Windowsill pico?

[Kehy]

Anyone try with with only natural sunlight? I'm thinking a cute little pico with macros and maybe some tough as nails coral that might handle the indirect/shaded sunlight and conditions. Might supplement with artificial light as the seasons change, but I want to limit that. No fish, probably no intentional inverts other than stomatella snails. Just curious if anyone has tried "the real deal"

 

[725196]

Although I have never done this I would think that heat from sunlight would become an issue real fast in a suck a small amount of water.

I am interested to see if anyone has done this successfully. Following along.

 

[Kehy]

Regardless of if it's a good/bad idea, I'm still try for at least awhile. I'm just curious. And I wanna play with macros, haven't done that yet, and I bet the sunlight will make them happy.

 

[j.falk]

Natural sunlight = algae bloom.

 

[Kehy]

Natural sunlight = algae bloom.

Untrue. An algae bloom in sunlight means excess or unbalanced nutrients. A tanks newly exposed to sunlight has this issue as well, as adjustments need to be made for the additional light.

I know this beyond reasonable doubt- I've kept a ton of freshwater windowsill picos. There's the usual new tank ugliest, and changing seasons can cause a small bloom. But nothing major and over time the problems fix themselves as the tanks reaches equilibrium.

 

[j.falk]

So you're saying that what I said was untrue...that natural sunlight would not cause an algae bloom and then you went on to say that it can happen. You contradicted yourself.

In my experience, tanks that receive natural sunlight have a greater occurrence of algae blooms than those that do not.

 

[saltnut]

I have never done one. I do remember a member on a different forum had one with reasonable success it may have been a little larger than a pico (over 5 gallons) but he actually had it for at least a couple years

 

[Brandon3152134]

So you're saying that what I said was untrue...that natural sunlight would not cause an algae bloom and then you went on to say that it can happen. You contradicted yourself.

In my experience, tanks that receive natural sunlight have a greater occurrence of algae blooms than those that do not.

Truth

 

[Kehy]

I'm saying small blooms happen, yes, but not tank ending ones. Over time, they correct themselves and people usually give up before that happens. It usually takes 3-9 months for a freshwater windowsill tank to reach solid equilibrium, and if you give up early, that's on you.

Therefore it's absolutely possible to run stable a sunlight tank, though you do have to keep in mind it won't behave like your usual domestic tanks. Sunlit tanks will always have a wild and unpredictable element to them- both good and bad. They do have real limitations- sensitive creatures and things need not apply. But if something can handle the instability you're met with a fantastic beast much more akin to the wild version of it.

The way I "run" windowsill tanks means that nature rules this tank. There's no dabbling in dosing. Algae cleaning is minimal- I've never had it not self correct and self clean over time. If you can't handle leaving things will enough alone- it's not for you. Set things up well in the start and see how it plays out over time is the name of the game.

 

[jeffrey750750]

Tropicorium a coral farm by me has most of their vats in a greenhouse setting

 

[Kehy]

Tropicorium a coral farm by me has most of their vats in a greenhouse setting

On a commercial setting, I could definitely see that saving some money, but I would have concerns over the inconsistency. Personally I wouldn't try this on that scale and for commercial use, but I'm glad they're proving me wrong

 

[Brandon3152134]

Tropicorium a coral farm by me has most of their vats in a greenhouse setting

Wouldnt the have difficulties with selling sunlit corals to people useing indoor lights? I cant imagine they would preform well if not acclimated properly.