Natural Sunlight Question

[Troy V]

I have a 10' x 12' series of windows on the front of my house that faces southeast. My aquariums are in that room where they are bombarded by natural sunlight till around noon. That burning ball of gas that is millions of miles away sure is bright! It makes 2-Hydra 52 HDs and a 250 HQI light look dim.
My question is would you guys run any whites on either the MH or Hydra 52s? Would you assume they are getting enough higher nm light, and just try to focus on lower nanometers between 380 to 480?

This pic was taken at 11:30, when the sun is high enough in the sky, and has already shaded half the tank.

 

[cracker]

Interesting, like to hear what others say

 

[3mm3]

Holy clam!

 

[cracker]

how long has the tank been getting this morning sun? I see no algae ( nice tank by the way) so I'd think the sun is good for it. But that's not your question.

 

[DancingShark]

how long has the tank been getting this morning sun? I see no algae ( nice tank by the way) so I'd think the sun is good for it. But that's not your question.

I have a 6ft with about 3 hours of sunlight and no algae.
To his question at the time the sun enters the room mine whites are off by then only blues on sbreef light on ill effects in 9 months. But i think your question is very complex.

I have heard of people running sunlight and having very good results with shades on timer and stuff like that but never looked into their whole setup as far as what do they supplement natural sunlight with.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

I just don't use any light while the tank getting real sun bath IMO it's just a waste of power and pretty much your light system not going to beat the power of the sun light.

 

[Troy V]

how long has the tank been getting this morning sun? I see no algae ( nice tank by the way) so I'd think the sun is good for it. But that's not your question.

The picture of the system you saw is a little over a year old. This past May I had the windows replaced with more efficient ones. The old windows had solar screens on them which reduced the incoming light by 80%. It would still light up the tank but not nearly as intensely. My old system I had for 12 years and would also receive plenty of sunlight but not nearly as intense. I never had an issue with algae or browning. But now it is now a much larger variable in the equation.

Old system.

 

[Troy V]

I have a 6ft with about 3 hours of sunlight and no algae.
To his question at the time the sun enters the room mine whites are off by then only blues on sbreef light on ill effects in 9 months. But i think your question is very complex.

I have heard of people running sunlight and having very good results with shades on timer and stuff like that but never looked into their whole setup as far as what do they supplement natural sunlight with.

What type of system are you running? (SPS, LPS, Mixed) If you have SPS do you experience any browning? I agree it is a complex issue, and it is difficult to quantify the amount of white light is being introduced. The par is around 1700-1900 when the sun is directly on the tank. This is giving the tank a bunch of the "red" side of the spectrum which is mostly filtered out by the time it reaches the coral in the ocean.

 

[Troy V]

I just don't use any light while the tank getting real sun bath IMO it's just a waste of power and pretty much your light system not going to beat the power of the sun light.

So how long do you run your lights a day?

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

So how long do you run your lights a day?

I was meant for your system, my tank position can not get hit by the sun light.
You can easy record when the sun hit your tank and when it off your tank, schedule your light on/off according to that time frame, remember it will change through out the year and season. If that too hassle you can just let your light on and no need to deal with all the extra works

 

[DancingShark]

What type of system are you running? (SPS, LPS, Mixed) If you have SPS do you experience any browning? I agree it is a complex issue, and it is difficult to quantify the amount of white light is being introduced. The par is around 1700-1900 when the sun is directly on the tank. This is giving the tank a bunch of the "red" side of the spectrum which is mostly filtered out by the time it reaches the coral in the ocean.

It's a mixed reef. I have not have any browning that I have noticed.

 

[DancingShark]

To be honest I was more worried about temps swings than anything else. With my sump being in the basement i guess it help.
I wanted to have a 30g on the second floor in my bedroom and temperature control have stopped me since I have six windows I am not willing to black out.