A. Borelli & Lighting

[Don cheech]

Hey looking to set up a 20L with A. Borelli for the first time so Borelli like dim lighting so thinking about getting a dimer switch for my led lighting but won’t that be detrimental to the plants even the low light ones?

 

[MacZ]

Look outside. Plants, right? Even if the sky is cloudy often. And when days are short in fall.

The trick is to use plants like floating plants to shade the water below and many aquarium plants do very well in dim lighting. Many people think plants need blasting with bright strong lights as specialized "plant lights" used by certain aquascapers are usually very strong. That impression seems to be common.
Dim lighting mostly means: Make sure a standard aquarium light doesn't light the whole tank brightly and there are at least some shaded zones.

 

[anewbie]

With dense floaters; you don't need to dim the lights much - hornworth works well as do frogbit and similar; having said that borelli are a clear water fish and quite frankly the ones i had never hid so much in areas of darkness. That doesnt' mean you should blast them with light but if you have decent structure and plant coverage i wouldn't worry about 'dimming' the lights.

 

[Don cheech]

Look outside. Plants, right? Even if the sky is cloudy often. And when days are short in fall.

The trick is to use plants like floating plants to shade the water below and many aquarium plants do very well in dim lighting. Many people think plants need blasting with bright strong lights as specialized "plant lights" used by certain aquascapers are usually very strong. That impression seems to be common.
Dim lighting mostly means: Make sure a standard aquarium light doesn't light the whole tank brightly and there are at least some shaded zones.

With dense floaters; you don't need to dim the lights much - hornworth works well as do frogbit and similar; having said that borelli are a clear water fish and quite frankly the ones i had never hid so much in areas of darkness. That doesnt' mean you should blast them with light but if you have decent structure and plant coverage i wouldn't worry about 'dimming' the lights.

Thanks so as a clear water fish should I try not to get tannins in there l thought it would be better for them

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

so as a clear water fish should I try not to get tannins in there l thought it would be better for them

I think all Apistogramma spp. benefit from some humic substances and tannins. Have a look at <"All the leaves are brown"> it references the work of <"Dr Christian Steinberg"> of the Humboldt University.

It is true black-water fish really are different and can only be maintained in very soft, low conductivity, acidic humic water.

That is why you don't often see theses species, maintaining them is problematic, all the Apistogramma spp. commonly available in the trade are available because they are more forgiving.

cheers Darrel

 

[Ben Rhau]

For low energy tanks, the plants are a bigger reason to keep your lights on the dim side. If you have strong light without enough nutrients or gas exchange, it will stress the plants, which creates opportunity for algae to take over. I typically dim to about 50% of total intensity and adjust from there as I see what’s going on in the tank. I do not use “plant lights” as they tend to be much stronger and are intended for CO2-injected tanks.

 

[Don cheech]

For low energy tanks, the plants are a bigger reason to keep your lights on the dim side. If you have strong light without enough nutrients or gas exchange, it will stress the plants, which creates opportunity for algae to take over. I typically dim to about 50% of total intensity and adjust from there as I see what’s going on in the tank. I do not use “plant lights” as they tend to be much stronger and are intended for CO2-injected tanks.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

If you have strong light without enough nutrients or gas exchange, it will stress the plants,

@Don cheech, have a look at the <"Duckweed Index">. Both Ben and I are also member of the UKAPS forum, a plant orientated site based in the UK.

I initially developed the <"Duckweed Index">, as technique for maintaining water quality using a floating plant <"while I was trying to keep"> Apistogramma.

It allows you to use a floating plant (so not CO2 limited) as both a "net curtain" to diffuse light and as an indication of the nutrient status of the tank.

cheers Darrel