natural sunlight cause more coral groth?

i have my tank next to a window and it gets a ton of NSL because of it. i wake up at 8am almost every day and my zoas are closed shut. But as soon as i open my blinds they all open up. I have my light schedule from 12pm to 10pm.

I was just wondering will the added light from the sun, cause the corals to grow faster?

 

Good question my tank is surrounded by three windows

 

yea i've heard a lot about possible algae growth when it comes to tank being near a window but not coral growth. but as far as algae growth all i get is just really bad film algae, havent had to much of a problem with other algaes. But im thinking it would be a positive outcome for corals

 

I have bad algae groth but i dont pull the curtains

 

interesting, my blinds are always wide open and havent had anything that bad besdies the new tank algaes, and even those werent that bad

 

I really never had an algae issue, And I have a high bioload in my tank, along with my tank next to the window.

 

yes, NSL will increase your coral growth... the rate will be faster then with your t5s alone both because sunlight is more efficient at emitting the needed photons for photosynthesis and because their photo period is being increased

 

so do you think with my t5s plus the NSL it would be similar strength of metal halides?

 

no... not even halides can come close to natural light. Over millions of years these corals and plants have evolved to harness the never changing output of the sun's photons. No matter how "strong" or bright your lights are they still wont produce the same kind of light as the sun

 

every morning I watch as my clam first positions himself for optimum morning sun from 7 am till noon, then readjusts at noon when the halides come on

Same with my other corals... they always lean towards the window until the halide is on