LED Lighting

[Sabrina]

Hello all,

Just have lighting questions. At the moment I have the LED lights on in my tanks for around 4-5 hours a day at 2 different times of the day, the rest of the day I have the house light on above the tanks. I find my discus in both tanks much prefer when the LED light is turned off, they become so much more active. When the LED light is on they sit in a bunch and don't move much around the tanks. My question, are they getting enough light during the day with my lighting schedule? It just has me thinking, in their natural environment, the murky and dark waters of the amazon, they wouldn't be under constant lights like our LEDs. Perhaps that's why they like the LEDs off and prefer just the soft glow of the household light.
Second question, my LEDs have a soft and low blue light option, should I be leaving that on during the night? I have heard you should do this but I'm wondering if its really that necessary.

[jmf3460]

Perhaps your less are too bright, what led system do u have

[Willie]

The light is more for the discus hobbyist than for the discus. My discus tanks are lit in the mornings and evenings, when I'm home. They do fine in the dark or in dimly lit rooms.

Willie

[Sabrina]

Hi Jmf and Willie, Thank you both for replies.

The LED light I have on my grow out tank is one I brought off ebay, it is 20W (I assume that means watts) has 111 white LEDs and 18 Blue LEDs with 2800lm (Lumen).
The LED light on my display tank is a Aqua One brand and came with the tank, LED Reflector EcoGlo 36W, with T8 fluorescent tubes. That's all the info I could find on that light..

Do you both think I should be leaving a light on for them at night times? I'm currently leaving no light on, so they sleep in pitch black.. I notice in the morning when I turn the lounge room light on (the room next to tanks), most of the fish act weird, some doing head stands even. But then 10 minutes later they are swimming around just fine, its like they get a shock from the light being turned on at first.

[Willie]

I keep my lights off at night, but usually wait 10 minutes after turning them on before going into the fish room. Clearly, absolutely darkness will spook them.

You can probably do a lot just by plugging in a night light.

Willie

[Sabrina]

Hi Willie,

Thanks, I will now leave a light on for them at night times. It will be the lounge room house light next to the dining area where the tanks are, it is a power saving light so wont cost much to run at nights :)

[geo57]

Hi Sabrina, I believe discus like darker tanks, it's their eyes. I have a black water tank and even with my brite LED lites it's kinda dark and sometimes i turn on the cloudy day for them and the lites brighten and darken as on a cloudy day. In my small 50 gallon tank i keep the bright lite on cause i have plants in it, but lite is on only 9hours a day. Its black water also so no problems with algae.

[fishbubbles]

Hi Jmf and Willie, Thank you both for replies.

The LED light I have on my grow out tank is one I brought off ebay, it is 20W (I assume that means watts) has 111 white LEDs and 18 Blue LEDs with 2800lm (Lumen).
The LED light on my display tank is a Aqua One brand and came with the tank, LED Reflector EcoGlo 36W, with T8 fluorescent tubes. That's all the info I could find on that light..

Do you both think I should be leaving a light on for them at night times? I'm currently leaving no light on, so they sleep in pitch black.. I notice in the morning when I turn the lounge room light on (the room next to tanks), most of the fish act weird, some doing head stands even. But then 10 minutes later they are swimming around just fine, its like they get a shock from the light being turned on at first.

You may want to invest in a ramp timer. They work by allowing the lights to turn on very dim and then slowly brighten up over the course of 15 minutes. The reverse happens when the light's go to cycle off at night. Discus go into almost a trance like state at night and it can be a bit shocking to see if you didn't know that they're just a little groggy when a light gets blasted on them after total darkness.
https://www.amazon.com/Current-USA-Single-Timer-Aquarium/dp/B00FDV1AFA

[Sabrina]

Hi George and Kevin,

Thank you both for the comments. I have been leaving a house light on for them at night time. I will look into a timer too, that's a good idea. Yes I have noticed they go into a trance state at night, I will be careful not to spook them in the future.