Fish Junkie Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Do they need it Do they grow quicker Do they breed more frequently Are they happier Do they live longer I only ask because one day when I build my ultimate shed I wouldn't want any outside light ? But wondered if it would harm them FJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raycam01_au Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 i had a matey that used to breeed a bazzillion fish, and his shed used to be about 8ft tall, and used skylight smokey sheeting, lots of heat and filtered sunlight through, and mate were they the bomb, lots of algae growth, catties used to love it, and did they look amazing in the light, he used to shade it through full summer, looked hell impressive, i liek alittle light Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tech Den Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Hmmm, I thought sunlight - Vitamin D and had a quick look at Sera, Hikari, Fluval and New Era foods that I had a quick look at (not every one but) all contained Vitamin D3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatsright99 Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 To a degree they do/should like most living things for better vitamin and nutrient assimilation. The colour diff between fish grown in a tank and a green water pool is like feeding fish on white crane nealy. The sun directly and indirectly helps thus. Either from the algae or the insect larvae or actual insect that enter the pond and the large volume of water ect all aid the difference. If you got 50 of whatever fish and put half in a tank and the other in the pond, you would think the tank ones should of been killed off. Down here it'd be Ok to put small to med in a pond at the start of summer and grow them up and pull out when getting cooler ect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grubby Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Rainbows love sunlight. I have a tank in the front room, you should see it at 6 am when a shaft of sunlight hits the glass, little jewels. They like sunlight to spawn too, you can simulate this with LEDS too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Junkie Posted March 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 It's a good question to ask and some great answers so far Could always use a UVC with sunlight if all plumbed on the one loop FJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbeer Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 (edited) If I had the money to build my ultimate shed, I always envisage it with skylights, as low cost natural lighting and breeding triggers, including cloudy days. It just makes sense to have variety in lighting and the easiest way to replicate what nature is doing to me seems to be nature. As far as health effects but, I would like to here more and look forward to some answers including both first hand experience, or any papers/documents on this. Good thread Dave..... Edited March 8, 2014 by gingerbeer bad spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tejay Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 i had a matey that used to breeed a bazzillion fish, and his shed used to be about 8ft tall, and used skylight smokey sheeting, lots of heat and filtered sunlight through, and mate were they the bomb, lots of algae growth, catties used to love it, and did they look amazing in the light, he used to shade it through full summer, looked hell impressive, i liek alittle light With the skylights/sheeting, would you expect the temperature change during the day to be dangerous? When you went to your mates shed during the way, was it really hot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Yep Dave, Sail fin mollies, swords etc are a great example, green growth infosoria etc...and the circle of life begins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raycam01_au Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 With the skylights/sheeting, would you expect the temperature change during the day to be dangerous?When you went to your mates shed during the way, was it really hot? its ok matey it was a purpose built shed, from a serious breeder, very nice n sexy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaholic99 Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 (edited) There is no doubt fish do colour better when grown in outoor ponds. A couple of old pics from an spawn of "White Giant Gourami" to illustrate. Most people say it is the live /natural food that does this. Or the pigmentation produced to prevent sunburn? Or the extra health boost the live food provides...? However too much light (especially sunlight) on glass tanks will greatly increase maintenance so I don't recommend much light indoors. You will want some free natural light to reduce electricity costs and still need insulation over winter. So the simple answer for me was skylights. I use clear polycarbonate roof strips covered with the same 25mm polystyrene sheets used to line the whole shed/roof. The sun is strong enough to diffuse through. There are four whirly gigs covered in winter. I'm quite pleased with the results. If you have less tanks, another option may be solar light tubes directed right over the planted tanks as you can control the light with those. Late afternoon in photo below - the sun was almost gone outside Morning sun - it gets brighter than this. d In my situation, the obvious solution is to combine outdoor sun benefits while keeping minimal tank maintenance and to do this I run three outdoor pools in staggered rotation to grow green water which is used to flood feed my indoor tanks via central filtration. Essentially just extending my plumbing outside to include the pools. Turning a tap to isolate or include. The other benefits the ponds provide is settlement tanks and extra plant filtration. Seems to work well and the excess plants grown are used as fish food too. I also grow algae on numbered hardwood sticks in these pools. Each has a hook so it is easy to hang into a tank to feed suckermouth fish. If your fish room is smaller, you could use several IBC's on your roof and gravity drain into your grow out tanks. Winston Edited March 8, 2014 by aquaholic99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Junkie Posted March 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 You are a wealth of knowledge [MENTION=470]aquaholic99[/MENTION] thanks for your post Thanks everyone for input Anymore ideas ? FJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqc247 Posted March 9, 2014 Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 There is no roof over oceans, rivers, lakes, dams & ponds Davo I like natural algae growth and don't need lighting during the day. You have seen my place, keeping the temperature stable without blowing the power bill is the main problem with skylights. No probs in warmer weather with you as keeping americans. Winter is the problem. Proper insulation should do the trick - I need to get my act together n finish mine .