Another lighting question-

threnody

I have a 58 freshwater tank with two yellow gouramis, an opaline, 6 bloodfin tetras (at the moment... :/) 5 longfin serpae tetras, and 3 longfin black widow tetras. I plan on adding a pair of clown loaches a pictus cat, and an angel later on. At the moment, I don't have any live plants, but I have a strong affinity for the amazon swords, Anubias, mondo grass, etc. My light isn't out or doing anything funny, but I have the oddest feeling that it's going to go out soon.

Either that, or I want to spend more money on my tank. I'm not entirely sure XD

That being said, what tye of light should I go with?

MattD

If you're going to eventually plant your tank, obviously try and pick a bulb designed for plant growth and the general needs of fish.

threnody

...Obviously. I was looking for a little more direction than an 'obviously pick a bulb designed for plant growth.' No need to be condescending.

The problem is that there are a few bulbs that mention they are ideal for freshwater/planted tanks. There are also signs at Petsmart that say a Pictus cat needs a 5+ gallon tank. I'm lucky, my Petsmart is good, the people are intelligent and have done fish for 3-4+ years.

However. I'm looking for direction. The more people you ask, the more points that are brought up for consideration, the (usually) more accurate the information.

Thanks.

MattD

I wasn't try to be condescending. In fact, I used the word in order to keep others from saying ''well obviously mattd'' so calm yourself.

leifthebunny

With the amazon swords, you'll want higher lighting. The Anubias is fine with low lights. If you don't already have a couple of caves, I would recommend this as pictus cats prefer to hide during the day. After adding them into my shark tank, my rainbow and RTS now see solace in my thick ulvaceus apono.

I would recommend against the angel with the serpae (and bloodfin IIRC) though as they tend to be nippy.

mHeinitz57

[quote="threnody"]...Obviously. I was looking for a little more direction than an 'obviously pick a bulb designed for plant growth.' No need to be condescending. quote]

Thats not condescending at all. While almost all lights will say they are ok for plants...there are lights specifically designed for plants. I work at petsmart and have about 6 years in the pet store business. If you are shopping there, look for the Flora-Glo light in the long green box.
The one downside with petsmart is they changed their fish signs within the last year and changed some of the information on them. For instance, they now have oscars growing a max size of about 10" and angels a max size of 4". They used to be 15" and 6-8" respectively...which is a more realistic estimate. For some reason they brought down their estimates on a lot of them. The pictus is an extremely active fish that will grow 6-8" (some say a little less, some say more). Personally I would say a 5 gallon is too small for a pictus.

threnody

My hero- that is exactly what I was looking for.


5 is too small for a pictus, but that was the point i was making; most of the information is guidelines, not wholly accurate.

mHeinitz57

yeah, i'm just saying the "guidlines" they give arent exactly the best to follow sometimes. Im glad you found a store with good people though.