New to tropical fish - seeking some advice

[jonnyc88]

Shops and aquarists rarely see eye to eye. Do not listen to advice from the shop. Having said that, if you have not opened the Hikari, see if they will take it back in exchange for a better product. It is not that Hikari will poison your fish or something, obviously not, but when there are better alternatives it is best to use them.

I don't think it's possible for refund now as it's booked for delivery but I will try to see what I can do. Looks like they also sell New Life Spectrum pallets and Fish Science Worm Pallets so will see if I can try to swap for those.

My current stock (x15 neon tetras and x8 peppered corydoras) don't seem to feed much. Just tiny amount of TetraMin flakes twices a day and 1-2 Fish Science Corydoras tablets.
Any more and the feed usually lies on the substrate. Will be interesting next week as we are expecting x10 Odessa Barbs, x10 Cardinal Tetras and x10 Panda Corydoras.

 

[jonnyc88]

Managed to swap Hikari with NLS and Fish Science Work Pallets so I'm well chuffed

Fluval Bug Bites came today and both the neons and Corydoras seem to love it!

Keep getting red on my Fluval E series heater. I've set it to 25C and it's not reading 26, ambient temp is around 27C. Hopefully it doesn't get warmer otherwise might run a fan facing the tank.

 

[jonnyc88]

I’ve got a LED light which I’ve hooked up to a smart plug so it switches in and off automatically. I noticed that the neon tetras seems very startled when the lights go off at night. They seem to dart around in panic but seem to settle down after a while.
Will this harm the fish long term?
I tried to shop around for LED lights which dims but can’t seem to find suitable one here in UK.

 

[seangee]

If possible turn the room lights on half an hour before the tank lights come on and off half an hour after the tank lights.
I have these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07K6H6CB5/?tag= which have a 15 minute sunrise / sunset where the lights are gradually dimmed / undimmed. Make sure your lights have appropriate connectors unless you are happy to do some wiring.

 

[mbsqw1d]

I’ve got a LED light which I’ve hooked up to a smart plug so it switches in and off automatically. I noticed that the neon tetras seems very startled when the lights go off at night. They seem to dart around in panic but seem to settle down after a while.
Will this harm the fish long term?
I tried to shop around for LED lights which dims but can’t seem to find suitable one here in UK.

This LED light:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07V8JD19P/?tag=
comes with a dimmer.
And in conjunction with this timer:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B082YVZ7CR/?tag=
You can have it do a 'sunrise/sunset' effect (it comes on on lowest setting and increases in brightness over the course of 15 mins).
I think most tetra fish arent a fan of light and most do well to have some floating plants

 

[Byron]

I’ve got a LED light which I’ve hooked up to a smart plug so it switches in and off automatically. I noticed that the neon tetras seems very startled when the lights go off at night. They seem to dart around in panic but seem to settle down after a while.
Will this harm the fish long term?

Yes, this is stressing the fish. But it is easy to remedy. Have the tank light come on and turn off when the room is lit, whether daylight or artificial light. Since I am retired, I have my tanklighting come on at 10 am and turn off at 5 pm during the "summer" months when the daylight entering the room is bright. In winter, the tank lighting comes on at 9 am and goes off at 4 pm, and it is still light enough at 4 pm to provide the "dusk" effect.

Before retirement, I had the tank lighting on during the evening so I could enjoy the fish and just before the tanklights were timed to go off, a room light was timed to come on, and remain on for an hour.

Some LED has the dusk/dawn built in, and that should work too. Main thing is the sharp adjustment of the tank light coming on or going off has to be when the room is still light enough.

Keep getting red on my Fluval E series heater. I've set it to 25C and it's not reading 26, ambient temp is around 27C. Hopefully it doesn't get warmer otherwise might run a fan facing the tank

If this means the air temp is raising the tank temp, that is OK. Summer heat waves especially if it cools down at night are not a problem. Fluval heaters also need good water movement around them. Mine frequently does this, and it says "Low Flow" as well. I ignore it, as the heater is placed next to the filter return and I cannot do better.

 

[jonnyc88]

If possible turn the room lights on half an hour before the tank lights come on and off half an hour after the tank lights.
I have these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07K6H6CB5/?tag= which have a 15 minute sunrise / sunset where the lights are gradually dimmed / undimmed. Make sure your lights have appropriate connectors unless you are happy to do some wiring.

Thanks! I actually had a look at similiar and I have emailed the manufacturer to see if they are compatible as I don't think all LED light would support dimming.
Wiring wise I can plumb this in as the lights have the right connectors. The light came as a kit with the tank (Aqua One Oak Style 145L)

 

[jonnyc88]

This LED light:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07V8JD19P/?tag=
comes with a dimmer.
And in conjunction with this timer:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B082YVZ7CR/?tag=
You can have it do a 'sunrise/sunset' effect (it comes on on lowest setting and increases in brightness over the course of 15 mins).
I think most tetra fish arent a fan of light and most do well to have some floating plants

I did have a look at that kit but I'm wondering if anyone here has experience using it? Lumens wise I'm not sure it's as bright as my current one but I suppose that doesn't matter?
Also noticed this light doesn't come with a clip, does it just sit on top of the tank? One good thing about my current light is that it has flexi arms which is really convenient to position, especially when feeding.

