Heckels and lighting

[wannafish]

Hello and good day!

I have been reading as much about Heckels
as I can and trying to put it all together.
Can you guys talk a little about lighting.
I have seen some tanks here where the
lighting is so dull, you can barely see the fish.
And then I have seen Heckels in a brightly
lighted planted tank. What is best. And if
you use higher light how do you acclimate
the fish to that light. How long does it take.
What kinds of behavior is present in a
dimly lighted tank, compared to a high
lighted tank.

Thanks,

Jeff

[William Palumbo]

Jeff...If you are going to have a planted Heckel tank then you will need some sort of adequet lighting. With my wilds I usually have just roots and driftwood in the tank with no plants, and very little light. Also the wood and peat moss turn the water very brown, making plant life more tricky to grow. But the Discus seem to shine when in a darker tank, especially with just overhead room lights. I am sure at different times of the season, Heckels in the wild get exposed to both conditions. Is up to you to pick the one you want...Bill

[bavaria36]

My heckels are in a lighted tank and it does not seem to bother them. It's a low light set up but enough for anubias to grow and sprout new leaves fairly regularly.

I have also noticed that they go darker when the lights are out and that actually brings out some of the colours.

Aaron

[illumnae]

My heckels are in a brightly lit planted tank...no problems on my side

[Eddie]

My heckels are in medium to low lighting with floating plants for shade. They love it.



Eddie