• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

What kind of lighting do you use

Mikewise

GPO
Registered
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
Messages
127
i'm still working out a budget and components list for a (possible) octopus tank and i am having a hard time finding information about lighting requirements. In a couple of the articles by Nancy and Colin it is mentioned that octopuses don't really have lighting standards, and i remember that they need red, not normal actinic lights for night-time, but i am wondering how you guys individually have tackled lighting?

is 30 watts over a 50 gal tank really sufficient? can an environment be too bright for an octopus? how much is too much? are LEDs ok? so please post what you use and any general info.

i didnt see anything like this in other threads. if it's already been covered i'll gladly delete this post.
 
A 10k 30-40 watt florescent bulb is fine. If the octopus had his way, his tank would have no light. The more light and the higher up on the kelvin scale you go the less likely you are to see your octopus in the day time. If you want to see him at night red LEDs is the way to go.
 
red LEDs eh? where can suitable hardware be purchased? cant find anything like (suitable for a 50 gal aquarium) on the internets.
 
The effects of over-lighting are usually an octopus who hides and won't come out.

The lighting is more for you and your coralline algae, the octopus is happy with ambient light.

A 30 or 40 watt fluorescent seems to be OK, but no metal halides or power compacts or any other bright light.

If you are thinking of having an octopus, corals, and fish in the same tank, you should plan again. It's not a good idea.

Nancy
 
gotcha, i would never do something as misguided as plop an octopus into a reef tank with fish and corals. Rather, I was curious because i wouldnt want to harm my octopus by overlighting the tank (with my own interests of high visibility in mind). sounds like what you're saying is that it wouldnt really threaten the octopus' health, but would probably backfire, creating a more nervous (read: invisible) pet.

thanks.
 
i don't have an octo in my tank yet but i have an 18watt light on the tank...is this not enough for coralline algae?
 
Depends on how big your tank is. Shorter bulbs are less wattages. Coralline will be fine but might take a little longer with less light. Same thing happens when lights are above 10K (that's 10,000 degrees kelvin), no matter the wattage. Natural sunlight is something like 6700K, so the higher up you go on the kelvin scale the longer it will take for coralline to grow.
 

Shop Amazon

Shop Amazon
Shop Amazon; support TONMO!
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Back
Top