We do some some floating plants which are some kind of lettuce I think. They are quite a pain to maintain as the smaller ones will get washed away by the current and ending up stuck in the filter basket guard. I try to position my light slightly higher now to minimise glare.

 

[jonnyc88]

Yes, this is stressing the fish. But it is easy to remedy. Have the tank light come on and turn off when the room is lit, whether daylight or artificial light. Since I am retired, I have my tanklighting come on at 10 am and turn off at 5 pm during the "summer" months when the daylight entering the room is bright. In winter, the tank lighting comes on at 9 am and goes off at 4 pm, and it is still light enough at 4 pm to provide the "dusk" effect.

Before retirement, I had the tank lighting on during the evening so I could enjoy the fish and just before the tanklights were timed to go off, a room light was timed to come on, and remain on for an hour.

Some LED has the dusk/dawn built in, and that should work too. Main thing is the sharp adjustment of the tank light coming on or going off has to be when the room is still light enough.

The room is fairly lit when the lights go off (it goes off 9.30p.m). The lights comes on at about 10.30a.m. Due to lockdown and kids not at school I've left the schedule as it is for now due to the kids sleeping and getting up late (don't ask... )

My living room where the tank is does not get much natural light even in day time. Getting more fish soon so really don't want to stress them out so would consider getting the NICREW lights with dusk/dawn sensors.

If this means the air temp is raising the tank temp, that is OK. Summer heat waves especially if it cools down at night are not a problem. Fluval heaters also need good water movement around them. Mine frequently does this, and it says "Low Flow" as well. I ignore it, as the heater is placed next to the filter return and I cannot do better.

Yes, I have a different thermometer to measure ambient air and the tank is within 1C of ambient. I've switched off the Fluval for now as the tank seems to still maintain about 25-26C at the moment, so decided to keep it off for time being.

I've got the "LF" warning as well with my Fluval E Series heater even when placed in high flow area, the remedy is to mount it at a 45 degree angle. No "LF" warnings so far

 

[seangee]

Thanks! I actually had a look at similiar and I have emailed the manufacturer to see if they are compatible as I don't think all LED light would support dimming.
Wiring wise I can plumb this in as the lights have the right connectors. The light came as a kit with the tank (Aqua One Oak Style 145L)

I took a chance and have it working on 2 of my tanks. One is a fluval flex and the other is a budget marina tank which has what looks like a cheap strip of LEDs stuck on the hood. Works fine with both.

 

[jonnyc88]

I took a chance and have it working on 2 of my tanks. One is a fluval flex and the other is a budget marina tank which has what looks like a cheap strip of LEDs stuck on the hood. Works fine with both.

I’ve bought the “Pro” version as well. Fingers crossed it works. Using smart plug at the moment so switching on and off can be quite abrupt.

 

[jonnyc88]

The NICREW dimmer arrived and seem to work with my current light. Although at 100% brightness setting it looks brighter than normal so I’ve set a 30 min cycle from 0 > 30 (9AM) > 80 (12PM) > 30 (6PM) > 0 (9.30PM) brightness levels.

Will monitor over few days hopefully everything is ok. Always bit cautious over LED dimmers as they apply resistance.

 

[seangee]

The NICREW dimmer arrived and seem to work with my current light. Although at 100% brightness setting it looks brighter than normal so I’ve set a 30 min cycle from 0 > 30 (9AM) > 80 (12PM) > 30 (6PM) > 0 (9.30PM) brightness levels.

Will monitor over few days hopefully everything is ok. Always bit cautious over LED dimmers as they apply resistance.

I don't have the pro version because all I wanted was the dimming and timer. One of my tanks runs at 55% intensity all the time and I have never felt any indication of heat build up in the controller or in the transformer so hopefully its nothing to worry about. Been running for several months.

 

[jonnyc88]

I don't have the pro version because all I wanted was the dimming and timer. One of my tanks runs at 55% intensity all the time and I have never felt any indication of heat build up in the controller or in the transformer so hopefully its nothing to worry about. Been running for several months.

Thanks for the feedback @seangee . Definitely put my mind at ease Not too sure what difference on Pro version yet but so far really impressed by the functionality.
I might play around with the intensity and lower it a little in the future if the plants are doing ok.

 

[seangee]

Programming on the basic is limited to on time, off time and intensity for a single block with a fixed 15 minute ramp up / down.
IIRC the price was almost identical but I decided a KISS approach meant there was less to go wrong