Sunlight for Indoor Tanks?

[XnSdVd]

http://www.dayray.com/index.cfm?page=technology

Found this little gem while randomly surfing. It seems they're able to "pipe" sunlight directly into the home via, what appears to be, fiber-optic cables. And it's adjustable!! Imagine the impact this would have on our tanks!

Healthier and bigger fish with extra vitamin D!
Healthier plants!
Pearling! Lots of it!
And for those of us who don't dose properly, green spot algae...

But it's still a brilliant design... Wonder when they'll be in Singapore.. want one for my own place

[Aeon]

I think it's meant for energy savings. Is sunlight better for aquarium plants?

[CK Yeo]

I saw something similar years ago and they had a crazy price tag. Is it more affordable now?

ck

[XnSdVd]

Yes, sunlight is much better for our plants and fish. Though.. i wouldn't know about the price.

[vinz]

Very cool. I suppose it has to mounted somewhere that gets direct sunlight most of the day to be really effective?

The off-side is that you can only use them during the day. At night, we'll still need electrical lights to light the house and tank.

[XnSdVd]

Yes, though i'd imagine this would be very VERY useful for tanks larger than 6ft. Imagine the ridiculous lighting requirements and bills.

And especially for someone like me who dreams of owning a 5 meter tank one day =)

[vinz]

I'm still dreaming about getting back to a larger planted arowana tank.

5 meters... think outdoor pond with at least one glass wall. Plus all the natural sunlight you want.

[XnSdVd]

Ahh but part of the appeal of the project is getting a 5m tank inside a house
That aside i've recieved an email from the people at DayRay:

"The graph on page 3 of the attached article shows that typically leaves reflects green light (500-600 nm), but absorb red/orange light in the range 600-680 nm and blue light in the range 400-500 nm. As you anticipated, the red region (600-680nm) does correspond with the transmission ‘dip’ in the fibres, and the transmission of blue light by the fibres is also quite low.

Hence most of the green/yellow light that produces 'lumens' is not absorbed by plants. Plants only utilise blue and red light. Our 3-colour system contains lots of green light, but it is unclear whether there would be enough blue/pink light for plants to grow.

Some plants may need less light to grow, so if using our current 3-colour system, one would need to choose ‘rainforest’ type plants that thrive with minimal direct sunshine."

This seems to suggest that it's possible to grow many of the species we currently have in our tanks. But it also seems that many other species of more light demanding plants will need supplemental, conventional lighting.