light ?

jscoggs27 · Post by **jscoggs27** » 31 Dec 2002, 20:44

I have a single clarius in its own tank. My question is, do cat fish need to have natural or flourescant light for a certain amount of time per day. I know they are nocturnal, and my hides when the tank light is on and appears to sleep it out. However i keep the tank in my garage because its too heavy for the floor in my flat. The garage has no natural light source, will its health suffer without natural sunlight? It seems happy now but I'm thinking of the acumulated effect of this. I thought most creatures needed natural sunlight, indirectly or not, will a flourescant tube be enough?
This is probably a stupid question, but most fish do get indirect natural sunlight to some degree.
thanks
jason

I'm getting used to the site now, and I think its a vast improvement!

Post by **Rusty** » 31 Dec 2002, 21:56

The only stupid question is the one not asked! I would think that the lack of sunlight shouldn't be a problem, esp. since this is a Clarias we're talking about. A cheap flourescant tube attatched to an automatic timer (giving about 10 hours of light a day) should be perfectly adequate for just the fish. If you want to do plants later on though, as a general rule of thumb, you should have 2-3 watts of light per gallon of H2O.

Glad you like the new software!

Rusty

jscoggs27 · Post by **jscoggs27** » 31 Dec 2002, 22:58

Thanks rusty. Plants are out of the question cos he digs everthing! At only about 6" he overturns rocks and generally re-shapes the aquarium how he wants it!
I look into getting a timer though. The light he has now from flo tubes is a little too bright so i cover the glass lid with ceramic tiles which tone the light down a bit and create moving shadows across the substrate.
Thanks

caril · Post by **caril** » 01 Jan 2003, 03:57

hi rusty, what is that fish u have there? i have one which looks similar, but not sure what is the name and which country of origin.

Post by **Silurus** » 01 Jan 2003, 04:08

That's Chaca bankanensis, and it's commonly found throughout most of Southeast Asia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo).
Less commonly encountered in the aquarium trade is Chaca chaca from India.

Heok Hee (a fellow Singaporean...check out my webpage)

caril · Post by **caril** » 01 Jan 2003, 06:49

whats ur webpage address?

Post by **Silurus** » 01 Jan 2003, 08:44

Just click the button that says www in my response...

Heok Hee

Post by **Rusty** » 01 Jan 2003, 18:34

silurus wrote:That's Chaca bankanensis, and it's commonly found throughout most of Southeast Asia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo).
Less commonly encountered in the aquarium trade is Chaca chaca from India.

Heok Hee (a fellow Singaporean...check out my webpage)

It's actually a C. chaca in my avatar. They are a much lighter color than the bankanensis, and much rarer. Check out the Cat -eLog data submissions on Chaca sp. for more info.