lighting

I find it quite unnatural to flick the fish tank lights off at night. I'm thinking that this could be a shock for the fishes as they can't see anything after that. Should I get dimmable lights and do it gradually? What's your techniques, opinions, experience about this?

I want to get a twinstar for a 10G tank and I'm wandering which one to get. The tank is 40 cm long and I can either get a 30-40cm C-line or a 45-55cm B-line light. The C-line has 1000lumens while the other 1200. I'm thinking that the 1200lm one would be better for the kind of plants I want to...

I want to make a small shrimp tank (5-10g) and I don't know what to do about lighting. I want to try some red plants and maybe dwarf lilys but the problem is that good lights are quite expensive where I live because there's pretty much just 1 seller for high tech equipment, so they make the...

Hi all, I'm hoping for some help with a lighting project that I want to start. :) I have a 48 x 24 x 24" tank with limited live plants including some floating water lettuce. It has 2 traditional bulbs that give sufficient light from a visual point of view but have a few drawbacks that I wish...

I wanted live plants for my new tank, but I don't have a fish tank light yet. Would adding the plants before having light hurt them? They can survive in the store without fish tank lighting. I've had to have my other planted tank light off for going on vacation as I didn't want an algae bloom...

Hello everyone! A couple years back I bought a 36 gallon 21" deep aquarium and it’s sat empty for a long time. I’m just now looking into getting lights for it and I know that finding good lights for such a deep tank is difficult. My goal is to grow medium-high light plants (though I’d be fine...

first time keeper looking for advice!!! planning a ten gal planted aquarium for a betta fish. bought the basics in prep for cycling: 10 gal fluval stratum 8.8 lb test kit flourish tabs gravel vac omega one flakes Fluval 50 watt heater thermometer strip seachem water conditioner Aqueon...

I have the tetra 105 liter fish tank but i am finding if i have the light on for more than 5 hours my plants glass heater and filter is getting covered in algee anyone had this problem and could tell me of a bettwr light or a fix to get for this thank you

Does anyone have any experience of running multiple lights front to back across an aquarium, as opposed to lengthways? I have a custom size tank currently being built, at 179cm length, 61cm depth, 70cm height (total volume 764l/202 US gallons). I've been struggling to find lights that stretch...

I have tried using root tabs (one per plant, at base of plant, replace every 4 months as per instructions) on my rooted plants and seachem flourish for my floaters and nothing seems to be working. My hornwort seems to shed needles until there is either nothing left or just a small part covered...

I found this growing in my tank... I think it’s algae, but I’m not completely sure. I just set up my tank a few days ago and I have driftwood, rock, substrate, and a couple of plants so far. I have only noticed it on the pieces of driftwood. I am planning on adding fish this weekend. I have had...

Hi all! I am new to the world of fish keeping. I have a 35 gallon tank, with black widow tetras, gold tetras, cardinals and I have introduced 2 clown loaches just today. Every thing seems to be going well, but I am unsure on how I should run my lights. I have 2 x 3W LEDs, one on each side of my...

Hi Everyone! I'm pretty new to the forum - I posted once before to ask for help on my 21 Litre Nano, because every time I did a water change, my nitrites would go up! I've actually had to break down the tank and nearly gave up on it (and the hobby) altogether - but here I am. I started having...

Hi all, Im looking for help with my aquarium lighting. I currently have a Juwel primo 70L (20gal) aquarium with the out of the box light and aquarium hood. The light is an LED tube (Juwel NovoLux LED 60) but it is very low wattage (8w) so I cant grow plants (all my attempts so far have ended...

Hi TFF, I am hoping that you guys can help me out with lighting. I honestly don't get how it works and to know if you have a strong enough light for your plants. I have been looking around and doing some research and the most common term I found was watt per gallon. Apparently you should aim...

What brand would you recommend for a 55 gallon tank? I’m planting a high light tank and can’t decode what lighting to use. It could be LED or a T5 or whatever else. I could even do two lights if necessary but would prefer just one strong one. Need something that could keep the color on red...

So I've got a few small tanks at the moment, nothing bigger than 20 gallons though, and I have decided after thinking for a long time that I want to get a 40 gallon and use it as a peaceful(ish) community tank. I just have a few questions regarding the tank equipment and stocking. 1. I have a...

I recently purchased a 60L Fluval Edge Aquarium with integrated filter and LED lighting. It's a lovely sized tank, but I wanted share a couple of issues with you in case you're thinking of getting one. The LED light is great, and super bright. It does have 3 modes. White, White & Blue and...

Hi, I'm new to the form and have been searching for a new light for a 36 gallon bow front aquarium. I have a hood to the aquarium and would like to just buy a new florescent light if that is possible but, I can only find full hood replacements for 36 gallon bow front aquariums. Are full hood...

I have a lot of trouble figuring out how much light and CO2 I have, and what plants would thrive in my tank. I could also use some help dosing ferts. My tank is about 120gallon or 540liters. I have 2 18w LEDs, (AquaEl) one at 10 000k and one at 6500k. I can't figure out what their PUR/PAR or...

