Will too much light stress my fish?

[FishHobby99]

I recently purchased several red plants without doing proper research. Turns out they require intense lighting (& more).

My betta tank hood uses standard bulb size bases. I currently have a pair of 1.5 LEDS = 10 W equivalent = 240 Lumens. I can up this to 1600 Lumens with a pair of 60 W equivalent LEDs.

Would this stress the betta? I also placed red plants in a tank with 3 little albino cory catfish & am wondering if increasing light intensity will bother them. Needless to add the flashy red plants can make friends with the trash can if their requirements stress my fish.

 

[Rocky998]

I recently purchased several red plants without doing proper research. Turns out they require intense lighting (& more).

My betta tank hood uses standard bulb size bases. I currently have a pair of 1.5 LEDS = 10 W equivalent = 240 Lumens. I can up this to 1600 Lumens with a pair of 60 W equivalent LEDs.

Would this stress the betta? I also placed red plants in a tank with 3 little albino cory catfish & am wondering if increasing light intensity will bother them. Needless to add the flashy red plants can make friends with the trash can if their requirements stress my fish.

Some fish like high light and others like low light and others like it imbetween... Betta fish like low to medium light... BUT, dont go throwing away your beautiful plants yet! You can easily move your red plants to one side of the tank and use a plant corral for floating plants so the light is dim in one area but is high for the red lights... And dont worry about your fish not using that side, what he can do is be able to hide in the red plants but come out in the dimmer areas...

 

[Slaphppy7]

Just try the plants with the lighting you already have...

 

[Rocky998]

Now, that’s an idea! Using floating plants on part of the tank! But it inspires me to think of something like an opaque ”awning“on half the tank. Saw potentially suitable plastic material at Lowe’s while shopping for the open grids I use to cover the axie & goldfish tanks.

Thanks, Rocky!

No problem... I would get some cheap airline tubing and suction cups (meant for tubing) on Amazon... All together without tax and shipping it should be around $8

 

[FishHobby99]

Just try the plants with the lighting you already have...

The experienced people at a plant forum are saying the plants will “melt“ under my current conditions, but no harm in trying exactly what you suggest. Let them melt! Never saw a plant melt before. just butter.

 

[Rocky998]

No, to make a cheap floating plant corral to dim the light on one side...

Tubing & suction cups for what? To get the plants closer to the light source? I am considering elevating them on these attractive grey concrete bricks I saw at Lowe’s.

 

[FF_Member146894]

floating plants will not stop high lighting from getting through

 

[Byron]

Yes, most fish we keep are impacted negatively by overhead lighting, so it should be minimal rather than maximum. I have seen enough evidence of this over the years. And observations of cardinal tetras in their habitats is very instructive...the fish remain in the shaded portions and will not even cross the "boundary" line of shade and sunlight.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Tubing & suction cups for what? To get the plants closer to the light source? I am considering elevating them on these attractive grey concrete bricks I saw at Lowe’s.

 

[Rocky998]

Sounds like the way to go! Don’t like duckweed. Heard people use frogbit. Will google, know nothing about it. What would you recommend ?

I have some red root floaters... When kept under high light the leaves and roots become a nice red... I know ya like red as well

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Very clever! Will that work corralling my cats?

Doubt it...you need tuna to be able to herd cats.

 

[Rocky998]

Will have to google red roof floater ! Do you have a pic?

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Will have to google red roof floater ! Do you have a pic?

Look for Red rooT floater; Phyllanthus Fluitans

 

[Rocky998]

Wow! That’s a cool pic! Is it yours? I did indeed google and none were as impressIve as this. It cracked me up how some people photographed them under blue lights. Spectacular shades of purple & intense blue. You see the blue lighting on some people‘s hands.

No, those are not mine... It takes a while (especially after being shipped in a moist and dark place) to get a very nice red... Ive had mine for a week or more maybe and the new leaves are beginning to get a red hue and the roots are turning from tan to a brown (the beginning phase to red)

 

[FishHobby99]

So I googled the best light intensity for bettas & the consensus seems to be 1 Watt per gallon. Replaced one of the 1.5 W with a 9. Close enough, 10.5 W.

The dimmer light is above green plants & the other above the red plants. I’m going to get the red floaters Rocky & Bruce mentioned.