A question about ambient light.

[oldbloke]

IMG_5300 by threequartersky, on Flickr

About 10 foot to the right of the tank is the room window. It faces east. As you can see, in the morning indirect sunlight reaches the tank.
My question is, would my plants be calling for co2 in these conditions? The picture is probably a little brighter than it actually is.

PS the zebras certainly like it 😉

 

[ceg4048]

Hi,
I really wouldn't worry about it. Only worry about CO2 when CO2 is supposed to be on. If your CO2 is excellent when it is scheduled to be running then everything will be OK. I assume that's a covered tank, so it will retain CO2 overnight.

Cheers,

 

[oldbloke]

Much obliged.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
I think you can probably ignore the day-light in terms of enhanced plant growth and CO2 requirement. Light intensity falls of as the square of the distance from the window, so at 10' you aren't getting much extra PAR.

PS the zebras certainly like it

That is one reason I like a tank that gets a flash of morning light, it is very useful for spawning some Tetras, both Black-Neon and Lemon Tetras definitely spawn best when they get some morning sun-light.

cheers Darrel

 

[oldbloke]

Hi all,
I think you can probably ignore the day-light in terms of enhanced plant growth and CO2 requirement. Light intensity falls of as the square of the distance from the window, so at 10' you aren't getting much extra PAR.

That is one reason I like a tank that gets a flash of morning light, it is very useful for spawning some Tetras, both Black-Neon and Lemon Tetras definitely spawn best when they get some morning sun-light.

cheers Darrel

Thanks for that.

Yes, they love that morning light!
I know zebras are hardly exotic, but what a great fish they are. Always flying about, seeming to enjoy life! And they swim as if they were liquid.