# Aquarium Placement



## citadel (Nov 9, 2009)

Is it unwise to place an aquarium beside a window? The wall is well insulated and there is no direct sunlight that hits the tank.

the room itself is bright with the window open but since the tank is beside the window on the same wall it doesnt get hit directly


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

I suppose it depends on your set-up and how much light you have or don't have. I have 2 tanks that rely on direct sunlight ( a few hours) from south facing windows for some or most of their light, while weak flourescent lighting provides a 12 hr supplement.

I have another tank that has strong artificial light that I might feel uncomfortable about having bright sunlight get to it.

What is your set-up like? How much artificial light, what kind of plants, how deep is the tank, what substrate, etc...?

-Dave


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

I agree with Dave. Check out not just the lighting forums, but El Natural as well. The El Natural method generally utilizes sunlight, but generally to keep lighting costs down. If you've already got light, then you get into a vast array of what-ifs (fert dosing, CO2 or not, organic or mineral substrate and on and on). What type of setup do you or will you have?


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## wicca27 (Oct 13, 2008)

I use both lights durring the summer on my shrimp tank.its on an east wall and gets sun all afternoon. I have lights on till bout 3 & sun till almost dark then turn them back on i have light on all day in the 1 that faces east in another room


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## citadel (Nov 9, 2009)

the tank is 24x18x18.

I dont have the lighting yet but wanted to go with a medium light setup suspended over the rimless tank.

I will be using CO2 as well.
My overall goal is for a med light/ high tech setup.
I am concerned that this room is too bright from the light coming in from the window.. however since the tank is on the same wall as the window it doesnt receive any direct sunlight.

Also I was planning on using ADA substrate.

Goal would be a medium plant growth rate that requires less effort than hih light/ high tech


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Pretty good lights over the tanks plus bright room light would push it a bit higher, go for it! This can also introduce a 'dawn and dusk' effect, depending on the timing. 

I have most of my tanks close enough to windows to get some sunlight. In the summer the tanks can overheat, so I close the curtains in the heat of the day, but they are not really dense and still allow some brightness, just not direct sun. In the winter the area around the windows gets cold at night, so I close the curtains at night. 

Most of the tanks have something less than 2 watts per gallon of fluorescent light, assorted bulb sizes and colors.


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