Lighting

[monkE]

Hey guys, ive recently started up my first cichlid tank and just thought of something... i have pretty strong lighting on the tank as it used to be planted. I have a 36 Hagen GLO HO light with 2xT5 bulbs AquaGLO and Daylight i believe....

anyway, i have always had the lights on a timer which i had a 2 hour siesta durring the day (lights turned off) for the plants to help limit the algae growth and still keep the tank illuminated later at night when im home to enjoy it. Is there any issue (besides algae, or power useage) with leaving the lights on for a full 10-12 hours each day or should i continue with this off time

[onefishtwofish]

africans dont like a lot of light.dim is best. i have heard it can fade their colors or cause them to fade them them selves. ?

[Vman]

I agree that strong light may dimm their color. I have some Haps(electric blue and super red empress)and they look best in the morning,before the light comes on. They seem to kind of fade their color as the day goes by.Our apartment is dimm as we rarely get sunlight,but when we do get some direct light they look super stunning. Especially the Haps look best in natural light. They look very metalllic. I bought an actinic T5 and also a build that is suppose to bring out the reds and oranges,but now think that a natural light bulb could make them look better.If anyone has any ideas please share.

[tony1928]

I can definitely confirm that bright lights fade my africans. I find that when the light is adjusted to be a bit lower, their colours intensify/darken. Alot of these fish are from habitats where either the water is deep so the light is not as intense. As much as I like to see my fish in nice bright light, unfortunately it doesn't quite work like that.

[monkE]

thank you for the info guys... although its obviously not the answer I was hoping for. I am going to have to look into T5 bulbs that fit my fixture with a lower output.. I spent too much money on this light fixture just to remove it now!