Natural Sunlight?

[KingOfTheSea]

Is natural sunlight bad for planted aquariums in the same way it is for normal ones? Let me explain.

I have set my tank up, started the cycle, added plants (10 bunches from LTP on ebay, they are amazing) and busted the bulb. Ordered another one and used a 12" light to give the plants a bit of light. Anyway a new one came and it was busted in the post. Now i have to wait a few days before i can get to a pet shop to get a new bulb.

My aquarium recieves sunlight from sunrise - 11am most days, will the plants benifit from this? or does the glass take the benifits away like in marine aquaria. Also its been a week and a half i think, since i set the tank up and no algea yet but im not sure why.

All my plants seem really healthy at the moment (its only been about a week, not sure how long before they start to show signs of ill health). Temps are good.

I have used ammo lock as a dechlorinator. I have been using a liquid fertaliser (name slipped my mind) and will be back on track with lighting in the next few days

Well i guess my main question is will the sunlight benifit the plants or will it just cause alega? No leaves or anything have fallen off of the amazon swordy type plants which I read to expect. No leaves off of any plants really. The cabomba is doing well also.

Hmmm... I have confused myself lol

 

[loraxchick]

Is natural sunlight bad for planted aquariums in the same way it is for normal ones? Let me explain.

I have set my tank up, started the cycle, added plants (10 bunches from LTP on ebay, they are amazing) and busted the bulb. Ordered another one and used a 12" light to give the plants a bit of light. Anyway a new one came and it was busted in the post. Now i have to wait a few days before i can get to a pet shop to get a new bulb.

My aquarium recieves sunlight from sunrise - 11am most days, will the plants benifit from this? or does the glass take the benifits away like in marine aquaria. Also its been a week and a half i think, since i set the tank up and no algea yet but im not sure why.

All my plants seem really healthy at the moment (its only been about a week, not sure how long before they start to show signs of ill health). Temps are good.

I have used ammo lock as a dechlorinator. I have been using a liquid fertaliser (name slipped my mind) and will be back on track with lighting in the next few days

Well i guess my main question is will the sunlight benifit the plants or will it just cause alega? No leaves or anything have fallen off of the amazon swordy type plants which I read to expect. No leaves off of any plants really. The cabomba is doing well also.

Hmmm... I have confused myself lol

funny to mention this as i have a 3 gal with a similar situation. planted with a bunch of fast growers that gets ONLY sunlight from sunrise to about 11 (as yours does). been set up in the same spot for 4 months and no algae as of yet (knock wood). i fertilize and do water changes as appropriate. inhabitants are a male betta, dwarf frog and some snails. all stats GREAT (nitrates only 5 on testing day/waterchange day which is once a week). heater and diy sponge filter. i started it as a little experiment to see what would happen and move the tank should algae arise. no probs yet, fingers crossed. although im very conscious of the plants' needs and they grow beautifully in this setup.
sorry i cant offer advice or anything, but i have a set up similar to yours so thought id share my tank story.
cheers!

 

[KingOfTheSea]

Thanks for the reply, its weird, Im worried I will wake up to a pile of stems one morning lol

Same, if its a problem I could move the tank, but at the moment it seems no harm is being caused

 

[RadaR]

Natural sunlight is ok to use. The only problem is you can't control it as easy as a light tube. After 7-9 hours the tank shouldn't receive anymore light and so place a dark blanket over the tank.

 

[Jallen]

Natural sunlight is ok to use. The only problem is you can't control it as easy as a light tube. After 7-9 hours the tank shouldn't receive anymore light and so place a dark blanket over the tank.

Why?
In nature plants will sometimes get 14 hours of light...

 

[KingOfTheSea]

Well it only really gets sunlight from around sunrise (which has been from 4.30-5.30 ish lately) to 11am, which is 6ish hours. Then I can put the light on for a few hours. Also its going to stop being sunny soon seeing as this is england so i will have yo use the tube all the time anway.

 

[RadaR]

Natural sunlight is ok to use. The only problem is you can't control it as easy as a light tube. After 7-9 hours the tank shouldn't receive anymore light and so place a dark blanket over the tank.

Why?
In nature plants will sometimes get 14 hours of light...

Comparing nature to an aquarium isn't really applicable. The aquarium is a closed system unlike nature.
I guess we shouldn't feed our fish either, because there isn't someone standing on the amazon bank with a pot of Tetramin in his hand. You see my point.
Plants don't need more than 10 hours a day of light anyway. For a few months, new high light tanks will only have lights for 6hours. Gradually you can increase this. Less light = less maintenance and less chance of nuisance algae.

 

[Truck]

Natural sunlight is ok to use. The only problem is you can't control it as easy as a light tube. After 7-9 hours the tank shouldn't receive anymore light and so place a dark blanket over the tank.

