Power of the sun

[shookbrad]

Has anyone set up a reef tank using the sun for the primary light?
I am wondering if a reef tank was set up with one of those new sky lights that reflect like 95% of the sun into the room right above the tank into the hood with reflectors all around the hood to help keep the sun in the tank would work and maby add a few PC actenic lights and moon lights.
Anyone have any thoughts or ever try this.
by the way I live in Texas where it is sunny 360 days of the year.

 

[jupoc911]

it works on the ocean doesnt it?

 

[sandsifter]

From what I have read, the sun is the best way to grow corals. There are some things you have to consider though. Different corals come from different depths in the ocean, therefore direct sunlight in a tank that is 20 inches deep is going to be too much for a coral that is usually found in 10 feet of water. So you may have to put some sort of filter over the skylight that lets only a percentage of the light through. I also think that the light intensity changes depending on the seasons. You also have to keep in mind that water qaulity has to be right on, with light as intense as the sun, to keep away algae blooms.

 

[team2jndd]

ok no. do not listen to a word he just said. no offense. If you notice there are neither lps nor sps corals growing on the connecticut shoreline. The sunlight we receive is not sufficient to house corals because of the angle of insolation. The sunlight is strongest when its rays shine perpendicular to the surface. That is why noon is the time that all the girls go tanning. It is not as hot at noon because the earth's surface takes time to heat up which is why althought the angle of insolation decreases as it gets closer to night time, the highest temps are found at about dinner time. (depending when you eat lol) Basically, the closer to the equator you are, the more hours of direct sunlight you receive. That is why when you go away from the equator you get colder. Also explains why most coral reefs are found between the two cancers. Althought you live in Texas and I am here in NY I still highly doubt that you would receive strong enough light for most corals. The corals that you might end up being able to keep are the same that you could manage under PC's anyway so if you were going to get pcs in the first place you might as well do that. I hope this helps.

 

[sandsifter]

No offense taken. But I happen to know for a fact that there are coral farms in the northern United States that propagate corals in greenhouses. I also know that in the summertime they have to put filters over the greenhouses to filter a small percentage of the sunlight because it is too strong for corals that are supose to be 10 to 20 feet under water. If corals can flourish under the sun in Maryland and Pennsylvania I think there is more than enough sun in Texas.

 

[fishieness]

Originally Posted by team2jndd
ok no. do not listen to a word he just said. no offense. If you notice there are neither lps nor sps corals growing on the connecticut shoreline. The sunlight we receive is not sufficient to house corals because of the angle of insolation. The sunlight is strongest when its rays shine perpendicular to the surface. That is why noon is the time that all the girls go tanning. It is not as hot at noon because the earth's surface takes time to heat up which is why althought the angle of insolation decreases as it gets closer to night time, the highest temps are found at about dinner time. (depending when you eat lol) Basically, the closer to the equator you are, the more hours of direct sunlight you receive. That is why when you go away from the equator you get colder. Also explains why most coral reefs are found between the two cancers. Althought you live in Texas and I am here in NY I still highly doubt that you would receive strong enough light for most corals. The corals that you might end up being able to keep are the same that you could manage under PC's anyway so if you were going to get pcs in the first place you might as well do that. I hope this helps.
i would think that there are no corals growing here in CT cause, well...... the sound is too dirty..... BUT there are none over in RI because the ocean practicly never gets above like 65 degrees. The angle of deflection may have something to do with it, but im sure you could grow many corals as long as the temp is right
however, i wouldnt do it because there would be a heck of a lot of algae growth.

 

[chunkysoup]

Here is what Eric Borneman author of "Aquarium Corals" has to say about this subject....
taken from page 326:
"Direct sunlight is not available for most aquarists to use for their aquariums. Even if it were, the radiant energy of sunlight in a small closed system, without extensive cooling or infrared shielding apparatus, would tend to heat an aquarium like a tide pool, making it all but impossible to maintain a diverstiy of life."

 

[jones]

I'm definately no expert. But from what I've been told, there is a place in Romulus Michigan that grows all their corals using natural sunlight. I've heard they have the best corals in the state. I'm new to the hobby and haven't had a chance to visit the place yet, they only open to the public on weekends. I'll check it out soon though. It only makes sense to me that if you let the light into a climate controled facility so that the temps don't fluctuate with the seasons, it would be much different than trying to grow corlals outside along the northern coastlines. At least this place apparently does it. Who knows.

