Lighting

[becs66]

Hi,

Finally got a my 55 gallon mbuna tank sorted and stocked but was wondering how much lighting do you guys run on your tanks, at the moment there is one 40 watt bulb on mine but I was thinking of increasing this to two. Is this a good idea or will this be too much light as I've read you can make the fish looked washed out with too much light?! Also what type of flourescent bulbs are best?

Thanks!!

 

[CongoCalvus]

What are you useing for substrate,and what are you keeping for fish?

 

[becs66]

Coral sand substrate, and fish are iodotropheus sprengerae, pseudotropheus acei, pseudotropheus demasoni and labidochromis caeruleus.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

There is no such thing as 'best' when it comes to bulbs for cichlids. The light doesn't affect them directly. I use plain white lights that show the fish in their natural colors, and many people use 50/50 lighting or something that makes the tank look bluish, I guess for the 'marine' look. It's all personal preference.

 

[Aulonochromis]

It depends if you want a deep water effect or a bright tank. Are you keeping live plants?
I have one Powerglo and one Marineglo bulb and the combo is awesome, the colors are not at all washed out, the effect looks like the underwater photos of Malawi. I also have a 10,000K bulb that I have some on for a few hours per day for green algae growth and also when I am photgraphing.

 

[Adrinal]

One is fine. Anything else is for visual pleasure... Could get a blue or 5050 and run it on a timer so it goes off in the morning and night... could get a moon light oo oo...
If you are getting too much algea for your cat fish to eat.. use the light less..
More light will indeed make them look better asthetically.