Solar lighting for your tank

[michika]

Just wanted to share this from Reef Central.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1457056

[fishoholic]

That is so cool, I'd love to do something like that. However in winter I can't see myself going up on the roof to brush the snow off of them. Not really sure if it's sunny enough here (over all) for it to work as well or not.

[hillbillyreefer]

My parents have those in their house. I've been wondering about a system like that ever since. They haven't ever had to sweep them off. The night light effect with the tubes would be awesome.

[Brighteyes_13]

i guess natural light is really the only way to replicate what the reefs get, i am wondering how effective they would be up here in canada tho... less direct lighting hours, less intensity as compared to some place closer to the equator.

would be very nice tho

[Delphinus]

My thoughts as well. It's neat but the sunlight he gets where he is and the sunlight we get up here are not too equivalent. Nevertheless it is neat and an interesting alternative to using a greenhouse for your tank if you wanted to use sunlight at least as a supplement.

[Reefer Rob]

I like it! Maybe we could use more tubes in this area. Or how about a light sensor that turns on some T5s if the light is too low.

[JDigital]

My parents got a couple of those installed in their new house they are building, just for normal lighting. I gotta say, they are very bright (in a good way), much better than fluorescent lighting. Can't get much closer to "real light" for an aquarium... Following lunar cycles would be a no brainer.. haha. Curious to know if you still get the shimmering effect like MH?

[Keri]

Wow - those are REALLY cool, and more reasonably priced than I would have expected....makes me wish it didn't rain so much here!

[Marlin65]

Very cool I use sunlight as much as I can. (tank is close too two windows)
Coral farmers use greenhouses to farm corals with natural light.
I think our climate would work with supplemented lighting on cloudy days as cooling costs more than heating.

[FitoPharmer]

iv looked into farming corals in Canada, it would defiantly be a full time job just to adjust your shade cloths in the summer. where i live or a few other places in BC get lots of sun, more then enough to farm corals in greenhouses or to get a really good effect off a sola-tube 75% of the year. surprising a cloudy day is perfect, so even farming corals near the coast is feasible (cheaper to heat your greenhouse in winter). on a cloudy day, no shade cloths are needed, or just a very light mesh. on a sunny day sometime you have to block out half the light. just remember, if its not as dark as night there's light, and some corals grow 10 or more meters under water. when you grow them in a green house in a foot or less it changes how much natural light is needed for different kinds of corals. Anthony Calfo's first coral farm was set up in a greenhouse around Pittsburgh somewhere which gets more snow and less overall hours of sunlight per year then what we do here in kamloops. i wanted a sola-tube reef, but couldn't convince my mom to let me install one . they do shimmer if you don't use the light diffuser, however that could easily burn your corals on summer days.