lighting

[jusdeb]

Is it necessary to have artificial lighting or can a small tank be placed near a window and get the right amount and type of light to keep fish healthy.

[Bettarazzi]

I think the natural planted tank people prefer to put their tanks where it can get natural sunlight for part of the day. I don't see why you couldn't. One of my tanks gets a bit of sunlight for about an hour a day. I think the things to look out for are fluctuations in temperature and algae if there's too much light.

[Bren MacFish]

Sunlight contains a wide spectrum of light, some of which, algae likes better than plants, altho if you can somehow arrange for a lot of natural light to hit the top of the tank only and then use duckweed etc, as some kind of diffuser you may be able to avoid getting abnormal amounts of algae. I've done this before with aquarium backing which stops 10cm from the top.

Plants like light between 5,000 and 10000 Kelvins. NPT thrive on getting hit by morning or evening direct light or a little indirect light continuously. It's because of the broader spectrum they get than just the standard one light over the aquarium, which may only cover one end of that spectrum.

I've run a 1ft NPT next to a window for about a year but every month I have to pluck out the hair algae from amongst the val. I've just moved it slightly away from the window and now I'm finding I have to use a 20W light to supplement it.

So yes, it's possible, but it's all about finding a balance and whether anything else in your set up will help algae along. NPT tanks are generally algae unfriendly.