lighting question

[niqolas619]

Basically, how important is the type of lighting for a tank?

My tank is not planted and I will never plant it. It is a 55 gal mbuna tank. Right now, I have just a Home Depot bought fluorescent light that actually has a redish/purplish tint to it. It doesn't seem to bother the fish, but I'm concerned because I know that lights can affect and stress people. I usually keep the light on during the day from around 10am until 7pm.

Should I just not keep the light on this long, or should I change it out?

[Algenco]

If you like the way your fish look with that bulb, keep it.

[Chrona]

Fish really don't care about lighting, provided it's not crazy bright. 10ish hour photoperiod is fine. You may want to consider a timer and just having the lights on when you are home to prevent any possible algae growth.

[bscman]

I've kept tanks in the past with no lights at all...simply lit by natural light, or ambient light in the room. Worked just fine--assuming no live plants.

That being said, you're current lighting should be fine as long as you're happy with it. Doesn't sound overly bright or harmful.

I ONLY have my lights one my tanks while I'm home...but I'm paranoid about over heating, shorting out, and causing fires. A few hours in the morning, and light again in the evening seems to be A-Okay. Again, I'm not growing live plants either!

[Genirous]

I believe that fishes must have the most accurate type of lighting compares to their natural habitat...maybe there is no difference, but maybe there is...
Either way, an example for African sunlight in your tank you can see here:
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
Hope this gives you any ideas and assist you...
Greetings!:22:

[niqolas619]

Thanks for all the responses, guys. I was just worried that the light could freak them out, even though they didn't seem to mind it. Thanks for the website, Genirous, that's about what my tank looks like as far as lighting goes.

I do have some algae growth going on, but it's because my tank is right next to my sliding glass door to my balcony. It doesn't seem to be out of control or anything - it's just on the side of the rock that's facing the door. I've been paying more attention to this lately, and leave the shades closed for most of the time now.

[Lady Hobbs]

Not to get off topic but I want to respond to the area of your post regarding the spelling.

Our site Administrator is not from the US so now and then he spells a word not the way we would. It can be very difficult for those from other countries to pick up the language we use and spell every word correctly. The English language is one of the hardest languages to learn with many words spelled differently but meaning the same thing.

William is VERY intelligent, believe that, and travels all over the world. He upgraded this entire site about 9 months ago and I suspect these misspellings were typographical errors from being tired more than not spelling them correctly.

People here are from everywhere, think differently than some of us, do things differently and spell differently. Let's be patient with everyone and only pay attention to the things that matter. These two misspellings hardly take away from what the site gives us.

I also misspell now and then and would hate to see it brought to everyones attention in this manner. A few mispelled words hardly takes away from the good people try to do. If you misspell a word, would you want it added to our signatures?

PS.....I have removed it from your posts.