Will my newts mind high light (4 watts per gallon)?

[sharrakor]

I'm designing a 200 gallon planted tank tank for my growing population of N. v. piaropicola, which are 99% aquatic and are found in southern Florida. I started with 3 adults, and have since had 2 breeding seasons, so now I have ten 1 year old newts and about 45 2 month old newts.

In designing the tank, the first thing I'm thinking I should decide is what type of light the newts will be ok with, so I can figure out what types of plants I can use. My current tank for the 3 adults has low light (19 watt T8 over 10 gallons), which they have no problem with. Note that I will have a powerful chiller on the big tank.

I searched all over the forum, and on google, but couldn't manage to find anything here talking about lighting over 2 watts per gallon (aside from for axolotls, which I know are not creatures of the light).

Does anyone have any input/experience with this? I'm hoping that since the newts are from southern Florida, they will be naturally used to a lot of light, but I'm not entirely sure.

 

[slowfoot]

I have T5 NO (normal output) over all of my Noto tanks. These are slimmer, and brighter, and hotter than the T8s you have. The light does not bother the newts.

With a tank as big (and as deep) as yours, though, I'd be tempted to go for T5 HOs (high output) which would be a little brighter and a little hotter. If you have a chiller, I think you'd be fine. I think the benefit to any live plants would outweigh any harm to the newts. I think these guys regularly see pretty warm temps during the summer, and you could always switch out the lights to simulate a cooler, darker winter.

 

[sharrakor]

Thanks for the reply Erin. Mind if I ask the specifics of the bulbs you have (e.g., X watt T5 NO over a Y gallon tank)?

My main concern is not so much about the health of the newts (since if they don't like it, I imagine they would find shade) but instead the amount of light making them less active/hide more. Do yours ever roam around in the light during the day? Mine do a fair amount of the time.

 

[sharrakor]

I should also add that sometimes my newts like to hang out on the floating anacharis at the top of the tank.

 

[slowfoot]

My newts are active during the day, or anytime they see me outside of the tank, so I don't think the light will be a problem. As far as heating the top of the water: I keep the water level down slightly from the top in all of my tanks - I have a bunch of plants that grow out of the water - so the newts don't seem to mind resting near the top.

I use different sizes of these lights: Amazon.com: Coralife 05611 Aqualight Dual Linear Strip T5 Aquarium Lighting Fixture, 48-Inch: Pet Supplies You will probably have to replace the actinic bulb with something less blue (I use a 6700K or 10,000K bulb in it's place).

I've had a few issues with the ballasts burning out prematurely, but Coralife (Aqueon) will replace it for free. One of the reasons why I would suggest the HO lights instead is that you will have a lot more options for sizes/bulbs.

 

[sharrakor]

That is great to hear! Thanks very much for telling me about your setup I'll probably go with a T5 HO, though what total wattage/watts per gallon I'm not quite sure.