Natural sunlight

[discuspro]

I was curious to see if anyone in Austin uses or has used natural sunlight alone to light their tank, especially SPS. I saw a TV program on the Waikiki Aquarium and how they have a reef tank outside that is lit by natural sunlight.

That would be my dream home to have a glass roof or something over a huge tank lit by the sun and moon. It would totally seem to give the coral the natural day and night seasonal changes that would lead to coral breeding.

Here she blows:

[jap1]

I have been to that aquarium on several occasions. That tank is pretty cool. I just love the concept. Ofcourse over there, the tank is completely outside and the weather is stable year round. Unlike here where it's in the 40's in the morning and in the 80's by the afternoon. Maybe it'd work in a greenhouse.

[discuspro]

Right, that is one of the problems of trying that here. Talk about paradise and low cost lighting. Even still I think there would be some way around having it outside.

Say you had a domed glass ceiling about 8-9 foot at the max height. Glass would work because it blocks UV. If it was a part of your main house you could have the normal air conditioning help with the cooling the tank and the room where the sunlight comes in ($$$$). It would be interesting to see what colors come out of the coral with that type of setup. Maybe the trade off for the expense of the lighting system would be in the air conditioning/cooling cost? Probably would be cheaper to just move to Waikiki 8)

[GaryP]

Mike Paletta talked about that tank during his talk. As I recall, the problem with it was the source of water. They were using a subterranean salt water. As it turned out, it was contaminated with metals from the volcanic rock in HI. The subterranean water turned out to not be a very good replacement for sea water.

[falcondob]

Mike Paletta talked about that tank during his talk. As I recall, the problem with it was the source of water. They were using a subterranean salt water. As it turned out, it was contaminated with metals from the volcanic rock in HI. The subterranean water turned out to not be a very good replacement for sea water.

Yep, some pretty brown corals there.., but the cost of lighting..well, bet it is cheaper than running 1600W MH and 880w of VHO..but then again, I have been to Hawaii..it costs $5 for each breath of air..sunlight has got to be more expensive....

[greatwit]

Actually in person the acros in that tank have some nice colors. But I haven't seen the tank in a couple years so things may have changed.

[alton]

http://www.solatube.com/ I think we had this discussion about a year ago? The website is pretty neat and if you install two or more the price comes way down. Also I don't know about Austin energy but I would think they would give savings for going with the green house effect and these fit that application.