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Re: Sunny thoughts
Since I have a 45 gal. up against a floor-to-ceiling window, I feel
compelled to throw in my two cents on this.
Nothing compares to the sight of an aquarium receiving morning sun
from behind. I get up early just to see it. It's unreal. I don't
believe that any man-made light can match that glow.
But nothing compares to the speed in which algae can attack when you
get natural light and your nutrients get imbalanced. In my situation,
I only get morning light, but even that's good enough to make me work
harder to keep the nutrients balanced than I have to in periods when
I keep the shutters closed.
If you use natural light, control your nutrients. Natural light can be
higher effort than lower-intensity electric lights. High light levels
encourage fast metabolism and if your plants can't keep up, algae will.
Lower light levels give you more time to adjust parameters, since the
metabolisms will be slower. Work over longer time equals less effort.
I think this is one good reason why natural light is discouraged. The
other good reason is water heating, but this plays into the metabolism
argument.
Carlos E. Munoz
<cmunoz at crystal_cirrus.com>