FREE aquarium lighting? hmmm...

[Justo23]

ok, we all spend money on buying lights for our tanks, be they planted or not, large aquariums can cost a lot to light...

Has anyone ever installed these type of sky lights for their aquarium? You can even buy a dimmer that is remote controlled so you can time when the lights come on still...

i think when i finally do get a Monster tank, i'm gonna try them out, but was curious if anyone can fore see any problems or points to consider using solar tubes.

Thanx

 

[Secretninja]

I've seen similar things on reef tanks before, never on a freshwater. They give pretty high par values if I'm not mistaken, so unless you are doing co2 and fert dosing it will probably just make algae take over. I can't say for sure though, as I have never used them.

 

[brich999]

One issue I see is many monster tanks are in basements for weight reasons, I don't think I could get any sunlight there. Algea is crazy in any tank I have near a window except for my jar with a marimo ball in it, but I guess that's a huge chunk of algea too

 

[Justo23]

yes, i do use the liquid co2 bottle and regulator to dose co2 and i already dose ferts... I'm thinking with a PAR meter, i could use the butterfly valve dimmer to establish desired average light output, then use the Milwaukee SMS122 pH Controller to accurately dose the necessary co2 (so it's not over dosed on cloudy days) i think it would work quite nicely for a planted monster tank... But this is all just speculation for now, as i'm no where near the point of setting up a 300+ gallon tank yet

 

[Tstone]

Am I missing something? I don't get where you're getting "free" from.. Sorry if I misunderstood something..

Were you planning on using these as lights for the room that the tank is in? and then they'd just be able to light the aquarium as well? So you'd technically just be buying a light for the room?

 

[Justo23]

no... install it directly over the aquarium, extend the tube to about 3' above the water level, and never pay for the electrical bill of keeping your aquarium lit again all it'll cost is the initial purchase and install

 

[Tstone]

Oh wow.. I really missed that part. Kudos to you!

 

[gmalone]

I think that's a fantastic idea and those tubular skylights have always interested me. The "butterfly" valve seems like a great idea to regulate the light coming in. Good luck with this and I'd love to see pictures when this becomes a reality.