Hello. I’m setting up a new tank. It will house a variety of community fish and have live plants. The tank will be 36” deep. I am after some suggestions for some good lighting preferably LED. As the tank Is 120” long I want to put 2 or 3 light units across the width of the tank which will be 18”...

Hello, I'm new here and have had a quick look round but am looking for advise on my lighting unit. My tank has two units and one has failed a couple of time (have replaced the ballast) but its gone again and I'm getting tired of changing it. A replacement unit is £160+, I wondered if anyone...

I am planning on planting my 20H gallon tank with beginner, low-light plants. I came across the Fluval Aquasky 2.0 and loved the convenience of just using my phone! I saw one website had it on sale from 104.99 to about 72.99. Will it be enough to support the growth of low-light plants?

I have two 5000k LED bulbs together that hangs above my plants and a nano aquarium setup, combined do they give of 10000k's? Im not sure how it works, questions would help

I have recently bought a 10 gallon all glass aquarium with a powerhead spongefilter and 6 kg gravel stones. I am thinking of keeping just a betta inside this tank and need some ideas for plants which are low maintainence and do not require a lot of fertilizers. I am currently cycling this tank...

About a week ago I went to Home Depot to Pick up a few things, I had no luck growing my plants to their full potential, and creating a nice soothing white light that that is visually appealing in the day time. At home depot I picked up a Philodendron plant to go into my HOB filter and a set of...

I have a 10 gallon, Im wondering if CFL bulbs are good enough to use for plants, I have a spiral CFL that reads 6500k on a clamp lamp fixture, I'm no expert on lighting at all. So I'm wondering if anyone could clarify if CFL bulbs are a good option Cheers!

Hello there! I had to recover my tank from the Algae Apocalypse of 2016, which was pretty dreadful, but now we're back up and running. I just did a little bit of replanting, but I was thinking about the lighting. About three years ago I got a 20" hood that fitted 4 T5 bulbs for my ten gallon...

Hi! I'm new on here, I've been wanting to make an account for a while but just never got around to it, and I figured this question would be a good reason to make one! I have a 37G saltwater fish tank with only dry rock, but it just looks so ugly. I want some more life in it, and so I started to...

Old timer here, joined about 15 years ago, haven't posted in about 6 years!!! Time flies :p I recently upgraded my 5ft 100 gallon to a 6ft 125 and I need new lighting. I'm wanting to switch to LED from T5 and I've read mixed reviews on Beamswork lights. I see a new 2016 release called the...

I have one 18" fluorescent bulb on the tank right now. I would like my tank to have moderate lighting. I am thinking of either buying a dual fluorescent fixture or a LED fixture. Which would be the better choice? The tank is a 20 tall, so the lights would be about 17" from the substrate.   For...

Hi everyone,    So I've just got a brand new tropical tank from ND Aquatics - 6ft x 2ft x 2ft and I'm currently getting all the gear together.    I've got everything sorted except for the lighting, I've spent night after night researching and have come to the conclusion that I need some help...

I currently have a 55 gallon African cichlid tank and i am looking to get new bulbs for them. I don't know what I currently have in them. Unfortunately, they only hold a single florescent tube. At the moment I don't want to upgrade, so what would be the best bulb to replace the current ones with...

I am looking for a dual T8 fixture for my 20g long aquarium. 6500K. Can anyone direct me to where I can buy one? I don't want to build my own. Thanks

hell again  well it has been awhile since i have posted and alot has happened. soooo where to start all my fish are settled in and enjoying life in the tank. i added some serpae tetras and another store called them black skirt tetras so idk???? that is one question. sitting watching these fish...

I have a 120 gallon and will be starting my fishless cycle very soon. It's 72 inches across and I need some lights. I could get 3x 24inch lights, or 2x 36inch lights. I'm wondering if I should go LED or just stick to good old Florescent. I might have a few plants, but the plant needs will be...

Hey everyone, I have a 29G  freshwater planted tank. I have been using a 24" 17watts T8 Florasun bulb by Zoomed (5000K) for the past month or so. I dose with Seachem Flourish, Flourish Excel, API leaf zone, and API root tabs per instructions.The tank is cycled and I dose with Seachem Stability...

Hey all, I recently got a light with a white light setting and a blue light setting. You can hook both of them up to a timer. I currently have the white light set for 7 hours and the blue light set for 9 hours (one extra hour on each side of the white light time)   Does anyone have suggestions...

Hey everyone, I have a 29G Marineland planted tank. I used to use the stock LED unit but decided to upgrade to better lighting in order to get better plant quality. I dose with Seachem Flourish and Flourish Excel per bottle instructions.The tank is cycled and I dose with Seachem Stability when...

Haven't been on here in a while! I tore down the last of my tanks nearly... a year ago I think? Well, I bought a 20 gallon last night, since I can never stand to stay away from tanks for long. Not sure on what specific plants I plan on doing yet, but won't be doing anything that needs real high...