Natural light experimental tank

D

Damseluver

Reefing newb
75 gal tank
50 p0unds LR give 0r take
20 gal sump
c0ral life SS 220
St0ck; 4 small damsels, finger leather, mushr00m leather, a few c0l0ys 0f z00s, red mushr00m, small gr0up yell0w p0lpys. 50 0r s0 hermits and a few snails
lighting 130 watts PC
ten t0 twenty percent water changes weekly

Tank sits smack in fr0nt 0f wind0w with a n0rthwest exp0sure and receives a few h0urs direct sunlight at end 0f day and ambient the rest with PCs running fr0m n00n t0 nine.

This sh0uld put my fish hating the0ry t0 the test. I am banking that with the l0w fish l0ad and feeding that algae gr0wth will n0t be a pr0blem despite the tanks p0siti0n in fr0nt 0f wind0w.

Anecd0tal evidence s0 far is the few h0urs 0f direct sun light m0re than make up f0r the lack 0f artificial lighting.

Perhaps I sh0uld run a p00l 0n h0w l0ng it will be bef0re I l0wer the hurricane shutter t0 cut 0ff the light fr0m this wind0w and g0 back t0 artificial lighting:D
 
My 25 gallon mixed reef - with a couple of fish (false percs...my wonderful jawfish went carpet surfing, despite the fact that my tank is covered!! - receives several hours of sunlight per day, in addition to around 8 hours of 65 watt PC and between 3 and 5 hours of T-5.

No big algae problems, and everything seems pretty healthy (they'd probably be even better if I was more religious with water changes!)

And, not to be obnoxious or anything...but the s00per d00per "0" thing makes your post kind of hard to read. You'll probably get more and better responses by sticking to standard English.
 
His keyboard is broken

And Damselluver, out of curiousity where are you located?
Just so I know for intensity of sunlight.
 
I have found that the main problem with direct sunlight is the heating effect of magnifying the suns heat through the window, then the tank glass and water. tends to be pretty intense. Best of luck to you

-Doc
 
The problem with sunlight passing through glass is that it has absolutely no UV left after passing through. When I had an iguana i was told this so when i finally got a UV meter I tested it through a storm window the dual pane and no UV passes through at all. Plus you have the glass on the tank, with iguanas the sunlight then becomes a depressent such as if you sit in a car with the sun blasting on you and you get tired most living things have a chemical that is produced when sunlight is shining on them humans produce lithium, iguanas produce calcium from foods they eat and also lithium. I am not an expert on coral so i do not know what would happen to them but fish will probably have this same effect. It would be interesting to see though.
 
I'm thinking along the same lines as Doc.
Unless you invest in a chiller,I think you'll have some pretty sirous heat issues.
 
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