Well Water and Lighting

[peckn]

Hi, can I use regular fluorescent lighting OR fluorescent lighting that is for plants eg silvania eco cool white bulbs, for my fish fw tank? I have no plants, but I am trying to finding a less expensive light bulb for my budget that's still safe for my fish.

Also, I live on well water that is not chlorinated. Is this a concern for my fish, should I be adding anything to it? I drink the water and it is tested annually and deemed safe for drinking....

Thank you.
N.

[murdock6701]

run a pH test on it to see where your at - I too have well water and I fill my tanks right from the tap - no additives - of course, that too depends on what kind of fish you keep, so testing the pH is a good start

[kagome]

murdock's right, your best bet is to test your water. Depending on where you live there might also be minerals in your water. If you can test it with one of those five-in-one test strips that will show you what your GH and Kh are as well. What kind of fish do you keep? That can make a huge difference. Some fish like soft water while others require the water to be very hard. If you don't have any testing supplies check with your local LFS (live fish store) because many of them do free water testing. If you have a local Petsmart I know for sure that they provide that service.

As for lighting. What kind of fixtures do you have in your tank hood? Meaning is it the kind where you would screw in bulbs like a lamp or does it hold the long bar kind of bulbs like a bigger fluorescent light fixture? All of my hoods have individual screw in bulbs and I bought more expensive compact fluorescent bulbs from Petsmart but when they were out of stock I bought a much more inexpensive one from Walmart and the cheaper one actually has a broader spectrum and works better!

[babygeige]

I have well water too and it works fine for the fish. Our water is a little on the hard side with a higher pH.

For my 10 gallon tank that has plants with low light requirements, I just bought a GE plant light bulb from the hardware store. It was like $4 instead of $10 from Petsmart! Plus it makes my fish look very nice. It's a natural look.

[Carl]

As already stated, well water is fine and does NOT need to be treated with de-chlorinators, however testing for pH, KH, and GH is important to know if additional buffers or minerals need to be added.
I would recommend reading over this article for a better understanding of minerals, KH, GH, etc.:
Aquarium GH, KH, PH, minerals, etc.

As for lighting, any fixture will work, however I do NOT recommend cool white as this light has an output of light that is very narrow and will encourage Cyanobacteria, brown diatom algae, and simply does not look good for displaying fish (as well newer evidence indicates this type of lighting is poor for Redox which put simply means lower disease resistance for fish)

There are MANY GOOD lights now available for low cost such as the CFL in the 6400 K temperature and with an excellent output that is important for aquatic health (these sell for under $9).
These bulbs fit in a standard Incandescent fixture OR there is the Eco Light which is a ready made fixture that uses a CFL and sell for only $19.99.
CFL & Eco Lights
See the picture below:


See this article for more about basic freshwater lighting (in the lighting section):
Freshwater Aquarium Care; Lighting

Carl

[peckn]

Thanks everyone! I have a 55 gallon tank that is sparsely populated at the moment, 1 each of a black tipped shark (~5"), plecostomus (~6"), leapord catfish (~5"), algae eater (~5") and one lone tetra - who is ancient, probably about 6 years old. I do have the black hairy type algae, that even scrubbing with bleach won't kill! I'm going to try the almost boiling water tip.

I use a water softener on my household water, so that changes it a bit. I live in a very small town, so I will see if my local pet store does water testing or I'll pick up some test strips. My tank hoods hold the long fluorescent bulbs. Is there a set of #'s on a bulb or it's packaging that tell me what the spectrum is and what spectrum should I be looking for.

I love this site, and it's information - thanks to everyone!

[murdock6701]

do you have an outside spigot on your house? generally they do not run thru a softener - if you live in an area where it's not freezing (like here in norhtern Michigan) you could use the water from the spigot - just a thought....

[peckn]

Hi Murdock, I live in Nova Scotia, Canada, so yup, it's cold here too! Is the softened water a bad thing?

[murdock6701]

afraid I can't fully answer that one - get a water test kit and see what the results are and let us know - have never used a softener but I do know they utilize salt - sorry, perhaps someone else could chime in here.....

[Carl]

Jan 26, 2009 13:27:33 GMT -5 peckn said:

Hi Murdock, I live in Nova Scotia, Canada, so yup, it's cold here too! Is the softened water a bad thing?

Yes, this adds too much sodium and throws the water out of mineral balance.
The closer you are to this balance, the healthier your fish will be. As well many algae thrive in tanks with imbalances.
This article of ours may help explain this more:Aquarium Answers; Fish Osmoregulation

The black hairy type algae you describe is one of the most difficult to control IMO, as even in perfect conditions it can still thrive.

This article of ours deals with BBA:
Aquarium Answers; Algae

Finally as for light tubes, most low end lights do not publish their Kelvin output or other useful information for determining effectiveness. If you and let us know what is on the tube and maybe this may be of help.


