sunlight good or bad?

[tone0026]

Tank is next to window. Is it bad to let sunlight hit tank or would it cause unwanted algae growth? I was thinking that the extra light would help but wanted to check first. Thanks

[Toddrtrex]

My 75 gets sunlight from a skylight for about a month every Spring/Fall, and never have any algae issues -- in fact that part of the tank looks great.

As long as you don't have any excess nutrients to feed the algae there shouldn't be any issues.

[Palting]

Usually, and I stress usually, it is not a good idea to have a tank by a window. You want to be able to control when and how much light your tank gets. As an example, I want my tank lit up from 9 AM to 9 PM so I can enjoy it in the venings when I get home. If it was by a window, the lighting period would be longer since the sun will light it up earlier, and that IS one more factor that contributes to algae growth. I don't know where you are and the climate you are in, but the sun can also heat up your tank, one more variable that would otherwise be easily contolled.

Anyway, if you can, it is more ideal to place your tank by an inside wall where light and temperature are completely under your control. If you can't, then there really isn't a choice, is there?

[Dino]

A few people are starting to pipe sunlight straight into their tanks (solatubes) .

If there are algae issues its because there are excess nutrients for it to grow on in the first place. Sunlight won't magically make algae grow if there isn't already nutrients there for it to use.

[tone0026]

Actually the tank is next to a window but it has pretty good blinds that I can close and no light will hit the tank.
Thanks for the replies...

[James404]

I would avoid it if possible, I remember reading a guy in here from texas that had his tank next to the window, had a hot day and the silicone ended up softening up on the back pane of glass and had a major flood. Algae growth is another concern.

[phenom5]

Originally Posted by Dino

If there are algae issues its because there are excess nutrients for it to grow on in the first place. Sunlight won't magically make algae grow if there isn't already nutrients there for it to use.

This. Sunlight can help algae grow, but nutrients are the real problem.


My tank is next to a window, and I have the blinds open from the time I get up in the morning until it gets dark out. No algae issues to speak of. No heat issue to speak of. I live in Arizona FWIW.

[jchase1970]

My 125 gets sunlight from windows, no algae problems here. Not sure if I get any benefits from it?

[Amp2020]

If it's a FOWLR tank than sun light is a bad thing. You'll end up with more algae onthe glass and have to clean it off more often. It you have a reef tank with enough lighting to grow SPS. Then you should notice better coral growth and not much difference in algae growth than what you already had. I had a 30 gallon reef tank with 96 watt PC. Every year around winter the tank looked great with all the extra sunlight it was getting. The sunlight did cause a little more algae on the glass it was hitting but not much.

[rayn]

My 55 is in my family room with one entry door, a 5x5 sliding window and a patio door to our deck. My solution to the huge amount of extra light was to tint the patio glass. Cut way down on the amount of light and heat getting into the room.

On a side note, my wife thinks we now live with the Golden Girls.

[mike_cmu04]

Also if you all the sudden add more sunlight you could easily bleach your corals

[BlueFaceAngel]

i have my 300 gal fo tank right in front of a huge 20 foot window...i love the sunlight and how it colors up the fish...I do run into a problems with algae on the glass, from the green film to the purple film...the sand and rock are clean, and excess nutrients are not an issue at all. But this algae forces me to clean the glass almost everyday since its in direct sun light for 10 hours a day