Indirect sunlight?

[RikardJ]

It is widely recommended to avoid direct sunlight to your tank, to avoid excessive algea growth.

Do any of you have experience with indirect sunlight, as my planned location will be in a fairly bright room. The location will however not get direct sun at any time during the day and year?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I can't see that as any negative.

My tank got direct sunlight in the morning and it never caused issues. I thought the creatures in the sunlight looked better than without the sun.

 

[Luno]

I've never seen the issue, I mean at the end of the day we are trying to recreate sunlight anyway. I have a friend who used to have sun tubes through his roof to light his tank and it work well for the day time had some basic led's to show the tank at night.

Also in a bright room because I'm not a fan on the blue look people tend towards these days the indirect sunlight helps melt the overwhelming blue away a bit

 

[Dtfnemo]

Mine gets direct sun light in the afternoon and indirect for the rest of the day. The corals that get direct sunlight seems to grow faster and have more color to them.
I have a t5 fixture with 4 bulbs in my tank.
I had in the past a little bit of an algae isue but it was mainly in the sump and not so much in the tank it self and I'm pretty sure it was caused due to over feeding and not enough wc

 

[andrewkw]

I've yet to close the blinds across from my tank. In the morning it gets direct sunlight and I love looking at the tank at this time. It gets indirect most of the rest of the day. My fowlr gets direct sunlight in the evening and I have to wipe the glass maybe every 2 weeks. That tank has the dimmest LED lighting since it's just a lion fish meaning the sunlight would cause the majority of the algae except there is almost none in the tank ever.

There may be no real benefits to direct sunlight other than you get to enjoy your tank in a different light, but there are very few negatives if any. If your tank is getting a lot of sun and a lot of algae there is more at play then what shines through the windows.

 

[cumbeje]

That is true for freshwater tanks and fish only marine tanks only. Reef tanks its a benefit.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Only issue I’ve encountered with indirect light is visible reflections on the glass. But this is very minor and just aesthetics. Just take your tank shots after the sun is no longer entering that window.

 

[Brew12]

It is widely recommended to avoid direct sunlight to your tank, to avoid excessive algea growth.

Do any of you have experience with indirect sunlight, as my planned location will be in a fairly bright room. The location will however not get direct sun at any time during the day and year?

I think this is much more of a concern with fresh water than salt water.

 

[RikardJ]

Thanks for all the responses, it sounds like I shouldn't be too concerned