I have had my azureus for about a year now and have always used day glow bulbs to light my tank; and everything has been working out well. A couple of days ago I was talking to a friend of mine at work that has frogs also and somehow got into a conversation about lighting. She told me that the form of lighting I am using is not adequate for my frogs needs; something about UV rays. is it true that the form of lighting I am using is not good? I always thought that the lighting was mainly just for the plants which are doing very well and that the frogs get everything that they need from their vit. sup? I also thought that UV rays don't pass through the glass anyway; am I wrong?
If the case is that the lighting I have chose is not good enough can anyone recommend a different/better form that I can start using?
Thanks in advance.
And sorry for the long post.
ADAM
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need help with lighting (somewhat long post)
Replies (2)
You've been steered the wrong way. UV is not necessary with dart frogs as their habitat is very dark and very little light penetrates the canopy enough to even reach them in the understory. There has been alot of discussion on this and some say that UV *may* be the missing link to certain behavior characteristics that we don't normally see in captive animals. The lighting is more important to plants than anything else. You should be fine with full spectrum flourscent lighting as long as it keeps your plants alive and healthy. You are right about UV not penetrating glass. There is, however, a UV transparent acrylic out there, but it's carries a higher price tag. I hope this helps...it's just my $0.02 worth.
-Bill J
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Updated list as of: 10/20/03
2.2.3 D. azureus
1.2 D. ventrimaculatus 'yellow' (22 tads in the water)
3.4 D. tinctorius 'cobalt' (one subadult)
0.0.3 D. tinctorius 'patricia'
0.0.2 D auratus 'teal'
0.0.5 D. auratus 'green/black' (tads)
0.0.3 D. imitator 'Alex Sens line' (very soon)
0.0.2 D. reticulatus (soon)
Adam,
I'll second what Bill said (he's a pretty sharp guy). I doubt that you find very many people around here that actually use UV bulbs, and glass does block most UV rays (once again, echoing Bill's comments). As long as your lights are good enough to get the results you want from your plants, your frogs should be fine.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense
