natural sunlite - ways to harness and how much?

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

was reading a UK article
about someones recognized reef that harnesses natural lite (controlled natural liting) for his corals and to keep his costs down. (on the tank being hi-lited on this site was reported the costs for running the reef was under 1.50$/day - using natural lite)

here is the link and discussion

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...article_id=153

anyone doing this or know something about it?

doubt very seriously its not as easy as placing the aquarium in front of the window either!


remember reading somewhere a person had it hooked up like this w/ some sort of skylites in the house.


regards

[Blown 346]

There is a person who did use a certain type of skylight, tube that dierected sunlight to his tank and he had wonderful results.

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

considering the cost of electricity to run a reef
especially when looking at the big picture

ie
the cost over a year? 5 years?

i would think this might be a new area for reefkeeping
in general... especially considering that LITING is so important in this hobby - halides etc... what better liting is there then natural sunlite? (and its free!)

regards

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

this is a great idea expecially in the desert where i live
i only wish i new more about it (time to google it)...


here is a clip from the above posted article


http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...article_id=153

Lighting
> Martin uses a combination of
metal halides, fluorescent tubes and natural light.
> Metal halides: 3 x single 250w 20,000 K (Osram) 30cm above water; 3 x single 250w 10000 K 30cm above water.
> Fluorescent: 1 x single 140w
actinic 03, 30cm above water.
> Natural light: skylight approx 1.5 x 1.2m (5'x 4') (black-out blind drawn at night).

Total power = 1640w + natural light, surface area = 2.4m2
Light intensity 683w/m2 (nominal)*No allowance for natural sunlight.

> Martin's lighting ranks pretty high in terms of light intensity with over 600 watts per square metre of surface area. This alone would be generally considered more than effective, even allowing for the 600mm (2') depth of the display tank.

Adding natural light from the correct angle via a skylight must also add to the effectiveness of the lighting considerably, despite the relatively poor light intensity we receive here at our northerly latitudes and the
other variables due to the light first passing through glass.

I asked if he noticed any marked difference in coral growth between summer and winter to get some idea of the effectiveness of the natural light.

"During the summer, my corals
do grow better," he said, "and when the tank is flooded with sunshine, there is noticeable further extension of the polyps towards the surface, and the
tank seems to glitter with the high-quality light values.

"But it's important to remember that corals are accustomed to 12 hours of daylight a day, and I restrict my natural lighting during the long days of summer by drawing the blinds."

[Blown 346]

I agree, the only problem with how much it will cost for lighting for the tank yearly or over 5 years is.... I can just imaging how much it cost the guy to do the tube reflection thing thru his roof for his tank. I wonder from the cost of lighting over years if it has paid for itself yet form what the construction costs were.

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

Originally posted by Blown 346
I agree, the only problem with how much it will cost for lighting for the tank yearly or over 5 years is.... I can just imaging how much it cost the guy to do the tube reflection thing thru his roof for his tank. I wonder from the cost of lighting over years if it has paid for itself yet form what the construction costs were.

that would probably depend on the cost of the units themselves
adding skylites is not a major expense - in fact dont believe its that difficult to do either.

like many here on RC
this has become an addiction that probably wont be going away anytime soon!... iow after the investment is made - will benefit/save money for years and many tanks YET to come!

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

anyone know more about this ?

[ejrabekoff]

While some one, some where may have had success using some method on some tank, that does not necessarily mean that it is advisable for your specififc tank. I have not heard of this working, but I have heard many times that natural sunlight is very bad in a tank. It produces algae everywhere, and is a very weak, and erratic light source. This is especially true with a reef tank, where the demise of any coral, or anenome can ruin your water, some times killing every thing in the tank. Natural sunlight is especially a bad idea if you live in an area that is seasonal. Sunlight duration varies greatly, and your fish will not appreciate it. Artificial lighting never got covered by a cloud. Artificial lighting is a good, productive source of light, and is bright enough that corals can thrive, which is probbly something that will never be achieved with natural sunlight. This is an expensive hobby. Get used to it.

[stuccodude]

i must agree with ejrabekoff

[Gary Majchrzak]

Do a search. Plenty of people use natural sunlight to grow corals. Dick Perrin (nice fella!) at Tropicorium (in Detroit) has been doing it for decades. Tubs (here on RC) used sunlight to grow corals. Richard Harker is known for using skylights to help illuminate his reef aquarium and many public aquariums (including the Waikiki) use natural sunlight extensively to great affect.
I try to let as much sunlight in my aquarium as possible. We installed a skylight above the aquarium in our previous home. Based on my tests with a PAR meter even indirect sunlight can be more intense than artificial lighting.

Look at this reef aquarium that utilizes natural sunlight in conjuction with artificial lighting:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/totm/index.php

Originally posted by WarrenAmy&Maddy
doubt very seriously its not as easy as placing the aquarium in front of the window either!

here's some pleasant news:
if you know how to manage the nutrient input / export in your aquarium it can be as simple as placing the aquarium in front of a window!

[VengefulNemesis]

I'm certainly no expert here, but I just upgraded to a 75 gal from a 29, and have only my 24" T5 light on half of the tank. On that half I have a clam and some zoa's, on the unlit side I have mushrooms and xenia's. Now granted those aren't light demanding creatures, but the tank is in a sunroom, (floor to ceiling windows on the West and South)and recieves light about 6 hours a day and direct light for about two. Everything is doing great especially on my unlit side. Just thought I would share my experience.

