My patio faces east and has sunlight from dawn till about 1 pm. I was thinking of setting up two tanks that i have lying about in the area of the patio were they get lots of indirect lighting. Would this be sufficient to grow plants without having to buy lighting for the tanks? Or would the indirect sunlight and heat boil the contents of my tanks? The tanks are 75 and 55 Gallons...
Planted Aquaria Using Sunlight
- Thread starter Marsiggy
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6+ hours of direct Miami sun?
Uh, yeah, that should grow some plants. Might also grow a lot of algae too. And I would worry about the temperature thing too unless the room temp is controlled and you circulate water with some open area at the top of the tank so that heat can release easily.
Let's let someone who has had some experience with sunlit tanks get more specific...
One nice thing about artificial lighting is you get to view the tank in the evening or later at night.
Uh, yeah, that should grow some plants. Might also grow a lot of algae too. And I would worry about the temperature thing too unless the room temp is controlled and you circulate water with some open area at the top of the tank so that heat can release easily.
Let's let someone who has had some experience with sunlit tanks get more specific...
One nice thing about artificial lighting is you get to view the tank in the evening or later at night.
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Since you call it a patio, I'm thinking it's an out-door arrangement.
My brother-in-law has a set up like that and has some serious issues with algae, and water temp during the hot months. He actually has to use ice cubes in it(I'm talking tons of ice cubes) during the hot months. In the winter it costs him a fortune in electric to heat it. It's a 55 gal. and he uses 4 heaters and covers it with blankets. Makes no sense to me, but hey he's my brother-in-law.......if you know what I mean.
Len
My brother-in-law has a set up like that and has some serious issues with algae, and water temp during the hot months. He actually has to use ice cubes in it(I'm talking tons of ice cubes) during the hot months. In the winter it costs him a fortune in electric to heat it. It's a 55 gal. and he uses 4 heaters and covers it with blankets. Makes no sense to me, but hey he's my brother-in-law.......if you know what I mean.
Len
You'll need shades or slats or adjustable blinds to control the light, but Diana Walstad (The Ecology of the Planted Aquarium-- get this book!) uses daylight in planted tanks all the time.
If you have a healthy population of freshwater zooplankton, rotifers and copepods and the like, your water is likely to remain clear.
Go for it! What good is living in Florida if you don't take advantage?
If you have a healthy population of freshwater zooplankton, rotifers and copepods and the like, your water is likely to remain clear.
Go for it! What good is living in Florida if you don't take advantage?
I'd be afraid of some serious temperature issues in the tanks. If its an outdoor patio, it will get HOT. Our patio, which is in the shade most of the day, reaches 90 degrees easily during the summer months (march/april to about october) here in central Florida, with the ceiling fans on! If you get plants that like hot water, then you might not have a problem. Maybe local drainage ditches on the side of the road would be a good place to hunt for some appropriate plants for that sort of set up. I dont think fish would fare well at all in there however. Worth a try though, and good luck!
Indirect light shouldn't heat the water. Being outside in 90+ temps will though. My tank is in a room with 4 large skylights and plenty of indirect (natural) lighting, but it's indoors so temp isn't a problem. Your question is IF there will be enough lighting for the plants. 10-12 hours of light are recommended, but low light requiring plants would work. I'm not the plant expert (by a long shot!) but hopefully this will guide others to answer about more than overheating and such, which are valid points!