CAS512

i have a 2 foot light, unsure of what bulb is it but the fish hate it when it's on so i hardly have it on, but i want to turn it on cos i can see the tank so much better. i'm guessing i need to get a better bulb, can you tell me what bulb would be the best for my fish?

GreenMan13

How many watts is the current light bulb? Should have it on the bulb somewhere. Fish just need some light. Not too picky about what type or how much. How do you know the fish hate it?

CAS512

i'm unsure of how many watts i have, i'll have a look when i get home. it's just every time i turn it on all the fish seem to go hide, like it's too bright for them or something.

mathas

Bulbs tend to grow more dim as they age, so if getting a new bulb changed anything it all, it would likely just make things even brighter than they already are.

I know the yoyos like a more subdued lighting environment, so it's not surprising that they go hide... but I'm not sure why the tetras would do that. Cardinal and neon tetras are staples in many high-end planted tanks that I'm guessing have far more lighting than you're dealing with.

CAS512

hhmmm.......the scossortails hate the light the most. everytime it goes on, they go to the right side of the tank and stay there until it goes off.
what do you think i should do?

mathas

If you mean scissortail rasboras, the only thing I really know about them is that they are schooling fish. As such, they would possibly be less shy if they had more of their species in the tank to school with.

CAS512

oh, there's a bit of a problem there, there's no room for more of them.

CAS512

my partner just read the bulb and it says 'F18w/GRO'

mathas

Do you have one bulb, or two? Even with two, I can't see 36 watts over 30 gallons being too much.

I'm leaning more towards the rasboras feeling vulnerable in the light with only two of them. I'm by no means an expert on that species, though!

CAS512

there's only 1 bulb.

GreenMan13

I would have to agree with what mathas said. Lighting should be fine. Definily not too much with only 18watts on a 30 gallon. How long have you had the light and the fish?

CAS512

have had the fish for about a month or two and the light for about a month.

GreenMan13

Have you been keeping the light on for multiple hours a day for that whole month? If so how long each day? Can you get a picture of the tank with the lights on?

CAS512

i dont leave the light on during the day when i'm at work or at night when i'm alseep. i'll put it on for about half an hour to an hour at night when i get home, but i dont do that everyday. somedays i turn it on for about 5 mintues then turn it back off cos they seem like they dont like it.


Here's a pic of it, but i dont have the gold fish in it and it has changed a bit with how it's set out and it has a piece of driftwood in it now.

GreenMan13

The lights should be on for about 6 hours at least, can be up to 12 hours at the other extreme. The amount of time you leave the lights on are probably just startling the fish and not letting them get use to the light on a natural day/night cycle.

CAS512

oh ok, well i'll try and leave it on for a while. i'll turn it on when i get home and turn it off when i go to bed. that's about 4-5 hours.

Drew 43920

You could get a timer and have a set amount of time for the light to be on.
drew

angelfish220

are there any big bushy plant areas in it now? my guess is your fish feel really timid under the light when there is no place to retreat to. I would add a little floating plant island and some tall plants near the back so they have their own little jungle when they feel shy. plastic or live plants would work.

if you have lots of plants and cover for them now, ignore that.