Best lighting for my GFP Axolotls?

[ahritchie]

Hello everyone, my new GFP axolotls are growing very quickly and I'll be upgrading their aquarium soon to a 29 gallon; I need some help picking out which light should I choose to properly display them; (I want a regular "daylight" bulb AND a black light or actinic bulb to make my axolotls glow at night). Do the actinic bulbs make them glow as much as a real black light? What about nighttime LEDs? I've narrowed it down to 3 choices; can anyone that has GFP axolotls or knows a lot about aquarium lighting share their thoughts as to which is best form my purposes? I should also mention the tank will be heavily planted. Thanks!

1. Zoo Med AquaSun T-5 HO double light linear flourescent hood (with 1 Wave point reef wave support violet O3 Actinic 420HO T5 lamp and 1 Zoo med T-5 HOFlora Sun Mac Plant growth Fluorescent bulb)

Zoo Med AquaSun T-5 HO Double Light Linear Fluorescent Hood at PETCO

2. Marineland LED Double Bright Aquarium lighting system:

• Powered by Energy Efficient 1 watt LED's
• Slim stylized lighting profile
• Mimics underwater effect of sunlight
• Energy efficient system that doesn’t require any bulb replacement
• Specifically designed Polycarbonate lens to focus and to protect LED lights
• Nighttime mode replicates lunar light

Marineland LED Double Bright Aquarium Lighting System at PETCO

3. Twin Tube fluorescent strip light (1 regular T-8 daylight bulb 1 20 watt slim T-8 blacklight)

Twin-Tube Fluorescent Strip Lights - Lighting & Hoods - Fish - PetSmart

 

[dragonlady]

Whatever you decide to do, you will not want to keep this sort of light on for long periods of time as lights can stress axolotls.

I am no expert in lighting, although I do have GFPs. I use a basic blue light to show them off to a visitor or something, but only for a few minutes.

Certain lights (actinic for example) are not recommended because they emit UV which is harmful to amphibians. There was a similar post discussing lighting for GFPs...HERE

 

[ahritchie]

I'm not planning on leaving the lights on for more than 3-4 hours a day; just in the evening to better view the axies. There is plenty of natural light in the room during the day.The main purpose is to keep the plants alive and maybe put on a black light show for 30-45 minutes at a time for the novelty aspect of having glowing GFP axies :tongue:

From the other similar post, it seems others have had better luck with LED lighting for their axolotls as opposed to fluorescent lights in regards to the axolotls not being stressed/hiding from the light....any thoughts on this?