55 Gallon Tank Newbie lighting question for tanks with direct sunlight.

HI there folks!

I'm a newbie to plants! I have a 55gal tank and I'm thinking about possibly making the switch to real plants and gradually tossing out the old plastic ones.

Before I did ANYTHING to my tank, I wanted to do a bit of reading first, so I looked through some of the beginner topics and stickies but none of them seem to answer my questions about natural direct sunlight. Most of them discuss artificial lighting at length.

I have a standard hood that (according to the guide) would provide about .5 wpg of lighting. HOWEVER, my tank is placed in my foyer of my home that sits directly across from my front door... which is crowned by an ENORMOUS palladium window that directly faces EAST.

It looks very much like this:


I am aware that most try to keep their tanks away from direct sunlight because of algae, but I simply have no choice as this is the ONLY place in my house that I can put my tank. Happily, this provides a fantastic view to guests as they enter my home and I get lots of compliments on my pretty 55 gallon tank. And the kids in the neighborhood love it! They love to stop and stare when they come over to play with my son. Sadly, my tank does get huge doses of direct sunlight for a couple hours each morning. Then it continues to be very well lit for the rest of the day with indirect sunlight, as the sun passes over the window and goes above my house.

Up till now, I have managed to control the amount of direct sunlight exposure by covering my tank with a brown tablecloth that I got specifically to fit the dimensions of my tank. It matches the color of the wood base so it doesn't look bad at all. I cover the tank at night before bed, and then remove the tablecloth in the late morning hours after the direct sunlight has passed.

Recently, I started thinking about taking advantage of all this free sunlight to create a planted tank. But I'm not sure which types of plants I should get? Medium lighting plants? High lighting plants? Also what about floating plants... my tank is covered, so I guess those would not get any of the direct sunlight... so maybe Low lighting plants for the top?

I'm just not sure where I fit into the whole lighting game.

Please advise! And thank you so much!

 

I feel like its hard to tell how much light your plants are actually getting this way. especially for use because we can't see it, a pic would prob help.

you should be fine growing easy plants like anubias or java fern. I would start there then move up and try some others. wisteria, sag, vals, water spite, anacharis would all be good choices and will grow easily. but ya never really know if a plant will grow in a aquarium or not. I couldn't seem to be able to keep hornwort in my high tech tank, idk why it would be considered a easy plant.

here is where I ordered my plants. if you have a lfs I would try to get them there. plants don't ship very well but usually will make it.

 

I use natural sunlight in my planted tank. I have a 40 gallon directly under the window. We get many hours of sunlight in that part of the house.

I have no algae problems. I do have half the back of the tank covered in window tint made for cars. I did this so the fish feel secure. I have used natural sunlight in the past as well without issues. A few nerite snails help keep things clean.

The Walstad method is famous for using natural "free" light in planted aquariums.

The only concern would be making sure the tank doesn't get too hot in direct sunlight. A good watch on the thermometer during the day will let you know if sun gets too hot. A good heater that self regulates and shuts off will be good to have.

If you get tons of sunlight, you may have to supplement the plants with fertilizer and/or CO2. A good balance will help keep algae away too.

 

Hi! And thank you for the quick reply.

To help you out, I snapped a few pictures with my iphone and uploaded them, so you can see exactly what I am talking about. The pictures are a little dark at the moment because the sun has already set on the back side of the house for the day.

As stated above, my tank gets DIRECT sunlight exposure for several hours each morning as the sun passes in front of the palladium window.

Hope this helps!

 

...The Walstad method is famous for using natural "free" light in planted aquariums.

The only concern would be making sure the tank doesn't get too hot in direct sunlight. A good watch on the thermometer during the day will let you know if sun gets too hot. A good heater that self regulates and shuts off will be good to have.

Thanks for the tips... I will research the "Walstad" method. But it always helps to know where to start looking.

Also, I have a self-regulating heater in the tank already. My tank always stays at a regular 78 degrees everyday, all year long. Even on the hottest summer days it really doesn't change. We have central air conditioning so maybe that helps? I'm not sure.

 

The best way to use the sunlight is heavily plant the tank to out compete algae. Can you get a photo during peek daylight hours? I'd use it, as long as the temp doesn't rise too high.

With the top on, some of the light may get dispersed. Hard to tell.

 

This may help. My tank. Notice the left side, that's window tint made for car windows. It comes in various darkness. It it gets too much sunlight, maybe you could use to dilute the sun.

 

Okay I'll take more pictures in the morning and during the afternoon tomorrow. And then I will post them up tomorrow evening.

Thanks again!

 

The window tinting is a great idea... however... I think my hubby will SERIOUSLY object to having our beautiful palladium windows tinted.

Hehe... darn spouses! Don't they understand that fish are SERIOUS business? LOL!

 

The window tinting is a great idea... however... I think my hubby will SERIOUSLY object to having our beautiful palladium windows tinted.

Hehe... darn spouses! Don't they understand that fish are SERIOUS business? LOL!

Could just tint the tank.

 

How will that effect my view of the fish? My tank sits with the back side against a wall so the only side to really get a good view is the front. I don't think I want to tint the front and possibly diminish that front view.

Anyway, I've been busy and kept forgetting to take a picture of the tank in the morning with the sun shining on it. But I finally remembered!



The tank is still covered, and the sun beats down on it directly for a few hours each morning. This picture was taken at about 10:15am. It is now 11:00 and the direct sunlight is no longer on the tank as it has passed over. The sun light starts up high and moves downward over the tank.

 

I would use that sunlight and add tons of plants, especially towards the front. If the sunlight is morning sun, it may not get too hot.

 

So I should put medium or high light plants in the front center of tank? What about an amazon sword front and center?

Then maybe some lower light plants on the far ends and in the back? I'd like some taller plants in the back, any recommendations?

And yes, it is morning sun. By 11am the direct sun light has finished passing over the tank. But for the rest of the afternoon the tank gets lots of indirect sunlight though.

 

An amazon sword would probably work. I'd grow a bunch of stem plants to help with algae. Ludwiga reopens is easy. Look up "stem plants" and just about all will work.

Amazons grow huge, so the middle will give it room to spread out. My amazons are a good 1 1/2 foot wide by over 1 foot high.

 

For better responses, start a new thread about plants in the freshwater plants forum.