tank considerations

[m]

Hi
I'm posting this from work using google groups... so if it screws up I
plead ignorance because I've never tried posting like this before.

Anyways, I posted before about moving to an apartment and getting a new
bigger tank, and as I'm getting ready to setup my 55g tank now I notice
that I'm in a very very sunny place.
It seems like no matter where I put it, it's going to be getting
several hours of direct sunlight a day. Now the tank lighting isn't
anything special at all... probably just good enough to see the fish
and grow low light plants, but with this direct sunlight for say 4+
hours a day does my tank suddenly become a "high light" tank? Am I
doomed to suffer horrible algae problems or is there something I can
do?
I'm sure the #1 thing people will say is "find somewhere thats not
directly in the light to put it" but that's not really much of an
option.

Thanks for your help.

-m

[Gill Passman]

m wrote:
> Hi
> I'm posting this from work using google groups... so if it screws up I
> plead ignorance because I've never tried posting like this before.
>
> Anyways, I posted before about moving to an apartment and getting a new
> bigger tank, and as I'm getting ready to setup my 55g tank now I notice
> that I'm in a very very sunny place.
> It seems like no matter where I put it, it's going to be getting
> several hours of direct sunlight a day. Now the tank lighting isn't
> anything special at all... probably just good enough to see the fish
> and grow low light plants, but with this direct sunlight for say 4+
> hours a day does my tank suddenly become a "high light" tank? Am I
> doomed to suffer horrible algae problems or is there something I can
> do?
> I'm sure the #1 thing people will say is "find somewhere thats not
> directly in the light to put it" but that's not really much of an
> option.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> -m
>
Hi,

I have a 4ft 200L tank in my Conservatory so I've had some experience
over the last year of dealing with a tank that gets constant direct
light (even in the winter).

The algae, 12 months since setting up the tank is now pretty much under
control as long as I don't keep putting off cleaning the glass (took me
45 mins to do it this afternoon :-( ) I had a lot of hair algae as well
as the green spot stuff on the glass but this has now pretty much gone
now. I have a neatly trimmed green lawn of algae on some of the
driftwood but it actually looks quite pretty. I have never intervened to
sort the algae by anything other than natural means (and blinds).

For some months I despaired that I couldn't beat the algae but what I
did was:-

1. Over plant it - there is very little gravel in view now.

2. Feed the plants - I add plant food when I do the water change. Some
go with CO2 units but I've not bothered as I'm too scared of getting an
O2 crash - me being paranoid :-)

3. Do frequent water changes - I do around 20% each week.

4. Get in the clean up crew!!!
My algae is controlled by 5-6 Otos, 1 Plec and 3 Flying Foxes. So much
so that I am now actually seeing my Plec, who hid for a good 6 months
when he first went in the tank. He now comes out at feed time for algae
wafers, catfish pellets etc. I'm also now supplementing the Oto's diet
by giving them plants to clean up from time to time - mainly from my
Malawi Tank. I'm also no longer over zealous with the clean up so that I
don't deprive the clean up crew of their food supply.

5. Elbow grease I'm afraid :-( Lots of frequent scraping and pulling out
the nastier hair algae when it appeared.

Worked for me...but it is more work than some of the other tanks in
terms of glass cleaning...

The only real problem I've found with having the tank in that room is
that I can't get good pictures of it due to the glare but it is a small
price to pay I guess :-)

Good luck with setting up the tank. Hope my experience with my
"Conservatory" Tank will help

Gill

[Patricia A. Shaffer]

On 9 Sep 2005 08:23:58 -0700, "m" > wrote:

>Hi
>I'm posting this from work using google groups... so if it screws up I
>plead ignorance because I've never tried posting like this before.
>
>Anyways, I posted before about moving to an apartment and getting a new
>bigger tank, and as I'm getting ready to setup my 55g tank now I notice
>that I'm in a very very sunny place.
>It seems like no matter where I put it, it's going to be getting
>several hours of direct sunlight a day. Now the tank lighting isn't
>anything special at all... probably just good enough to see the fish
>and grow low light plants, but with this direct sunlight for say 4+
>hours a day does my tank suddenly become a "high light" tank? Am I
>doomed to suffer horrible algae problems or is there something I can
>do?
>I'm sure the #1 thing people will say is "find somewhere thats not
>directly in the light to put it" but that's not really much of an
>option.

Have you considered shades or venetion blinds for the windows? <g>


--
Patricia
Proud Citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia

[Elaine T]

m wrote:
> Hi
> I'm posting this from work using google groups... so if it screws up I
> plead ignorance because I've never tried posting like this before.
>
> Anyways, I posted before about moving to an apartment and getting a new
> bigger tank, and as I'm getting ready to setup my 55g tank now I notice
> that I'm in a very very sunny place.
> It seems like no matter where I put it, it's going to be getting
> several hours of direct sunlight a day. Now the tank lighting isn't
> anything special at all... probably just good enough to see the fish
> and grow low light plants, but with this direct sunlight for say 4+
> hours a day does my tank suddenly become a "high light" tank? Am I
> doomed to suffer horrible algae problems or is there something I can
> do?
> I'm sure the #1 thing people will say is "find somewhere thats not
> directly in the light to put it" but that's not really much of an
> option.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> -m
>
Gill's advice for planting is good, or you could use an opaque backdrop
along the back and sides of the tank to keep the sunlight out.

I have one planted sunlit tank where I'm constantly fighting algae, and
one that's under control. It's not always easy finding the balance with
a lot of sunlight on a tank, and I'm getting ready to switch the problem
tank from Flourish Excel to real CO2.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[NetMax]

"m" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi
> I'm posting this from work using google groups... so if it screws up I
> plead ignorance because I've never tried posting like this before.
>
> Anyways, I posted before about moving to an apartment and getting a new
> bigger tank, and as I'm getting ready to setup my 55g tank now I notice
> that I'm in a very very sunny place.
> It seems like no matter where I put it, it's going to be getting
> several hours of direct sunlight a day. Now the tank lighting isn't
> anything special at all... probably just good enough to see the fish
> and grow low light plants, but with this direct sunlight for say 4+
> hours a day does my tank suddenly become a "high light" tank? Am I
> doomed to suffer horrible algae problems or is there something I can
> do?
> I'm sure the #1 thing people will say is "find somewhere thats not
> directly in the light to put it" but that's not really much of an
> option.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> -m


I had a client who wanted to buy a UV to control his algae, but after I
saw his tank I realized that it wouldn't work as he had 3-4 hours of
direct light daily. He also could not shade his window (storefront), so
he ended up making some curtains which he pulled around the tank during
direct sunlight. It worked very well.
--
www.NetMax.tk