Tank Blinds/Cover?

n4s · Oct 27, 2016

I'm currently in the process of building a 240 gallon in wall reef. The front viewing room gets a good dose of direct morning/afternoon sun. Due to my work schedule the aquarium lights won't come on until 1pm.
Instead of keeping the main room blinds shut I'm seeing if anyone has any pictures or ideas how you cover your tank from the sunlight. I'm thinking of somehow building in some pull down blinds of some sort hidden behind a lift up trim.

Diesel · Oct 27, 2016

Not a bad idea but why do you want to block out natural light?
IMO it's only beneficial even if you run a 10 hour light schedule.
My tank get a lot of indirect sunlight from 8 to 12 and then the Hybrid will pop on.

n4s · Oct 27, 2016

Diesel said:
Not a bad idea but why do you want to block out natural light?
IMO it's only beneficial even if you run a 10 hour light schedule.
My tank get a lot of indirect sunlight from 8 to 12 and then the Hybrid will pop on.

My lights don't go out until 1am. 5-6 hours of darkness doesn't seem like enough to me. It's bright enough from the sun that the fish wake up and are already swimming around. That and lot of the corals (LPS) close up when the sunlight hits them. I prefer for the tank to have at least 10 hours of darkness (rest).