youcallmenny Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 Like the title asks, is it terrible to have a couple hours natural light hitting the tank? I guess I need to go to Lowe's again... Correct me if I'm wrong but that seems like way too much light. What would happen if left that way? (It won't be.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 Invest in a good glass scraper! I have always had a lot of algae growth on the tank walls whenever I have had a tank near that much natural light - either salt or fresh water. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted October 23, 2017 Author Share Posted October 23, 2017 (edited) As long as it isn't going to hurt the corals then that's no worries. Definitely hanging some drapes ASAP. Not sure about the half moon. The clams light up like crazy in it and they are all starting to twist their mantles towards the sun. Edited October 23, 2017 by youcallmenny 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 Beautiful area but yes you will be constantly struggling with algae! Been there done that and Sirena has had it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted October 23, 2017 Author Share Posted October 23, 2017 (edited) Thank you, Kim! We are really excited about the tank possibilities here. I suppose that's enough of an answer. I'll just block the light with thicker coverings. On this note, here's where the 650 reefer peninsula is going. Right in the middle between the windows. Vicky's computer desk and mine will go on either side, each desk in front of the window facing towards the tank. I'm going to tile the area under the tank since it's carpeted. You can put tanks on tile, right? Edited October 23, 2017 by youcallmenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 I had a bunch of algae for a couple weeks, but it seems my chaeto can even outcompete the natural light... It wasn't an option to keep the light away from that end of my tank, but it seems to have stabilized and I don't really get more algae there than anywhere else now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 9 minutes ago, youcallmenny said: Thank you, Kim! We are really excited about the tank possibilities here. I suppose that's enough of an answer. I'll just block the light with thicker coverings. On this note, here's where the 650 reefer peninsula is going. Right in the middle between the windows. Vicky's computer desk and mine will go on either side, each desk in front of the window facing towards the tank. I'm going to tile the area under the tank since it's carpeted. You can put tanks on tile, right? That is a great area. No it won't hurt corals and Sirena's issue was she had a nano so couldn't add a tang or too! With that kind of room you can add lots of different tangs. People will give you lots of different opinions about which is the best algae eaters. I have had the best luck with the purple tang though some like the Tomini. Hippo tangs just so you know are not good algae eaters which I learned the hard way. When I first started out that was the first one I got. I told the LFS that it was not eating algae and he told me it was because I was feeding too much. So I stopped feeding and they started eating my acans. Years later I learned from Coral Magazine that they are not good grazers at all. Laura Simmons also highly recommended Rabbit fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted October 23, 2017 Author Share Posted October 23, 2017 Hey that's good to hear, thank you for the input. That makes sense. I've got thriving macro completely filling up the fuge so hopefully I experience similar results. The light period is short too, 2 hours max. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 The light for mine comes mostly in the morning, so it's not too awful intense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted October 23, 2017 Author Share Posted October 23, 2017 1 minute ago, Emerald525 said: That is a great area. No it won't hurt corals and Sirena's issue was she had a nano so couldn't add a tang or too! With that kind of room you can add lots of different tangs. People will give you lots of different opinions about which is the best algae eaters. I have had the best luck with the purple tang though some like the Tomini. Hippo tangs just so you know are not good algae eaters which I learned the hard way. When I first started out that was the first one I got. I told the LFS that it was not eating algae and he told me it was because I was feeding too much. So I stopped feeding and they started eating my acans. Years later I learned from Coral Magazine that they are not good grazers at all. Laura Simmons also highly recommended Rabbit fish. Great insight there on future fish plans. I have to confess, I am not a fan of tangs in general. I've had several and always rehomed them. Generally just too aggressive for me. My reef is as peaceful as a hippie commune, ideally. Lawnmower blennies are my goto along with lots of inverts. To each their own, I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 That looks like a great spot for the peninsula! Pretty exciting 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zondebok Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 I do have both a tomini tang and a yellow tank in my tank. The do pick at the glass and rocks a lot, but they didn't come near the algae that was growing because of the sunlight (it was probably too long by the time they got in there), and half of the problem was inside my overflow anyhow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 2 minutes ago, youcallmenny said: Great insight there on future fish plans. I have to confess, I am not a fan of tangs in general. I've had several and always rehomed them. Generally just too aggressive for me. My reef is as peaceful as a hippie commune, ideally. Lawnmower blennies are my goto along with lots of inverts. To each their own, I suppose. Tangs get a bad rap for this. When you realize that they travel miles in a day out in the wild grazing with a lot of space you can understand the aggression. In my 60 gallon I only have one purple tang. I would say in a peninsula that size you could have one or 2. Purple tangs are known for being aggressive but I never had issues with mine. Sometimes he would chase the other fish when they were in his territory and I'm sure if I had added another tang it would have beat it to death. I kept my fish population to a minimum for the space I had and never had an issue. Maybe I can relate because I don't like being in crowds either! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted October 23, 2017 Author Share Posted October 23, 2017 I hear ya! I suppose my sentiment towards tangs is more centered around understanding that they are not acting naturally in my current 4ft 75g. Perhaps they would be more comfortable in the bigger tank! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash21 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 I didn’t read the whole post...you can tint your windows? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted October 23, 2017 Author Share Posted October 23, 2017 @Flash21 That's not a bad idea but the wife is grabbing drapes today. Honestly things seemed pretty happy for the sun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardUp Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 What about indirect light? I was fighting hair algae really bad, till I took the tank down to move. Its been up a few weeks and starting to see it again. I would hate to have the blinds drawn all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milesmiles902 Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Indirect light isn't as bad, but in my experience direct light accumulates algae. Although, it can be make a great picture @Bicyclebill 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 My tank only gets a few minutes of direct sunlight each day in December and January when the sun is low in the southern sky. It makes for a great fish shadow puppet display on my wall! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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