[hutchtoo]

First of all, hello, this is my first post to this forum. I kept aquariums a decade or so ago, including saltwater, and am finally putting my toes back in the water.

I have a new Fluval Edge system (6 gal. w/ two built in spot lamps) and plan to stock it with 4 plants and about as many danios/tetras and some freshwater shrimp, i.e. a low bio load.

In planning for the tank's location, I have two options:
1) A Southern room full of windows and likely direct sunlight during parts of the day.
2) A Northern room with no sun rays at all.

In the past, I read opinions that one should avoid sunlight in order to minimize undesirable algae. However, with a planted tank and a light bio load, I thought that some sun would be beneficial for this kind of environment.

Would appreciate your points of view on this. Thanks!

 

[Hoppy]

You will be much happier without any sun on the tank, in my experience. Sunlight tends to cause blue green algae, or it did for me, usually between the substrate and the glass, where the sunlight hit. Even in nature I believe most aquatic plants grow in shaded areas of water rather than in direct sunlight. (I may be wrong on that though)

 

[hutchtoo]

Thanks for your thoughts Hoppy.

My concern was that even with low nitrate levels (the planted aspect is what's new to me -- how much they help absorb nitrates) that algae could still thrive in bright light. I'd rather not be scraping the glass on this tank every weekend.

 

[Hoppy]

Algae require almost no nutrients to grow well. That's primarily because even a bad algae growth contains a very small mass of growing material, and the nutrient need is somewhat proportional to that mass. What algae do require is light, and the sun fills that need very well.

 

[hutchtoo]

Well explained, thanks for pointing me in the right direction (North!).

 

[Twimbo]

Hopefully, you have already found the "Official Edge Thread." If not, enjoy.

Hoppy is a real lighting guru and I always try to follow his advice. However, I know that some folks do have success using natural sunlight for their aquariums. I don't have that option as I keep all my tanks in the basement. For the time being you are probably better staying in the shade. However, as you ease yourself back into aquariums and reading more about the current "state of the art," you might find yourself trying a sunlight aquarium some day. I hope to try it sometime to see if I can make it work, but for now, I'm happy keeping that complicating factor out of my equation.

 

[hutchtoo]

Appreciate the link Twimbo, I missed that thread. Good stuff there.

 

[mistergreen]

You can do sunlight but you have to be careful to only allow a few hours. The rest of the time you can have no light or minimal light. and have a lot of plants and also supply them with nutrients and co2. Chain sword is a plant that grows really well in sun.

 

[talontsiawd]

I have my 10 gallon infront of a window where the blinds are always closed. It does fine but there is almost no natural light. However, in the summer especially, I have had green water and other algae. That is what I don't like, how uncontrolable it is. One day can give you a lot of work.

 

[jjp2]

I would be more careful with the Fluval Edge as its almost a completely closed top and would heat up very quickly if in direct sun.