Direct sunlight

[Basile]

This morning its a very sunny day and my fish room is illuminated by two big windows, that'll have controll with blinds. But as of now my system is still dry and the sun is shinning on my sculptures that i've done for my tanks. And as it shines on them on a different angle than the lights that i'll be using to light up my tank, i'm asking myself about sunlight itself, beyond the obvious answers of algae blooms and other problems that direct sunlight can cause on aquarium tanks, is their any benefits of direct sunlight on a system at all . In any situation their's pros and cons; their's must be some in this case as well any thoughts on this. As humans we get vitamin C from are skins do the corals of fish get anything from it. Thanks for your input, very curious about this.

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq68/Basilesim/Sculpture%202013/Photo108.jpg


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http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq68/Basilesim/Sculpture%202013/Photo113.jpg

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[Aquattro]

My tank and frag tank both get hit with direct sunlight during the day. It doesn't cause any issues, but I'm sure it doesn't provide any benefits either. I do know I can see any dust on the front of the tank much better tho :)

[Proteus]

The only thing you may notice is that in winter the "blues and greens" are scrubbed out from the light having to take a longer path through the atmosphere. Giving you a lower kelvin look. Also vit d is not readily avalible from the sun when it sits low on the skyline.

[lastlight]

Your corals might have better colours on their undersides than they normally would.

[mike31154]

I really don't see what harm sunlight could possibly do to any of our livestock, unless your system is loaded with deep water critters. It's what all the animals we keep under our artificial light evolved with over thousands of years. There are plenty of threads on various forums, more so based in southern climes, of folks using sunlight exclusively for their marine fish tanks. If not mistaken some of the coral aqua-cultured for our hobby in Florida and/or Hawaii is in tanks under open sky. Search RC for sola tubes & there are multiple threads on people using them to light their tank. I've considered punching a hole in my roof & installing a sola tube for a future tank build, but during winter it would obviously not suffice, days too short & overcast.

Depending on the time of year, I get the odd ray of sunshine hitting my tank. The difference in light intensity & colour compared to artificial light blows me away every time. Here's a shot made in 2010 of the upper portion of my hammer coral being hit with sunshine. I don't have a great camera or the best photo skills, but the difference is quite obvious between the sunlit part of the coral & the remainder. This was under MH/T5HO lighting, I currently run diy LEDs, but there's still no comparison to real sunlight. I think we've become accustomed to seeing crazy coloured coral under artificial light. In the photo the sunlit part of the hammer doesn't look all that appealing compared to the cool greens of the lower part. It actually looked quite nice in real life, the photo's colours are a bit washed out & off. I'm not a diver & haven't seen a real reef personally, but some of the photos taken by pros show a lot of brown coral. I suspect that's the bigger reason most of us prefer lighting our systems under expensive light fixtures, not because of any potential harm from sunlight.

https://tsl4pa.blu.livefilestore.com/y2p5QlQHxPutNDZ48RDAC5uoysnFrEnYkPXIhj5kXiDCaBDWF0 5xAmM53Vu8suXpGy2gpmwqPhyLeRDMyEso2UuINFkQFm0g28ur DhT4LIsHUA/HammerSunlight.JPG?psid=1

[Madreefer]

Sorry totally of topic.
The size of your words are too small in all your posts. Can't read on iPhones.

[asylumdown]

Different parts of my tank get hit by sunlight at different times of the year. The only thing I notice is that my corals look all washed out (AKA, how corals look naturally in the ocean) when sun is hitting them directly. Otherwise I find it's a nice time to look at the tank. It's always near sunset and as the light moves across the tank it makes for a really interesting way to see it. Areas that are normally in shadow get lit up, you see detail that you otherwise don't, the fish look really beautiful in natural sunlight... etc etc.

So long as it doesn't cause heat issues I don't really think it's that big of a deal. If you're going to get algae, you're going to get algae. IME sunlight hitting your tank isn't going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back, light is only one ingredient in the recipe for algae and if you're growing corals you've certainly got enough artificial light to do the job.

[kien]

As humans we get vitamin C from are skins

Actually, humans can not synthesize Vitamin C. Perhaps you meant Vitamin D.

[Basile]

Actually, humans can not synthesize Vitamin C. Perhaps you meant Vitamin D.

LOL ya i stand corrected lol i wasn't thinking straight. D is right LOL. silly me. :biggrin: