since sun light is the strongest light

[fish addict]

could i keep a frag tank in direct sunlight and not have to buy lights

[ReefSparky]

If you could maintain direct sunlight for nearly all the daylight hours--absolutely. This would be difficult without your own revolving roof such as on a planetarium, a ceiling with a window on it, or a tank outdoors.

Do you have some creative plan up your sleeve?

[fish addict]

sorta not really i just thought of it cus me and my bro were talking bout aquarium lighting and he said something about the sun being the strongest light there fore it popped into my head a frag tank that gets the best lighting the sun so if placed it in your back yard where there is always a sunny part would it work in theory right?

[Av8Bluewater]

They would probably grow but I don't think they would color up properly. Sunlight is a much lower spectrum in the 5800K range. Corals prefer "bluer" spectrums in the 10k -20k range. Some people grow corals in the 6k range and then switch them to higher Kelvin bulbs to color them up just before sale. Another thing to consider is algae and plants like the 6K range... so you will probably get algae problems.

[coral reefer]

One major draw back to this is the issue of water temperature! The heat generated from the light from the sun could pose a number of shortcommings which would need to be addressed!

[fish addict]

but with the right equipment chiller heater evrything it could work right

[Peredhil]

not to mention evaporation...


theoretically. It's what they do in the wild...

not an expert on this avenue, so that's just my take on it.

[fish addict]

exactly nature is the ultimate and isn't what we try to do with in our reef tanks is to mimic but no matter what we do it wont be the same so the best we could do is try so i am tempted to manage a frag tank in direct sunlight :-)

[ReefSparky]

The components for aquaria keeping such as protein skimmers, reactors, chillers, even tank stands--aren't manufactured to tolerate outdoor conditions. There wouldn't be a great issue with submerged items, but a chiller is definitely not UL listed for outdoor use, meaning you'd destroy a very expensive piece of equipment in no time at all. There's humidity to consider, UV radiation from the sun, and all equipment would get wet daily as dawn turns to day. What about when it rains? Storms? Also consider how you'd get electricity to the items needing it. An extension cord might make it out there, but where would you mount the electrical outlets and how? Lastly, what about insects and other fauna? If a lizard for example got into the water and a fish hit it--that fish would be dead in a day. I know this one from personal experience. When I was younger and much more stupid than I am today; I put a lizard in my 55 gallon tank which housed a niger trigger, a small grouper, an eel, and a few other predatory species. The trigger hit the lizard before it even got wet!! That beautiful purple niger trigger was white and floating the next day. Live and learn, they say.

If you succeed, post pics. We'd love to see it work.

[PackLeader]

The major concern to me would be temp, algae, and it would be way too bright and bleach everything. In the back yard tank, you are going to be at probably 12-24 inches of water depth MAX. In the wild, most of our corals will be (as an average) around 20-40 feet or so. That is the whole reason behind the "K" ratings of aquaria bulbs. The sunlight's kelvin rating and intensity is changed greatly as it travels through the water, and these bulbs mimic that.
Now, at places like ORA, they do maintain giant outdoor tanks. To combat the temp and algae, these tanks (which are located very near the shoreline) are plumbed directly into the ocean. Also, they have some sort of shade (almost like a tarp) they place over these tanks to manipulate the natural light. I have no idea on the specifics of it, but you may have luck googling for a bit.