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenswimmers Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 Im thinking ultimately you would like to be able to use sunlight to your advantage...I think theres no doubt its beneficial and I even think the natural light time frame makes a huge difference with fish rest time,breeding etc besides the obvious growth and colouring advantage...I reckon if cost wasnt so much a factor I would want as much natural light as possible but also the option to control this lighting...with possible roll down covering etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted March 11, 2014 Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 After 30 years of breeding fish I would have to say that the sun would have to be the most important thing after water for fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgw Posted March 11, 2014 Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 After 30 years of breeding fish I would have to say that the sun would have to be the most important thing after water for fish. And the reason for that is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted March 11, 2014 Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 You name it ,warmth, colour, food growth, faster growing fish better conditioning, less issues disease/ water quality, happy fish, list goes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smicko Posted March 11, 2014 Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 I have fish inside and outside. I have to agree with previous comments. Betta breeding, betta colour, betta growth and the big plus is betta water quality. Cheers mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yodapwnsasmurf Posted March 11, 2014 Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 I have fish inside and outside. I have to agree with previous comments.Betta breeding, betta colour, betta growth and the big plus is betta water quality. Cheers mick So it's good for Splendens, but what about other fish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgw Posted March 11, 2014 Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 So it's good for Splendens, but what about other fish? I see what you did there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smicko Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 That would be telling finn lol. I keep Malawi, American and natives outside as well. This winter I will be trying tangs. Cheers mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotzy Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 there are other options out there other than skylights and polycarbonate sheeting. can get get skylights with remote screens to shut out or cut down the hardness of the sun. solatubes are a great idea say if you set up a fish garage or had a truss roof in you shed or wanted them expose, there small let in similar amount of light as skylights and they dont add heat. have my ibcs outside and the random fish in there look amazing. my pepps stop breeding so through them in a couple days later they spawned. eventually id run a couple ibcs outside exactly like winston said. that green water is cool stuff plus a larger amount of water youd think the temp wouldn't fluctuate as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clint Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 In the aquaponic system I built, I originally removed one third of the top of each IBC and painted them with grey paint. The gold fish grew all right, but I got fed up with not seeing them and they were hard to catch so I cut the entire top out of the IBCs and gurnied the paint off them. The growth in those fish was unbelievable. I ended up putting part shade over the IBCs when summer got hot. I’m no expert on sun or fish, but after my experience, gold fish need sunlight. I now have Jade Perch in one and Murray Cod in the other and both are doing well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainbowrunner Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 I know my rainbows and blue eyes do much better outside in full sun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAddWater Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Do they need it Do they grow quicker Do they breed more frequently Are they happier Do they live longer I only ask because one day when I build my ultimate shed I wouldn't want any outside light ? But wondered if it would harm them Very good question I did project on this 7 years ago and vitamin D and D3 needs ultra violet rays to be properly produced in the human body there is no supplement made to man that will give you the same amount as what comes naturally from the sun, One of the things I remember is that you would have to drink up to ten liters of vitamin supplement to even come near to what the sun can provide in one day ,the reason why it,s not the biggest money spinner for Human market is that we make this vitamin naturally for free, it would be the same case for a lot of top dwelling fish. Calcium deficiency is one of the main problems with lack of vitamin D and pigment problems so it would make sense that fish need sunlight too. I have never thought of this for fish myself but now it gets me thinking, even as deep as 200m the sun still has impact on ocean life maybe even deeper, Really makes me think now:?: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
