun is shining into the living room onto my 25, the shrooms really open up quite large comparitively.

Light on the tank is a 65w Sunpaq w/moonlight.

I think natural is way better if you have the intensity, but not all areas will receive the same levels.