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

Originally posted by ejrabekoff
While some one, some where may have had success using some method on some tank, that does not necessarily mean that it is advisable for your specififc tank. I have not heard of this working, but I have heard many times that natural sunlight is very bad in a tank. It produces algae everywhere, and is a very weak, and erratic light source. This is especially true with a reef tank, where the demise of any coral, or anenome can ruin your water, some times killing every thing in the tank. Natural sunlight is especially a bad idea if you live in an area that is seasonal. Sunlight duration varies greatly, and your fish will not appreciate it. Artificial lighting never got covered by a cloud. Artificial lighting is a good, productive source of light, and is bright enough that corals can thrive, which is probbly something that will never be achieved with natural sunlight.

This is an expensive hobby. Get used to it.

did you read the article
which the link was posted to earlier???

this guy is being recognized by practicalfishkeeping magazine
for having one of the nicer tanks in the UK - w/ comparisons being made to (or a smaller version of) David Saxbys (DELTEC) 1700 gal (3700system) reef which is world reknown... and his whole vision is 'economic reefkeeping' - thus using natural lite for his corals.

not knowing anything about this topic personally
if you think corals kept under CONSTANT artificial lite will look better then corals grown under the sun - w/ all the clouds overhead (which even on cloudy days i could GUARANTEE YOU the corals are still getting more lite then your artificial lited corals are!) then i hate to inform you that you are sadly mistaken and you might go back to the books or where ever it is you learn from.

as far as accepting that this is an expensive hobby and to "get used to it"

your logic/reasoning makes no sense to me whatsoever!
and OBVIOUSLY you know NOTHING about this subject which i inquired about!...

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

Originally posted by stuccodude
i must agree with ejrabekoff

since you guys are 2 eggs in a basket
read my reply to him!

[VivaBorg]

Gary mentioned earlier about Tropicorium. They have been around for ever, and use mostly sun light for about 70,000gal or something crazy like that. They do use supplimental lighting as well though. And its also inside a greenhouse sort of lol.

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

Originally posted by Gary Majchrzak
Do a search. Plenty of people use natural sunlight to grow corals. Dick Perrin (nice fella!) at Tropicorium (in Detroit) has been doing it for decades. Tubs (here on RC) used sunlight to grow corals. Richard Harker is known for using skylights to help illuminate his reef aquarium and many public aquariums (including the Waikiki) use natural sunlight extensively to great affect.
I try to let as much sunlight in my aquarium as possible. We installed a skylight above the aquarium in our previous home. Based on my tests with a PAR meter even indirect sunlight can be more intense than artificial lighting.

Look at this reef aquarium that utilizes natural sunlight in conjuction with artificial lighting:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/totm/index.php


here's some pleasant news:
if you know how to manage the nutrient input / export in your aquarium it can be as simple as placing the aquarium in front of a window!

thank you!
finally someone that knows something about this subject! and has something intelligent to say about it.

would think more people
would be considering ways in which they could harness this powerful form of free energy to illuminate their tanks in ways their lites never can... i am somewhat new to reefing and already i see an area that is (perhaps) being grossly overlooked...

perhaps not only by the hobbiests involved
but also the reefkeeping industry as well... i still dont know what is involved bec i thought there were some 'devices' that could be purchased - which look much like pendant lites... that harness the lite from outside and reflect them down into the tank - need to keep looking but i know i read somewhere someone who had a system designed and set up in this way - off natural lite.

i live in the desert and we have bright sunlight everyday
in the afternoon for several hours one corner of my 125 gets hit by natural lite thru the window - and i dont always end up w/ algae all over the glass but sooner or later it does form and need to be cleaned off - the corals in that area are doing very well - whether it is attributed to the natural lite ??? - i dont know bec only recently became curious about it - at same time felt like it couldnt hurt either!

although was reading that using a 'film'
on the windows is supposed to be better for the corals - yet the article did not go into specifics re what type to use or in any specific way about it at all... and in fact perhaps the film they were referring to was simply to help w/ heat distribution coming thru window???

Gary i appreciate your reply and the info provided
my search on google did not turn up much but i was limited on time also - the resources you have provided (will) have given me plenty to read about...

re (your comment) placing tank in front of window - controlling nutrients

seems simple enuff! -
control the food for the algae then dont worry about the sun hitting the tank! (i dont always rinse my frozen foods - have grown dependent/lazy bec of the phosp reactor addition to my system!)

regards

[richofoz]

I'm not that experienced in reefing but I keep getting shot down when I ask questions like this!.
The one thing I don't get is how it possibly could be bad to use sunlight to your advantage!
I live in Aus and have dived the Great Barrier reef many times. it's absolutely amazing and there are No metal halides or T5s at all there!
The only problem I could see arising would be trying to keep low light corals. That would just come down to careful placement.

IME the end of my tank that get 6 hours a day of natural sun light grows quicker and has more vibrant colors.

Anyway, just my 2c. Rich

[Chibils]

If you look on the coral prop and aquaculture forums, there are lots of people who use frag tanks in "greenhouses" that are lit by natural light. They use supplemental lighting--so does just about everyone else who uses natural sunlight--but still have frag tanks in greenhouses that seem to do just fine.

[dzeadow]

one guy on here did it w/ solatubes found here:

http://www.solatube.com/homeowner/


He used 2 of them on a 525g tank..plus supplemental lighting. Here's his build:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...ight=solatubes

[omacphe]

I have also thought about this using the Solatube mentioned. It would be relatively easy to try if your tank was on the top floor of your house/business. Alas, my tank is in the basement.

Lets play nice.

Cheers,

Owen