question about lighting

stealthbimmer · #1 04/15/2007, 05:17 PM

ok, this is NOT about my tank...mine is up and running perfect. My gf's mom recnetly bought a tank, but she bought a freshwater "kit" from wal-mart. It is only a 10g. She has not had any luck keeping fish alive in it, they have all died. My question is, could it be the lighting? It does not have a florescent light in it, its just a normal lite bulb type. It has the "yellowish dull tint" like a regualr bulb. I just have a feeling that the reason nothing is surviving is because of her lighting?

Avi · #2 04/15/2007, 05:38 PM

Well, while it's kind of amazing that they still sell aquariums with that kind of "dinosaur" lighting, I doubt very much that it's the cause of the problems she's having....I'd guess that it's far more a question of cycling the tank properly before putting livestock into it. As a result, any fish that she's putting in the tank are dying because of the effects of ammonia.

Of course that is a guess but I'd think that it's a good one. Have a talk with her about the steps that she's taken to have the tank cycle and whether she tested the water for it's basic chemistry before putting fish in. If she didn't, that's the explanation for the trouble she's having with the fish.

As for the light though, there's probably some kind of screw-in flourescent that you can get in a home depot-type store to replace that bulb that you mention.

drummereef · #3 04/15/2007, 05:44 PM

No, it's not the lighting. There is something wrong with the water chemistry or acclimation procedure. Did she allow the tank to properly cycle?

stealthbimmer · #4 04/15/2007, 06:51 PM

not sure if she let it properly cycle,she never tested the water or did water changes. I told her to do a couple water changes and test her water. All her livestock died, so i told her not to do anything until the levels are safe. Since then the levels lowered and gave her two damsels from my tank. Seems to be doing good now, but thats how it was for awhile before...and then all went to hell. I was just wondering if the lighting had anything to do with it, but thanks for the replies...hopefully it will be sucessfull this time around!

Kengaroo131 · #5 04/15/2007, 07:03 PM

deffinatly not the lighting. tell her to give the tank like atleast a good 2 weeks for it to complety stable out. then if you would be ever so kind and test the water for her or teach her how to test it so she has the comon idea of what she needs to do. dose she have any liverock? what was the live stock in the tank? did she put it all in at once? did she put the water in the bag in the tank aswell as the livestock? these are all key factors that can mess up or help a tank. of course the liverock helps out some with cycleing and bio-filtering. also keep in mind what kind of water is she useing? just regular tap or RO/DI water? there are sooo many possibilitys and things that could have happened.