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Lighting Question ???

1K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  mookeeful 
#1 ·
So what is the recommended lighting for betta tanks? :dunno: When we bought lights, I didn't realize there was a recommendation at all, so I bought the colors that I liked. I have been seeing "dim" lighting pop up here & there, and thought I should ask what necessarily defines dim for tanks.
 
#3 ·
Nopers, no live plants at this time - just silk ones. We have kind of a dim light in the room that they are in - so when we are in here, we sometimes turn on their tank lights for about an hour or two a night. I notice they tend to get super active at that time as well, so I thought that would be alright. All of them also have a cave of sorts to hide in should they desire darkness when it is light outside. I just have noticed the dim lighting thing pop up a few times recently and thought "oh crap!". hehe, ty for answering :)
 
#4 ·
bettas like humans needs night and day hours. Well all living creatures do they get energy from light. I would suggest turn the tank light on when you wake up and turn it off when the sun starts going down. When you say they get "super active" do you mean when you first turn the tank light on? That is normal think of it like when you are sleeping and someone turns the overhead light on you startling you and waking you up.
 
#5 ·
Well even if they are already awake when their tank light goes on, its like feeding cake to a 3 year old -- they just start chasing their reflections & getting all crazy excited.. though now that I think about it, their lights also go on in the morning for an hour or so while we are getting ready, and they get fed then. So they may be associating that initial turn on with food time as they generally get fed directly after the tank light going on. They are in our front room where they do get normal daylight & night time hours - whether or not their tank lights are on. I just like to turn it on for them because I would think it is just nice to have it on if I were the fish, hehehe. I just wasn't sure if maybe my lights were to bright for them, or if there was a specific dim light that everyone was referring to. Thanks guys!
 
#6 ·
hmmm I dunno I never thought of a light being too bright.... for my planted tank I use the 5600k (I think) so I assume anything under that is ok or at least the recommendation on the lid (cause of the fire issue). maybe someone else haves a better answer?
 
#7 ·
I am not an authority on lighting, but I can offer some thoughts from experience.
1. If your tank light is the only thing on in the room, with no external lighting you can cause the fish to be stressed. One of my males freaks out if his tank light is on and there is no other light in the room, since he can see his reflection in the tank walls. I don't know if the light should be brighter or dimmer, it seems to me dimmer would reduce the reflection.
2. If the light is too bright and you have provided a lot of leafy style plants, or caves, or general hiding spots, then they will tend to spend whatever time they feel necessary hiding out in the shade.

If I am wrong on either of these, I guarantee you someone will correct me, and that's fine. We all learn.
 
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