artificial lighting

[gluedandscrewed]

I'll have to admit after 4 months of discus keeping there is still one area I wont claim to be an expert in;) my fish primarily are on artificial light so the question becomes how many hours a day should they be lit up?

[Ryan925]

Personal preference. As long as you aren't having algae issues then your lights aren't on too long. I run mine like 9-10 but that's because I get home in the evenings from work and like to see them for awhile. I have my leds toned down though

[Larry Bugg]

Lol, so I can't let your statement go by without asking the obvious question...............So after 4 months of keeping discus you consider yourself an expert in all other aspects other than lighting?

For the most part, I would agree with what Ryan said. If your discus could talk they would tell you to leave the light over the tank off and just have indirect lighting so it boils down to your viewing preference. I do have individual lights over each tank in my fish room but I only turn them on when I am doing water changes. I have overhead lights (shop lights) that are on 24/7 and even though they are 2 bulb lights, I only have one bulb running.

[gluedandscrewed]

a joke larry,, but you know that,,,,just from the fishes aspect , they get very little natural and no direct sun light at all, wondered if they should get a given number of hours of artificial light?

[Larry Bugg]

a joke larry,, but you know that,,,,just from the fishes aspect , they get very little natural and no direct sun light at all, wondered if they should get a given number of hours of artificial light?

Yup, I knew that but just could't let it go!

I don't think you really have to worry about it from the discus's perspective. They are very happy with the indirect light you give them. In the wild they don't have bright light and I don't think they have been domesticated long enough to think bight light is best. I see so much more activity with most of mine when the lighting is dim.