Lighting

[gutter_glitter]

So I'm fortunate enough to put away my betta tanks in a storage house. But where? It only hit me lately that I've had more time on my hands & went into a dark aquarium store. The only lighting was for the tanks. The house has only one room with brick-thick windows which don't give too much light, but I want to know if I'm better off shelving it all in a dark room? What's healthy for the fish & plants?

[Callatya]

OK Chloe, i'm having a daft day, can you explain this a bit clearer for me? Are you asking if you should block the natural light? Plant light requirements are higher than that of fish. If you want to grow plants well you will need direct lighting over the tanks. The amount of light required will depend on the species of plant you are trying to grow What plants do you have? Fish lights are easier. Providing they are on a regular cycle, you can get away with little light or lots. Room lights will do if needs be you can choose a summer cycle or a winter cycle or variations thereof. I prefer a summer cycle (12 hours on, 12 off) because it gives more light time for me to watch the fishies. IF you want to have the fish sleep in the morning and be awake at night you will have to do all the lights artificially, and board up windows etc. In theory you can have your fish awake at night and asleep during the day, but i've not ever had need for it. I also don't know how this affects breeding etc.

[gutter_glitter]

Well the problem is, I don't know where to start! I found these really sturdy shelves for smaller tanks to sit accross but i'm thinking of putting artifcial lighting over them as during the day it is dark, but i guess you could make your way around walking through the dark rooms. I have mostly Java ferns, they've been growing really well with little light, so I'm not too worried about them as I am with the fish, I pop in to see the fish 3 times a day usually and could easily go in to turn on and off lighting for them. If I decide to put in artificial lighting, is there such thing as lights blinding the fish? *paranoid* Please excuse my awful & confusing paragraphs.

[Chuckie]

aquarium lights are designed to go over tanks, so are not going to blind the fish. Lizard UV lamps (for example) might damage the retina, though, so I would avoid them. By the same token I imagine that fish need some UV for Vitamin D production, like other animals. So again I recommend the lights designed for fish tanks. If you put the lights on, leave them on 10 - 12 hours, don't be switching them on and off several times a day. Fishs' bio-rhythms seem to depend to an extent on the length of daylight hours. Lights going on and off will just stuff that up for them IMHO. Make sure whatever light you get that you don't choose a very high wattage light or you're likely to end up with an algae problem. HTH.

[gutter_glitter]

Awesome. Thankyou very much.