Anyone Dabble in Real Sunlight

Covey · 05-04-2005, 04:29 PM

I am going to be moving at the end of the month and I will be moving the reef. Has one had any luck setting up there tanks to take advantage of real sunlight? I now there are heat issue involved but I was real curious about growing my SPS under real sunlight. Any thoughts?

Bruce · 05-04-2005, 05:33 PM

well i have heard of marine biologists doing that...i think a while back there was a thread about it...imo its not a great idea...it would be very hard cuz if its out side...well...birds and other stuff not to mention rain...but maybesomone else has another thought?

Birdlady · 05-04-2005, 06:06 PM

The only disadvantages I see are if you have an algae outbreak, it will be more difficult to regulate the lighting schedule.

Covey · 05-05-2005, 10:30 AM

It going to be inside Bruce. The loft I looked has a south east exposure with 20' high windows. I would get great sunlight from sunrise to the middle of the afternoon like 3ish. I also would have the option of setting it up next to the breakfast bar so I could see are four sides of the tank but that would not get the real sunlight. I don't know I am just wondering if anyone has tried it.

Gresham · 05-06-2005, 01:31 AM

I've done plenty of natual light tanls. It's great for softies and browning out SPS. Very few SPS stay nicelly colorred in our natural light. Probably due to spectural shift as you venture away from the equator, Heat can be an issue, as can booming macro and micro algae. Keep the PO4 low, and you'll be scraping coraline daily

Covey · 05-06-2005, 11:14 AM

Interesting. Did you find the heat issue managable? Fans, chillers, larger chiller. If I did do it. I think I would reconfiger my T-5HOs and just run 4 antinic. Then just let daylight be my daylight bulb.

Covey · 05-27-2005, 06:27 PM

Well I moved to a new apartment, new computer, I got tons of stuff to post. Biggest news I am trying The natural sunlight setup I talk about earlier. Pics soon. Early thoughts. I have been here for a week, early thoughts. No heat problems, who would have thought. The tank temp only goes up like a degree in full sun. So that cool. The SPS and clams love it. One of the clams went so far as to point into the sun. I have a bright green Sinularia leather coral from Coral Dynamics. It was a completily tank raised frag. The first few days it was in the tank when the sunlight started to sparkel in the early morning it would retracked in to a ball. I didn't like it at all! Now after a week it seem it really enjoy it(fully extended). Kinda of cool it got use to nature. The cleaner shrimp bask in the sun its all pretty cool.

dano · 05-31-2005, 06:39 AM

i have mine set up by the patio door, i wish i would have thought about it more. its hard to keep up with the brown algea. alot of cleaning the glass. i had a good amount of crabs keeping the sand clean, but i lost a couple so the sand is starting to brown up a little. every other weekend i have to cover the tank to cut back on the algea. all my water levels are good, so its the only thing i can think is the sun light.
thats just my experience though. im pretty far north so that could have something to do with it also.
good luck for you.

Matt Rogers · 05-31-2005, 08:26 AM

Sound cool Covey. Take some pics soon!

skennelly · 05-31-2005, 08:57 AM

I've seen and read about special skylights that they sell at homedepot, I thinkg they are called sun tubes or something to that effect. Basically they are skylights in the shape of tubes that focus the sunlight down. I saw another forum people using them for reef tanks. I'll post a link if I can find it again.

S