Why?
In nature plants will sometimes get 14 hours of light...

yes but in nature plants get lots of nutrients from rotting detritus and the plant mass per x ammount of water is more in the wild.
and in the summer months most plants will be emersed and will get 14 hours but in the winter seasons they will be submersed but will get less light.

 

[loraxchick]

a natural system is so complicated with decomposers, primary producers, consumers., etc that it would be horrendously difficult to obtain this in an aquarium. and algae is natural in ponds lakes river etc, anyway it is our obsession with algae free tanks that seems to miss the natural side of things. it is the amount of algae in a natural body of water that is variable. those found downstream from runoff from farms or folks that use fertilizers for that perfect green lawn, that get horrendously overrun with algae. so saying saying sunlight is the factor is nonsense. ALL bodies of water have algae. even heavily flushed ones as mountain streams and the ocean for pete's sake! it is the human side of things that wants NO algae anyway. it is not harmful, just unsightly to some.
cheers

 

[Jallen]

The reason I asked is because I have a 20L just inside my window with plants in it that gets the full days amount of sunlight and doesn't grow algae - plant growth goes mad though.

Algae is caused more by chemical inbalances than light. I keep my main tank light on for 12 hours a day and my 20L just inside the window all the time. Niether has any algae at all. The only time I have ever got algae was in my first tank which was a 15g with no plants and that was only brown algae for the first couple of months.

 

[RadaR]

Algae is caused more by chemical inbalances than light.

If you are referring to the Redfield ratio then no, that's not correct.
And technically it's always about light. If you're getting algae then you're not supplying enough nutrients (whether that's micro, macro or carbon) for that current light level.
Plants don't care about what ratio the nutrients are in, so long as they are getting enough. You could have 30ppm of CO2, 30ppm of nitrate and 8ppm of phosphate and as long as these weren't limiting the plants growth (not enough of them) then none of these (nitrate, phosphate and CO2) would be causing algae.

 

[Jallen]

Algae is caused by an excess of either light or nutrients. If you are supplying nutrients then the chances that the light are causing the problem are slim (though of course the problem wouldn't be there with no light). More likely is that the excessive nutrients are causing it.

That's my opinion anyway, and I have never any algae problems since my first tank.

400th post

 

[RadaR]

Algae is caused by an excess of either light or nutrients.

Never excess nutrients unless the nutrient is ammonia.

If you are supplying nutrients then the chances that the light are causing the problem are slim

You can supply nutrients all you want, but if it's not enough then you'll get algae. If you are supplying enough into the water but you are still getting algae then you don't have enough flow to deliver the nutrients to the plants. Decaying organic matter in the filter or substrate leaches ammonia and this combined with algae spores and light causes algae.

That's my opinion anyway, and I have never any algae problems since my first tank.

That's what people have been led to believe for 50years plus, but it's complete tosh. Estimative Index has us overdose nutrients so that we don't run the risk of not supplying enough, and we don't get algae. Infact the best planted tanks here are run via Ei and look at all the "Ooooo ahhh" comments that they get.
Bit more research needs to be done before you state "excess nutrients cause algae". One persons experience isn't enough.

 

[loraxchick]

how would you explain the natural water bodies that are downstream from farms (either agricultural or livestock) and from communities that routinely douse their lawns with fertializers. always MAJOR algae blooms. a growing problem in the US. ive been involved with research aspects and collecting data. for instance, many golf courses are abandoning old fertilizing regimes for more "eco-friendly" alternatives such as composting. thier water hazards became overrun with algae and runoff form said courses (just one example) have reaked havoc on native water bodies downstream.
im simply saying its not as easy as ferts vs light vs flow. even watershed streams(with plenty of flow) are being compromised by artificial fertilization practices. really, there is no simple answer and that i why there is a lot of money being spent to figure out why this is happening, which variable(s) are to blame, and how to mitigate the damage. i was employed in this field for a while and still no concensus. it is all speculation. open or closed system, there is more to it than meets the eye (and current research).
sorry to the OP for getting off topic.

 

[RadaR]

What you are referring to I think is Eutrophication.
Nutrients get into the water via leaching. If the fertiliser is ammonium nitrate then already their might be algae problems. Not because of the nitrate, but rather the ammonium. Nitrates and other nutrients will feed the plants and they will grow, however when the nutrients run out, then the plants will begin to break down because light is the driving force for plant growth and if there isn't enough nutrients for that light level then the plant will be uncontrollably leaching ammonia into the water column. Decaying matter leaches more ammonia and combined with light and algae spores you will get more algae.
I assure you that you could get a very good reply to your question if you privately messaged Tom Barr. An expert in the field IMO.