# Lighting That's Cheap As Free



## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Okay, so there's a tremendous startup cost.  It is pretty cool technology though. Check this out: http://www.sunlight-direct.com/products.html


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Light from the sun?????

Who knew?

Seriously though, new applications for technology like this, LED's and such are the future of lighting. Lighting alone accounts for a pretty good chunk of our current energy demand.


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## K20A2 (Aug 12, 2006)

Awesome. Just simply awesome. 

This is more the direction we monkeys need to take. 

Aaron - Did you find out what they charge?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

A cheaper way to do this for some folks would be to use one of these mounted over the tank: http://www.solatube.com/homeowner/. I used to have one in my bathroom and it does provide a huge amount of light. You can't get much more natural than this.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I tried to call for the price since it says you have to call, but I didn't get an answer. Perhaps I'll try again tomorrow earlier in the day.

The solatubes are great too. My issues with those are that they only work on levels of the house nearest the roof and also the diffusers aren't a point source of light such as we use for our aquariums. I'm sure you could design a different diffuser. The fiberoptics, however, can be snaked every which way throughout a building.


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

We have three solar tubes where I live. They work great for hallways and bathrooms without windows.

Terrestrial plants work quite well under them. However, where I live, in November and February/March there isn't much sun and the terrestrial plants go into significant decline then. 

The fiber optic cable idea makes alot of sense most of the year for many areas, except perhaps Seattle


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

One advantage of the fiber setup over the solar tubes would seem to be the IR filtering. Less heat is always nice.


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

yup my friend sean actually works for a company that installs these, and he has two installed in his house above a non-aquatic garden, they work real well when its sunny, but the drawback is that if its cloudy or stormy out, his plants would go sometimes days or even weeks without adequate sunlight which does not really harm non aquatic plants but I am sure that the repercussions for aquatic plants would be a bit more severe. I would like to see the long term effects it does to aquatic plants if anyone actually has the gull to drill a hole in their roof just for their aquarium.


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

Gomer said:


> One advantage of the fiber setup over the solar tubes would seem to be the IR filtering. Less heat is always nice.


Except in Minnesota in January! :heh:


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## DelawareJim (Nov 15, 2005)

I saw these on some science program about 10 years or so ago. Apparently, they're big on using them for lighting cubicles in Japan; everyone gets their own bit-o-sun regardless of how far from the window they are. They also demonstrated this on a giant tomato plant in Japan that was as big as a small tree. Each day the gardener would adjust the fibers to shine on individual tomatoes to help them ripen. Of course this is from a country where they even grow watermelons in square nets so they are easier to pack to ship back home. Good thing they aren't obsessive-compulse! :mrgreen:

Cheers.
Jim


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

There's a low tech version of this. It's called a "window".

I find it amusing that in older fish books we're cautioned from putting tanks in windows or they'll get algae whereas in these days od a better understanding of feeding aquarium plants we're not sticking them in the window en masse by trying for more.

You can build an array of mirrors to concentrate sunlight if you need more than a window. Just cut a mirror into 1" x 1" tiles and siliocne glue one edge to a piece of wood. Use woodscrews on the back, two of them to adjust each tile in two axes.

Keep it smal - make a 1' by 1' one. They're very powerfull. a 2' x 2' one will vaporize a popcan in 7 seconds if you focus the beam. But for aquarium use you'd want to fosus in a pattern in the tank, not on one small point.

Plain old skylights work too. You'll notice in the dupla book where they show the 50,000L tank that despite having 6 or 8 huge HID lamps if you look very carefully you'll see 6 skylights over it.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

rs79 said:


> There's a low tech version of this. It's called a "window".


Can we look forward to a DIY article on how to make one of those devices - a "window"?


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

rs79 said:


> There's a low tech version of this. It's called a "window".
> 
> I find it amusing that in older fish books we're cautioned from putting tanks in windows or they'll get algae whereas in these days od a better understanding of feeding aquarium plants we're not sticking them in the window en masse by trying for more.


I do get more algae blooms with tanks lit by windows. Perhaps it's due to the inconsistency of light. A bright week following a dark week can easily trigger a bloom.

Another issue with direct sun lit tanks is calcium deposits on the glass. For some reason, sunlight hitting hard water can cause this. I don't get this with artificially lit tanks.

One trick for the more vertical hex tanks is to put it on a turn-style. Give it a quarter turn several times a week and plants will grow straight instead of just towards the window.


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

The calcium on the glass means the plants have insufficient carbon and are sucking carbon out of bicarbonate in water leaving carbonate deposits. If you have algae you have a lack of one or more nutrients and/or too much (ie, some, non-zero amount) of ammonia.

In full sunlight plants will consume fairly large amounts of fertilizer and carbon. Sunlight is much much stornger than even the average HID lamp and you need to compensate with appropriate levels of nutrients.


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

re: calcium on the glass.

Actually there were no plants in the tank. I was leak testing a tank that had been in storage for several years before selling it. The sunlight hitting the tank of nothing but hard tap water left deposits on all surfaces of the tank. It wasn't an evaporation thing either, since I put the lid on the tank.

I was quite surprised and a little irritated


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

Calcium carbonate will just precipitate out without plants. I used to know a guy in Creemore that has 1200 ppm well water. He could fill a tank and by the next day there'd be a layer of chalk on the bottom.


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