solartubes for a planted tank.
- Thread starter tidioute06
- Start date
So I'm sitting here drinking my morning coffee (to early for beer) and I'm confused.
I thought it was a bad idea for an aquarium to be in front of a window and exposed to direct sunlight .
Wouldn't a skylight or solatube be doing the same thing ?
I think I understand needing the qualities of natural sunlight for plant growth but wouldn't you get massive algae growth at the same time ? Maybe this is a better idea for a refugium than a main tank.
Or I could be wrong in which case it would be cheaper to place the tank in front of a window and hang a Day/Night shade to control the light. Hmmmm
I thought it was a bad idea for an aquarium to be in front of a window and exposed to direct sunlight .
Wouldn't a skylight or solatube be doing the same thing ?
I think I understand needing the qualities of natural sunlight for plant growth but wouldn't you get massive algae growth at the same time ? Maybe this is a better idea for a refugium than a main tank.
Or I could be wrong in which case it would be cheaper to place the tank in front of a window and hang a Day/Night shade to control the light. Hmmmm
I have thought about this and will do it in a few years when I build my final home where I will stay for good. I planned on doing a skylight over a reef tank and just having the canopy go to the roof. You see it more with reef tanks but it would work just as well for a planted tank. If you have an algae explosion just get a few clams like people do in their ponds and it would look amazing.
You would have to manage the tank a little more closely using direct sunlight, and have some way of limiting the light at times (maybe a shade drawn partially across, or something), but the amount of growth you'd get in your plants would be amazing. Plus the colors of your fish would really pop under real sunlight.
I've thought about this myself, I just can't do it in my current house.
I've thought about this myself, I just can't do it in my current house.
Well I do plan on perhaps running a small UV filter for algae and I'll def have some clams ect. I'm going for a 500+ gallon planted tank with a huge school of tiger barbs and perhaps some clown loach and maybe another school fish. People build these large tanks and then put 5-6 LARGE fish in them. I'm kinda doing the opposite. I'm turning my garage into a gym and I thought this massive tank would be awesome in the cardio area to keep the brain moving while running/biking.ect.
I do plan on using probably 2 skylights. The beams are 24" on center.. sooo i'm thinking 2 24"x48" skylights could be plenty. Once I get this project started i'll going to make a build thread. I have a few more "honey-do" projects left (we all know how that goes) so I'm hoping to start the build within the month or 2.
I do plan on using probably 2 skylights. The beams are 24" on center.. sooo i'm thinking 2 24"x48" skylights could be plenty. Once I get this project started i'll going to make a build thread. I have a few more "honey-do" projects left (we all know how that goes) so I'm hoping to start the build within the month or 2.
