Lighting and heating question

[carriw]

Hi everyone
What do you all do about lighting your tanks? I know axies dont like a lot of bright light, but my tank is in a darkish corner of the room and I have put some plants in there, so I am going to need something. Especially if I want to see the beauties!

my tank came with a tropical bulb that is rather bright. I am paranoid that the lamp will also heat the water - which I dont need any help with despite the british summer. Usually the tank is about 18 degrees but i tried the light on yesterday and I swear it went up a degree - despite the guy in the shop yesterday saying they dont heat the water. On some really hot days a few weeks ago the room was at about 21-22 degrees at least (dont know about the water temp as it wasnt set up yet). Therefore I dont need any help with heating the tank at the moment!

Come to think of it, this may be the dumbest question ever but does the tank water equalise to room air temp? Im assuming so (unless you have a heater in there of course).

Any suggestions/comments much appreciated.
Carri

 

[ted22]

Helloo ive tried a few tubes: (my axie REALLY hates light!)

hagen sunglo - way too bright in a small tank very white light (came with the tank)

hagen aquaglo pretty dim compared to most lights had a beautiful pinkishy/purpleish light that really set off the colors in the tank and made gomez look awesome but unless shade was added i diddnt see much of my axie, meant to be good for live plants. nice light cant imagine you could get much dimmer?

Interpet blue moon moonlight: my light of choice! has a reflector on the tube so can be used backwards to reflect light away from the tank, gives the tank a cool blue glow, very blue light will make your axie and everything in the tank look a shade of blue so might not be a good option if you want to show off your axies colours. still illuminates tank plenty to see everything, Big bonus is that my axie acts as if the lights not even there so hes always out and about and never hiding in the shadows!
this bulb is primarily designed for night viewing so i would not think it would be too great for live plants (could be wrong light spectrums arent my thang!)

You may find younger axies are not as sensitive to light as the bigger ones my guy has certainly gotten grumpier about the light since he's grown up!

Your axie should not need heating should ideally be at a cool 16-18degrees the prob is keeping the temp that low and stable there are a few recent threads kickin around with abit about tank cooling! get a fan blowing over the water it should dissipate any heat from the lamp as flourescent tubes generate minimal heat, although still noticeable!

your tank may remain a degree or two cooler than ambient temp as water takes longer to heat and cool than air but its all dependant on volume of water a bigger tank with more water should remain cooler longer than a small volume of water


Hope this info helps!

 

[carriw]

Thanks Ed thats great to know that the water might be a bit cooler than the air temp if im lucky. every little helps. Yes I saw that you could get little fans for the tank, will try that if I need to. Will investigate the moonlight option and see if the plants will like it too.

 

[ted22]

Desktop or stand up type fans work just as well. As well as computer fans and laptop coolers which all might be cheaper than aquarium fans. If you click on my name and bring up my profile I have 2 galleries Some photos are with the aquaglo and the newer ones will be the moonlight so you can get idea of what type of light and hue they give off, you will easily be able to tell which light is which!

 

[Mac Myers]

My Melanoid hides in the dark/shade all the time. There are hises and Moss and light blocks. The other 3 swim up and sit in the pothos vines hanging in the tank. They don't seem to mind the light.

Edit: Should have added that they are low wattage fluorescents.

 

[carriw]

Wow ed your tank looks fab, where did you get that raised ledge? Such a good idea.
The lights are def less bright than mine, plus I just had it on for a few hours and the water temp has gone up past 20 degrees. Def need to get a lower wattage light, but might try that first before the moonlight, as all though it looks cooler, i would like my plants to live. well I can at least try to keep them alive.
Thanks!
Just took my first set of readings and added my ammonia source. Go tank!

 

[ghogg]

I just use the 2 tubes that came with my tank, a Juwel Rekord. They are both 18w, day-lite and warm-lite. One is quite a white light, the other gives a yellowish hue.
They are on a timer from around 11am to 11pm and the axies don't seem to mind it at all. They quite often sit out in the light, great for me to watch them lol. I have a load of a floating plant which really takes over the top few inches of the tank providing a bit of shade.
Having the light on is likely to increase water temps so you will need to keep an eye on it, and i'd get the lowest wattage that you can. Or get a chiller and you won't have to worry.
There is a slightly old picture of my tank in my gallery album, the floating plant has really flourished and covers all of it now.

 

[daniellog]

My tank came with a 25w sun-glo. I think it might be too bright but my axies don't seem to be annoyed by it in anyway...for now. I was just wondering, I have a 25w light kit, if I wanted to put a lower wattage bulb on the light kit, could I?

 

[ted22]

Ive found that wattage on the flourecent tube seems to correspond to tube size. I have 15w n tried getting a lower wattage one but the bulb is too small so when looking for alternative 46cm tubes i found they were all 15w just with different light spectrums! I could be wrong but thats the conclusion I seem to have come up with so you'll probably find if your buying a tube of the same length of your original one it will still be the same wattage just a different tone and warmth of light!

 

[carriw]

Meh, good point Ed. Its an arcadia tropical high output 30", hoping I can still find something better. When I decided to get an axolotl and bought a tank, light, filter and stand for £30 on ebay I thought BARGAIN wahey setting this up isnt going to cost me too much. then i just HAD to get some fake cactus, and a cool den and a mexican statue and the right sand and a new light etc....... lol

They will be worth it!

 

[bruin23]

I thought axolotls don't like light??

 

[carriw]

I thought axolotls don't like light??

no they usually dont, but plants do, hence i am trying to find something dimmer and more suitable for both. Wish me luck! ;-)

 

[ted22]

Id try the hagen aquaglo then its a beautiful coloured light and is designed for plant growth (and not too bright)! only cost me £11!