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Lighting can be very contentious
Manufacturers seem to assume that the brighter is the better
But where in the world do you get cloudless skies each and every day and no obstruction tween ground or water and the sun
Nowhere.
My lights are not the ones that came with my aquarium, they are infinitely adjustable and my fish are the most active and colourful when the lights are on their lowest intensity....think along the lines of a cloudy day...yes there is light but its not harsh light, its not piercing light that you cannot escape from (even floating plants do not cut the intensity of the light, they only offer shade from it)
My light is a 78cm long Nicrew RGB MCR, cost me less than 35 quid. My fish don't get spooked or stressed when the lights go on and when the white light is on its cloudy day bright, so the activity levels are high, they are not getting spooked by their own shadows or the shadows of their scaping. The colours of the fish is vibrant, they don't hide away from the bright light as they did when I initially used the factory fitted light. I also do not have my light directly above them. It is sitting on the glass brace at the back and angled 45 degrees down....think cloudy day through the trees, no direct light, just soft lighting.
Sometimes it is not financially and/or physically viable to just change a lighting system that came with an aquarium, so what are the alternatives when your aquarium light is too bright and harsh and you cannot dim them down?
One very inexpensive and easy alternative is to use theatrical light film.
You can either sleeve the light or tent the film over the light (attaching the film to the hood with superglue)
Using film can also be an inexpensive way to change the colour of the light...rather than buy specific plant enhancing lights.
Theatrical film is heat proof and it is not affected by humidity...most importantly it is not toxic to fish should it fall off the light for any reason.
Theatrical film comes in a massive number of shades and intensities so you can find exactly what you want easily and quickly
This firm supplied my film before I found my Nicrew lighting and it really did make a difference to how the fish behaved but without affecting any plant growth
stagedepot.co.uk
There are other companies who supply theatrical and stage in all countries of the world, the films can also be bought from various online suppliers too, but make sure that the films are theatrical/stage that are heat and humidity proof
The ones I used to drop intensity on the factory fitted lights....
stagedepot.co.uk
I am sure there are other alternative ways to safely alter the intensity of aquarium lights too, so if you have other alternatives to adapt a light instead of changing it, do please share as there are many people who struggle with fish that are spooked by bright lighting.
Manufacturers seem to assume that the brighter is the better
But where in the world do you get cloudless skies each and every day and no obstruction tween ground or water and the sun
Nowhere.
My lights are not the ones that came with my aquarium, they are infinitely adjustable and my fish are the most active and colourful when the lights are on their lowest intensity....think along the lines of a cloudy day...yes there is light but its not harsh light, its not piercing light that you cannot escape from (even floating plants do not cut the intensity of the light, they only offer shade from it)
My light is a 78cm long Nicrew RGB MCR, cost me less than 35 quid. My fish don't get spooked or stressed when the lights go on and when the white light is on its cloudy day bright, so the activity levels are high, they are not getting spooked by their own shadows or the shadows of their scaping. The colours of the fish is vibrant, they don't hide away from the bright light as they did when I initially used the factory fitted light. I also do not have my light directly above them. It is sitting on the glass brace at the back and angled 45 degrees down....think cloudy day through the trees, no direct light, just soft lighting.
Sometimes it is not financially and/or physically viable to just change a lighting system that came with an aquarium, so what are the alternatives when your aquarium light is too bright and harsh and you cannot dim them down?
One very inexpensive and easy alternative is to use theatrical light film.
You can either sleeve the light or tent the film over the light (attaching the film to the hood with superglue)
Using film can also be an inexpensive way to change the colour of the light...rather than buy specific plant enhancing lights.
Theatrical film is heat proof and it is not affected by humidity...most importantly it is not toxic to fish should it fall off the light for any reason.
Theatrical film comes in a massive number of shades and intensities so you can find exactly what you want easily and quickly
This firm supplied my film before I found my Nicrew lighting and it really did make a difference to how the fish behaved but without affecting any plant growth
Lighting Gels / Lighting Filter Colours | Stage Depot
Range of lighting gel to buy online, manufactured from the finest polymeric materials, for modern studio and theatre lighting
stagedepot.co.uk
There are other companies who supply theatrical and stage in all countries of the world, the films can also be bought from various online suppliers too, but make sure that the films are theatrical/stage that are heat and humidity proof
The ones I used to drop intensity on the factory fitted lights....
210 0.6 Neutral Density Lighting Gel
Rosco E-Colour+ 210 0.6 Neutral Density Lighting Gel from Rosco's comprehensive system of colour filters for film, theatre and video production.
stagedepot.co.uk
I am sure there are other alternative ways to safely alter the intensity of aquarium lights too, so if you have other alternatives to adapt a light instead of changing it, do please share as there are many people who struggle with fish that are spooked by bright lighting.
