lighting information wanted

[UNCLERUCKUS]

im basically new at this, 3yrs and this is probably a noob question, but whats the grading on the lights such as T4, T5? i understand the difference in light needed for plants or saltwater for corals. however i see alot of different styles of lighting in our hobby. what type of lighting works best with african cichlids? sa/ca? thanks in advance for any and all explanations.

 

[crazyclowntang]

Regular T-8's in 6700k-10000k spectrum would be fine for fish only lighting. If you were keeping corals, clams or anemones in a saltwater tank I would go with metal halide 10k-20k lighting, preferrably 14k. If you keep freshwater plants I would do T-5's or PC lamps and depending on palnt species I would go with 2-4 watts per gallon.

 

[cholile]

thanks for the question. i've been at this for a couple of years too and while i have a fairly decent understanding of african cichlids, tanks, sumps etc. the one area i just can't seem to ever get a grasp on is lighting.

My goal is to find the best lighting options for cichlids and less demanding plants (e.g. java fern, anubias, etc.).

Best = colors of all fish are shown as brilliantly as possible, but both the initial expense and the monthly energy bill are kept as low as possible.

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

I always use standard fluorescents for my africans. Africans don't like bright light, and since I don't keep plants with my africans the wattage is not important. It seems africans show nicely under 50/50 lighting (10,000K/Actinic (460/420 nm)). The blue actinic seems to really bring out the blue hues in my Africans. The T5 aqualights are nice if you want something brighter and not as bulky as standard fluorescent fixtures. Substrate is also an important factor to consider for how fish will show their color. Most people will recommend a dark substrate because it doesn't have high reflectivity, so keeps the tank dim. Africans will show better color over a light substrate though, so I usually mix crushed coral with black gravel or black and white sand. I'm sure different setups work for different people though.

 

[Jumbie]

I always use standard fluorescents for my africans. Africans don't like bright light, and since I don't keep plants with my africans the wattage is not important. It seems africans show nicely under 50/50 lighting (10,000K/Actinic (460/420 nm)). The blue actinic seems to really bring out the blue hues in my Africans. The T5 aqualights are nice if you want something brighter and not as bulky as standard fluorescent fixtures. Substrate is also an important factor to consider for how fish will show their color. Most people will recommend a dark substrate because it doesn't have high reflectivity, so keeps the tank dim. Africans will show better color over a light substrate though, so I usually mix crushed coral with black gravel or black and white sand. I'm sure different setups work for different people though.

Agree! I use the 50/50 actinic method, and it really brings out the colors in the fish. I don't have plants in my African tanks so I also don't need to worry about the wattage. When it comes to my plant tanks (depending on sp.) I prefer to have bulbs that have lower Kelvin’s, and I try to make tanks as bright as possible. If I could afford to run them all day, I would put MH on all my display tanks (plant and cichlid tanks). I would have a 6,500k on plant tanks and a 20,00k on the cichlids. The colors on the fish would be so SWEEEEEEET!:confused0068:

 

[cholile]

I currently have a T5HO 39W 10k and a T5 actinic 460 so I guess I just fell into the right lights. I always felt the lights worked well, but I wondered if there were less expensive and lower wattage that would show off the fish just as well. Since the only living entity in the tank that could possibly care about the type of light would be hardy plants like java fern and anubias, I figured there might be away to get the fish to show their colors just as well, only for less $$.

 

[Cartel]

I like 50/50 the best also.

 

[danger_chicken]

Metal Halide 10k, crisp clear light that shimmers like the sun. I've seen africian tanks with MH 20k and the blue hue looks awesome. I've been putting under the cabinet (kitchen) LEDs on my africian tank and it looks pretty good. They are plently bright to see the fish but not bright if that makes sense. They also shimmer like MH's.

 

[Cartel]

Where did you pick up the LED lights from I'd love to go that route. I have blue led moon lights an love them.

 

[danger_chicken]

Home Depot. They come in a 3 pack for $34 (lighting section hanging on the wall), I put 6 on my 72g the light is very clean like 10k

 

[Jumbie]

Home Depot. They come in a 3 pack for $34 (lighting section hanging on the wall), I put 6 on my 72g the light is very clean like 10k

I have seen a tank with these same lights that you are talking about and it really mad the guys two EBJD stand out. He had his on a 72g bow with canopy.

 

[crazyclowntang]

Home Depot. They come in a 3 pack for $34 (lighting section hanging on the wall), I put 6 on my 72g the light is very clean like 10k

Could you post a picture? Thanks,Christian.

 

[crazyclowntang]

bump

 

[Cartel]

He works nights doubt you'll get an answer for awhile!

 

[crazyclowntang]

oh ok Thanks Cartel.

 

[danger_chicken]

As requested. I'm thinking about building a small box to mount them. They're brighter than moon lights but not bright enough to take pic's of the fish. The ony way I can describe it is it's like being in a swimming pool with googles. One batch is kind of yellow so they are going back.

 

[Cartel]

hrm I might have to go that route thanks for the pic

 

[crazyclowntang]

Yes thank you for the pic

 

[DonkeyFish]

I missed this thread earlier, SORRY! A couple of months ago lighting was the topic at the GWAPA meeting. I did my best to get all the information in my meeting summary, and there's a downloadable file that was the powerpoint presentation. Some pretty good stuff, of course it relates mostly to plant keeping people, but explains the differences between the different kinds of lighting and such. Here's a link:
http://gwapa.org/wordpress/2009/03/february-2009-meeting-2/

Hope it helps!

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

ok ive added some new bulbs to my lighting. theyre daylight plus but i forget the name. big difference period. i see a digital camera getting on my wish list moving up a space or two.
danger thanks again.