Sunlight

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Zorro

Zorro

Candiru
MFK Member
Nov 3, 2005
968
0
46
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Meriden CT
Well my 55gallon is right in front of a window. If I just have the power of the sun and some good ferts can that be alright for plants?
 
depending on your nitrates, if its in a window, dont be suprised if you get some nice algae growth
 
Its actually dependent of many things. What kind of stock of fish do you have? How many plants do you have, and what kind? Fast growers are a good choice for natural light tanks. Do you use ferts, and if so, what kind? Do you have CO2 injected, or do you rely on the fish to supply the CO2? Do you have a bubbler, or filter on the tank? How long does the tank get lighting? Is it morning, evening or mid day light? These are all very important factors in how the planted tank will do, and how much algae you will have.
 
I would put up a DIY co2 reactor. You can use greg watson ferts for great control, but seachem flourish will also work well. Still need to know the size of the tank, and how many hours, and at what time the tank gets the lighting. Also, it is VERY important to know what fish are stocked, and what kind of filter. If you don't have enough fish to produce co2, or have a hob or air driven filter the tank will have very small amounts of co2 which will cause the plants to grow very slowly, and algae to take off. A good amount of fish stocked will provide a good amount of co2 just have no surface agitation at all. A small powerhead to move the water is all that is necessary, and the plants will take care of filtering the water.
 
be carefull real sun can add up to a algae bloom and ur water will be all green this type of algae is a one celled and supendes it self in the water making it green
 
This is the same case with all planted tanks. If you have too many watts over a tank, without the proper nutrients, and co2 you will have algae. This problem doesn't lie in the lighting type, it lies in the lack of nutrients, co2, or there not being enough plants to use up the nutrients. With proper preparation for a tank of this style, it can be done just as easily as with a pc or mh fixture over it.
 
55 gallon
AC70, Ehiem plus 2215.
sunlight- cant really controll it cuz of school

Fish-
1 LMB
4 Yellow Perch-there going soon
2 Fire Mouths- going soon
1 sultan pleco
1 common pleco
1 fire eel
4 clown loaches
1 Geophagus steindachneri
2 Satanoperca jurapari
1 irwini
 
Ditch the AC, it is causing you to lose what little co2 is in the tank. For the plants in sunlit tanks you have to have the surface completely still, or very little movement. With the natural light ferts should be added, dependent on the fish kept in the tank. Ferts and co2 are a must for the natural lit tanks if you want to be able to control algae.
 
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