T2 Fixtures (which can be linked together for longer tanks such as yours) or T5 both are available in 6400 K daylight lights

I love this site, and it's information - thanks to everyone!

Thanks, you are welcome!

Carl

[murdock6701]

want to take me moose hunting? LOL!

[babygeige]

Oh no! Black algae is the worst!! I had it in my 30 gal last year. I had to do daily water changes/gravel vacs and clean off decor weekly in order to get rid of it! Plus I bought a Siamese Algae Eater and a Flying Fox as reinforcements. Both are good at eating it, but the SAE is a bit more diligent about it.

How often do you vacuum your gravel?

[peckn]

hmmm, moose hunting, well, I don't hunt, but I do know that our moose population is declining. You would be better off in Northern New Brunswick or Eastern Quebec.... parlez-vous francais?!?! hehehe

[peckn]

I have to admit that I am a negligent tank owner. My motto has been if it aint' broke, don't fix it. I " interfere" with the tank as little as possible and I've never had any problems. Everytime I tested pH was, fine, fish were happy and very little algae. Then I moved and am now on well water and it's gone to hell in a hand basket! So now, I am learning. I used to vacuum my tank maybe 3 or 4 times a year. I haven't upped that since moving here.

for the lightbulbs.... as soon as I can get to a store, I will post what is on the bulbs....

Again, thanks everyone!

[Carl]

I have to admit that I am a negligent tank owner. My motto has been if it aint' broke, don't fix it. I " interfere" with the tank as little as possible

This is not necessarily a bad policy, as often one can "mess around too much"
However there is a balance IMO.

I note this in section #7 of this article:
Aquarium Disease Prevention

Good luck!

Carl

[babygeige]

It is really interesting to see what works for some people and what doesn't work for others. I guess since your tank is so big and you don't have that many fish in there, you wouldn't have to vac as often as others do.

I had a similar situation to yours. My tank was fine and didn't have any algae until I got a better light fixture (since I keep live plants). Then I had all kinds of algae issues. It took some work, but it's all better now and in the end, I only had to make a relatively minor permanent adjustment to my cleaning routine.
It's so weird that one little difference can make such a drastic change to a fish tank's balance!

I'm sure you'll find your happy medium! Good luck!

[peckn]

Okay - Hi Everyone! Sorry it has taken me SO long... I am a student, burried under school work and too boot, I live a rural area, with very little in town for fish care....

After reading all that I can about lighting, I have come up with this: lights should be >5500 K and it's better if they are >6400 K with around a 70 + CRI. These levels will provide the correct parameters to the fish and algae doesn't tend to thrive in >6500 K. Have I got it?

I was able to find a GE light, F20T12/AR/FS that has 20 W, 9325 K, 64 CRI and 950 lumens - I think this would be okay - please comment....

Now, I am off to read about fish diseases. My ancient tetra has white 'growths' that are not really ich like on his fins and don't appear to be anywhere else on his body. My other fish don't seem to be affected. I treated for ich, the spots 'seemed' to reduce in size, but are now coming back.... yikes....

Thanks, Nichelle

[Carl]

Feb 8, 2009 18:31:05 GMT -5 peckn said:

Okay - Hi Everyone! Sorry it has taken me SO long... I am a student, burried under school work and too boot, I live a rural area, with very little in town for fish care....

After reading all that I can about lighting, I have come up with this: lights should be >5500 K and it's better if they are >6400 K with around a 70 + CRI. These levels will provide the correct parameters to the fish and algae doesn't tend to thrive in >6500 K. Have I got it?

I was able to find a GE light, F20T12/AR/FS that has 20 W, 9325 K, 64 CRI and 950 lumens - I think this would be okay - please comment....

Now, I am off to read about fish diseases. My ancient tetra has white 'growths' that are not really ich like on his fins and don't appear to be anywhere else on his body. My other fish don't seem to be affected. I treated for ich, the spots 'seemed' to reduce in size, but are now coming back.... yikes....

Thanks, Nichelle

As to your lighting question, this is honestly a poor light, with a low PAR, low wattage and very low lumens per watt output which are the big three for aquarium lighting.
If this is for fish, this will still be OK (just ok though). For plants I would not recommend it. T12 lights are among the lowest in lumens per watt (about 1/2 of a T2 or many CFL/SHO)
CRI is not as important, but is still a factor as well.
Aquarium Lighting

As for the illness, a picture may help, but for now, knowing your water parameters would be helpful as well.
Sometimes corrections here can help medications work better.

Increasing aquarium salt may help as well.
As well a correct mineralization: Aquarium GH, KH, Minerals

You may also be dealing with a viral disorder called Lymphosystis which looks like cauliflower.

Carl