Lighting question.

[LittleMatt]

I know that an Octopus doesn't like bright lighting, but I have a question. I intend to split my tank so that half has fish and half houses an octopus. I figured I'd just go with a single tube light fixture. But recently, I came across a dual tube 80 watt fixture and a 400 watt metal halide set up. Both are very very very cheap and because they are such outstanding deals, I thought it would be a good to buy them. I realize that the MH is mainly for coral, and at some point, I hope to introduce coral into my aquarium. Will this high intensity disturb the octopus? Also, will the MH light give off too much heat as to raise the temp. of the water?

 

[Colin]

hi Matt
400watts are for reef tank over three feet deep so thats deffintely overkill for an octopus! I think that it would make an octo hide and teh temp would be a big problem if you had a bimac.

A typical 400watt light would cost me about $500! How cheap is 'cheap'???
C

 

[LittleMatt]

$30 cheap. Would there be any acceptable level of wattage that could work with an octopus, or would no MH light work well? Should I just use a dual light fixture? Would that also be too strong for for an octopus?

 

[Colin]

Hi Matt,
I just try to keep the light quite dim. Just a small flurorescent bulb works well and my bulb is only about 30watts... i just cant imagine a ceph appreciating a 400watt light strong enough to shine the batman symbol in the sky!

 

[LittleMatt]

yeah, I figured that it would probably be a bad idea. But because it was so cheap, I had to ask.