Question: Opinions on lighting (and lid)

[Spacekittie]

How do you feel personally about lighting?

I have a 19 USgallon that I plan on aquascaping with plenty of the usual, low light/temperature plants (with some on glass shelves).

I wasn't planning on using any light, but I don't think I'll be able to get as lush a tank without some kind of light for my plants. The tank will be in a shaded corner, so natural light will be medium to weak..
I hate the idea of upsetting my axie just to keep plants happy. A lot of people on here seem to struggle with that balance.

I'll also have to build a lid, as the tank came with a stiff, sliding mesh, which just isnt suitable.
Does anyone have advice on building lids & encorporating non-invasive lighting?

 

[HappySkittles]

and this is why i use plastic plants hehe
im sure you could be fine having the correct light the plants need as long as you provide places to hide for the axies or have a layer of some kind of floating plant. that would be neat too

or look into lighting for saltwater tanks. if you can get lighting thats right for deep water reefs im sure you can keep the plants and the axies happy.

 

[blackdog]

I've started using a timer switch.

I use low light tolerant plants (as recomended here on the forum - do a search) and i have the timer switch set to come on twice a day fro 3 hrs at a time.

no doubt it catches the odd axie my surprise occasionally and there would be a big cloud of substrate as it dashes into it's hide :- ) , but i havent seen any signs of stress, the plants are doing well with new growth, and the algae which was starting to build up because i was leaving the light on while i was at work is retreating (the snails eat it faster than it can grow)

So, that is my solution, low light plants and a timer switch set to give the bare minimum light for the plants to survive (if not thrive)

Bren

 

[Shizeric]

Here's a quick fix...load up on Java Fern and Java moss...it's looks great...keep your lights on 6-8 hours per day and you're all set.

 

[ted22]

Hello again,

About the plants, your tank has those glass shelves and if you are planning to put a substrate on them no light (or very little light) is going to be able to penetrate to the bottom of the tank so Im thinking you will have little success with plants, abit of moss on those extra levels will be nice and soft on your axies belly but I cant imagine any other plants will do very well planted in the substrate on the bottom. I had a load of plants to start with but they all died, and started rotting making a mess of my tank they needed more light than I was prepared to give them seeing as my Gomez hates light (the bluemoon actinic light works well with axies though, doesnt seem to bother him in the slightest, no plants will survive with it tho!)

Just thought i'd let you know what might happen as plants are pretty expensive, dont want ya wasting your money when it could be saved up for a nice big tank in the future! :happy:

Take it easy

Ed

edit: mesh lids like what you have are ideal as they allow for evaporation which will help keep your tank cool, hoods just trap condensation and heats the tank up! I have made a mesh lid (similar to yours) and bought a seperate lighting starter unit and just cable tied the fitting onto the mesh! It works like a dream!

 

[JWERNER]

First I would be weary of that tank. If it has a sliding mesh lid its a reptile tank and very few hold water for to long before they bow and eventually blow out. Just a few words of caution.

I have taken apart a light fixture ( gutted completely ) and I got a dual socket from the hardware store like this:

I drilled a hole in the top of the fixture and the socket attaches at the switch. Get a power cord to splice onto it from the hardware store or from a old appliance and use spiral compact fluorescent bulbs.

Both my new Axies and my Andersoni are in tanks like this and they are totally fine.

I use anubis and java fern.

I also would agree that it would be had to do something with those shelves.

I would smear some silicone on the bottom pane of glass and sprinkle sand on it to create the illusion of a substrate layer and just use some rocks to decorate down there.

Now, you do however have different levels of light and some stronger light level plants might do well on the upper shelves but you are still restricted to what plants you can us anyway cause those shelves dont have any substrate layer. Again, Anubis and Java are good for this cause they attach to wood or rock.

This is why I choose my tanks wisely. Unless the animal is arboreal,.. surface space is greater then height.

 

[Crysta]

I only use lighting to take photos, I leave the lid off. It's the best option in terms of tempurature.

If you haev your tank by a wall, a light fixed to the wall might be best.

 

[tianh]

I plan on going to my local home improvement store soon and buying mesh to make my lid.

Its as easy as just buying the mesh, and folding the the excess over the sides of the tank making a lid right?


Didnt mean to thread jack OP!

 

[ted22]

I plan on going to my local home improvement store soon and buying mesh to make my lid.

Its as easy as just buying the mesh, and folding the the excess over the sides of the tank making a lid right?


Didnt mean to thread jack OP!

Id make a wooden frame to make it stronger, then you can place a fan ontop of it to help with cooling otherwise the mesh would just collapse from the weight of the fan and/or lighting if just folded over the tank! My tank has bits of glass bracing the inside which made a perfect ledge for the lid to sit on, otherwise you may have to make it a slight bit bigger so it can just sit on the edges of the glass! If your tank is small just make a rectangle frame out of 4 lenghts of wood (screwed together) and maybe just one pice of wood as a brace across the middle to keep it stiff, If your tank is large (3ft or more) additional bracing will help (especially if needing to take a wieght ontop, fan/lighting fixtures etc) I also stained mine black for a more proffessional look!