sunlight effect

[ng]

can a little natural sunlight effect a tank?

can it cause to make a brown algae form on the live rock or is it just a cycle our tank is going through.

the tank is been setup 3 months ago, all parameters read as requierd.

system inverts:

4 clowns, 4 blue/green damsels, 1 yellow watchman gooby, 1 decorated gooby

[Travis L. Stevens]

all algae, unicellular to macro, will go through stages of a tanks life. Natural Sunlight can actually be very beneficial to a tank...and algae, too. But to keep control of algae while a tank is taking up sunlight, you'll need to inhibit a different food source. Nitrate and Phosphate are the most common. Just give it time.

BTW, your clownfish are almost certain to fight to the death until there are two left. You might want to head off any aggression and just keep the largest and the smallest. FWIW, it could take a while until you see aggression.

[ng]

so should i just stop the sunlight from entering the tank .. or just leave it as it is and it will settle?

the tank is 2 meters in length, i do notice the clowns fighting .. but only when the 2 couples gather .. 2 swim on each side of the tank.

[arts007]

ive seen alot of tanks that use natural sunlight, I occasionally open the windows and let the sunlight in...sometimes I will actually use mirrors to direct it to the tank, no ill affects of algae blooms that ive seen

[Wett Hands]

Just recently I saw a neighbors tank that that gets a lot of sunlight. The tank is covered in hair algea. My research leads me to the conclusion that his problem is caused by nutrient import/water quality issue. The reason I place more blame on the sunlight is the fact that he uses RO/DI water and minimally feeds every other day. I also find it very interesting that the only part of the tank not to be covered with HA is the small section that gets no direct sunlight... ( I can almost hear travis... "Oh great there he goes again...) :lol:

[dowjones1221]

maybe the problem he is having is that he is leaving his lights on along with the sunlight. This may cause the algae to grow at a much faster rate then with just one light source. Corals and aquatic life have thrived in natural sunlight for millions of years, so i dont understand how sunlight cant be beneficial.

[Shagsbeard]

Temperature might become a problem if you live in a sunny area... but otherwise it's healty, free and fine to use. If I win the lotto, but a house, and design a "dream tank", it will be lit primarily with sunlight. LED light will back up the sun light to keep the tank lit on cloudy days.

[ng]

in our tank we didnt get any green algae, but its just the brown algae thats forming on the rocks and sand.

were using ro/di water a 4 stage system by kent marine, and toping of with it.

the lights are on for at least 11 hours, the sunlight is geting in the tank before the tank lights come on in about 2 hours, its not direct sunlight its just a bit.

[Shagsbeard]

The brown algae is diatoms... all maturing tanks get it, and to a lesser degree, established tanks. Increasing flow helps, as does running over the rocks with a turkey baster every so often.

[SeanySean]

I used to have one side of my old setup next to a window and yes the algae was slightly worse on that side but compared to the positives like brilliant coraline growth, corals grew like crazy leaning towards the window more even with 400W halides and lots of different types of Macro algae's!!