questions before upgrading lights

[funky_fish]

I'm planning on buying this for my 55 gal Mbuna tank next week, but have a few questions before I drop the cash.

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1: How much light is too much? One of the biggest things that got me into aquariums as an adult is the childhood memory that I have of my dad's marine tank and the glow of the tank light and gurgle of the filter at night. I wanted my kids to have the same memory. So, unless my fish are gonna be miserable because they feel like they are living on the face of the sun, having the tank lit in the evening is kinda a big deal to me. The tank is in my living room, so it gets light from the room (lamp, not sun) most of the day. I was planning on running this light from 10am to 10pm. Should that be OK, or would something like 12pm to 10pm, or 2pm to 10pm be better?

2: Is a light like that (two 48" 54 watt bulbs) mainly for planted tanks and marine tanks, or will my Mbunas be happy with it too? Once again, I don't want them to feel like they are on the face of the sun.

3: Where do I even begin as far as choosing bulbs? I have heard use cool light to enhance blues and bronzes, warm light to enhance reds and yellows. I have have also seen bulbs that claim to simulate the natural light conditions of cichlids. I don't really get this, because I have to imagine that natural lighting probably differs quite a bit from African lakes, to African rivers, to Central and South American waterways, so how can one light match them all? I would love to enhance both the blues of my female kenyis, and the oranges and yellows of my male kenyi, red zebras and auratus. I have them under two 18" natural light bulbs right now and they don't look bad, but they don't look all that spectacular either, unless they are at the top feeding right under the bulbs. Should I stick with natural light (just more of it), or choose between cool light for my lombardois, or warm for my estheraes and auratus? Can I get one bulb for each purpose, or would the spectrums just end up combining to create natural light again?

4: What do the stats on the bulbs mean, and what should I be looking for?

I know it's a lot to ask, but thank you for any help.

[Sarkazmo]

Well that's an HO ballasted lamp. That means HO bulbs only. So an HO bulb of the appropriate length and colour that you want/need.

Bulb colour is determined by what temperature (in Kelvin) that the bulbs are. About 6500k is considered 'sunlight' This is a bright white with just a hint of yellow. Most generally in aquaria these are used for plants. Anything below 6500k and it'll look yellower, sorta like standard incandescent light bulbs. So the lower the number the yellower, the higher the number the whiter/bluer. 10000k and above tend to be used for reef and SW tanks although there are those that use such bulbs on plant tanks.

You can mix bulbs and reefers do this all the time with high kelvin bulbs and actinic bulbs to cover the spectrums needed by corals and other reef inhabitants.

At 2x54W you'll be at just under 2W per Gallon. This is considered 'low' light for planted tanks so I don't think you're going to blind your fish. :) It will be bright but so's the sun near the equator.

The numbers on the bulb's label will tell you it's length, wattage, and type.

If it was me I'd go for bulbs in the 6500k range as this approximates natural light and gives a nice clean light that doesn't alter the colour of the fish.

Sark

[kaybee]

I think 10000K bulbs would be a better match for a mbuna tank.

Normal-output fluorescents work well with mbuna's (maybe 1 or 2 48" bulbs to replace the 2 18"), so 2x 54W T5HO will be brighter than the typical Rift-lake set up but they should be fine with that. While the sunlight is intense where they originate, they're typically found at depths of 25-75ft in Lake Malawi.

[rangur1]

a single 48" power-glo flouresent bulb will definately enhance the color of your fish. but they will not match ocean reef fish colors. also 10am-10pm should be fine.

[190MPH]

FWIW, I run a combo of 10000k and actinic I'm my mbuna tank. It seems to strike a nice balance as far as color and brightness goes. I run them for 12 hrs a day, 9:30 Am to 9:30 Pm.