Lighting

[SensesFail]

I have 2 29w T5 tubes in my tank what will I need for Malawi cichlids? Can anyone recommend? Cheers guys!!

 

[waterdrop]

Well, generally the strength and duration of lighting is of concern with respect to plants, not fish, within reason. Many fish can live quite happily in much darker tanks than we might suspect but there's usually no point to that as we're in the hobby to look at them. Many of us also feel there is much to be gained by helping our fish have light behave in a cycle that is similar to the sort of natural cycle they would experience in their natural habitat. A typical problem with this however is that the long hours in tropical climates will also usually produce tons of unsightly algae in an aquarium, so controlling lighting hours often has a lot to do with what it takes to control algae in your particular aquarium. WD

 

[SensesFail]

Well, generally the strength and duration of lighting is of concern with respect to plants, not fish, within reason. Many fish can live quite happily in much darker tanks than we might suspect but there's usually no point to that as we're in the hobby to look at them. Many of us also feel there is much to be gained by helping our fish have light behave in a cycle that is similar to the sort of natural cycle they would experience in their natural habitat. A typical problem with this however is that the long hours in tropical climates will also usually produce tons of unsightly algae in an aquarium, so controlling lighting hours often has a lot to do with what it takes to control algae in your particular aquarium. WD

Thanks for the reply WD the lights I have seem bright how do we combat algae in the aquarium I understand it's more of a battle to limit rather than stop. Is it just a case of getting appropriate fish who feed on it or a clean by the owner? Fish wise to clean the rocks and such like, what would I be looking at? Plecos? I wasn't planning on a pleco just cats cut could maybe look towards one although it's finding one that can live in a Malawi setup. Many of them seem to be from other destinations l

Lighting wise I was looking at what tubes are on the Market but there is that many! moonlight ones, actinic, so many! My canopy holds 2 tubes, do people vary these place difference types or do you use two of the same specification? Does the fish colour become affected by a particular light?

Thanks again WD

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, the way the fish are shown off and the overall mood of the tank are affected by the color of lighting. Have you ever fiddled with the settings on your camera and seen how some settings changes will seem to vary the overall look between yellowish and blue/whitish looking? It's that sort of thing a lot of the time. Yes, people do indeed put tubes of different colors in the two tube positions of a double tube canopy as this can vary the tint possibilities even more (in some ways this gives you a fun thing to be thinking about and varying every year or two when you change your tubes out or feel you want to try a change.

Many feel that a Kelvin rating of around 6700 is a good jumping off place for a type of fluorescent tint that starts fairly close to the light that might be found in the natural habitats of many of our freshwater tropicals (but obviously it's an impossible task to mimic this exactly because our fish come from many different places, environments and the light obviously varies throughout the day.) One thing that frequently adds confusion for beginners are the plethora of bulbs and lighting colors that are aimed at copying the noon sun for marine tanks (10,000K and actinic types.) We have all found ourselves admiring the sparkling bluish white quality of bright light hitting a tank surface and thowing off the same sparkles we would see when snorkling in the caribbean waters! And on occasion I'm sure the waters our freshwater fish live in can take on this look for a bit - but I'm of the persuasion that putting salt water ocean lighting together with a tropical freshwater biotope look is a false marriage and that as we mature in the hobby most often feel at home when we accomplish the correct lighting for the particular type of lake, river or stream that our freshwater tank is really trying to imitate (not that their are ultimately any rules in the broad art of display creation!)

~~waterdrop~~