 

[elvictre]

I love this post. I am installing 4 solar tubes over my next tank with MH lights as well as NO actinic. I had been contemplating this for a while. I thought long and hard about this and have come to this conclusion. I know here in NY we do not have the light exposure time that these corals get in nature. I don't think the regular sunlight alone will cut it. In the winter you will have the sun up from 8am (if you consider that light) to 4pm. In the summer you have light from 6am to 8pm. I am still not sure how I will balance the lighting, some sort of controller sequence that I will have to tweak for a year. Anyways the Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead Long Island has a 20,000 gal reef tank that is absolutely awesome. The coral growth is off the charts. There is a clam in there that is the size of a SUV tire and they use natural sunlight for this. That is where I got the idea. Also the tank that I am planning in doing this on will be at least 670 gallons. I would not try it on a small tank due to heating issues.
Vic

 

[team2jndd]

I dont see how it would be possible with the tank indoors. Even if you place the tank in front of a window, that window is only subject to half the days direct sunlight anyway. The stardard house windows have iron in them which reflects U.V. rays. Your tank will not only not get enough direct sunlight, many of the wavelengths your tank needs to survive will not be there. This is why tanks that are near windows have substantial algae growth. Algae does not need U.V. rays and in fact is quite sensitive to them. I obviously can not say that it deffinately will not work because I can not see your set up but in my opinion it would be an expensive and time consuming adventure that could be avoided by the purchase of a simple lighting system. lol some1 who is as adventurous as yourself could even custom build a lighting unit and save $$$ anyway.

 

[team2jndd]

"No offense taken. But I happen to know for a fact that there are coral farms in the northern United States that propagate corals in greenhouses. I also know that in the summertime they have to put filters over the greenhouses to filter a small percentage of the sunlight because it is too strong for corals that are supose to be 10 to 20 feet under water. If corals can flourish under the sun in Maryland and Pennsylvania I think there is more than enough sun in Texas."
I should have specified in my first post that those tanks are not inside somebodys living room because obviously the sun if harnessed correctly could be an adequate source of light for corals or we would not have this hobby. I simply meant that inside a persons house it would be extremely difficult to use the sunlight for his lighting system because of the factors that I have already listed.

 

[tru2037]

Originally Posted by jones
I'm definately no expert. But from what I've been told, there is a place in Romulus Michigan that grows all their corals using natural sunlight. I've heard they have the best corals in the state. I'm new to the hobby and haven't had a chance to visit the place yet, they only open to the public on weekends. I'll check it out soon though. It only makes sense to me that if you let the light into a climate controled facility so that the temps don't fluctuate with the seasons, it would be much different than trying to grow corlals outside along the northern coastlines. At least this place apparently does it. Who knows.

Hey do you know anymore info about this place cause I live right around the corner.

 

[tru2037]

It may be possible for a greenhouse since the can use the light in every direction all day long and then using heaters, but for a house I cant imange getting enough light, I agree that a pc would be comparable. Also I live in MI, I go to work when its dark and come home when its dark, so I would never see my fish!

 

[elvictre]

I was thinking solor tubes for a prject like this. I have seen someone that used solor tubes in the past and they said they had great growth. It will be interesting in amyone on this board has used natural sunlight and can post an opionion.
Vic

 

[jones]

Originally Posted by tru2037
Hey do you know anymore info about this place cause I live right around the corner.
It's called Tropicorium. They have a website as well.

 

[cowfishrule]

Originally Posted by elvictre
I was thinking solor tubes for a prject like this. I have seen someone that used solor tubes in the past and they said they had great growth. It will be interesting in amyone on this board has used natural sunlight and can post an opionion.
Vic
building solar tubes?
wouldnt it just be easier to buy a set of lights?

 

[elvictre]

I want to have both. I am planning a large tank. I was thinking at first for it to be 4 feet deep. I figured the solar tubes would help with the depth of the tank. It would also give me one less thing to run on my emergency generator. I have always been curious so to the growth we would see if we can use natural sunlight.
Vic

 

[krishj39]

In the end, I think YES it is possible to use the sun as your primary light. However, this does not mean move your tank in front of a window. To get it right would almost certainly require more money and work than just buying a good set of bulbs.
Sun light has been mostly written off as a source of light in the hobby, however I'd love to hear about the results of people who have taken the time to set it up right and incorporated natural light into their system. In the future I think it's very likely that more people will be using the sun, however it will still mean using filters to protect from the full force of the sun and secondary lighting.

 

[elvictre]

Like I said I got the idea from the 20,000 gallon reef tank at Atlantis Marine World in riverhead LI. The tank is something like 20 feet deep. The growth is off the charts. I personally think it's a must see of anyone is out in Long Island. Anyways the man you owns the aquarium is of course a marine biologist and must know what he is doing. I think the power of the sun is too powerful for some tanks, but if you have a deep enough tank you can pull it off. I also think it would be great for your corals to have the sun come up slowly and down slowly. The only problem in my area of the country would be the daylight hours are far less in the winter. I also think you would need supplements to even out the lighting times as well as actinic. The tank would be way too white with sunlight only.
Vic