Which light to use at night

[never quit]

Hello everyone, need some direction:
My Pacmen and African bullfrog are all together, each in their separate tanks in the one room. During the day the lights from the three large (40, 55, 75 gal.) fish tanks come on and light the room. At night, when I want to feed them, I want to use an incandescent light that will seem more natural than the compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) I now use….It doesn't’seem to bother them, but I’m sure when the room goes from dark to bright light at night, then I feed them, it just doesn’t seem “normal” for these guys.
So, a couple of questions:

What kind and where can I get an incandescent bulb that would be more natural and less stressful when feeding the frogs at night.

Is feeding the frogs at night, because they’re nocturnal, better, easier, than during the day? Is the African bull frog an exception to this?

What’s the optimum day/night time that should be used?

If I have to change the fixture to a fluorescent one, for better lighting, that’s no problem, I just want to do what’s best for the frogs.



Thanks, I certainly appreciate your feedback.

Lloyd

[GrifTheGreat]

Hello everyone, need some direction:
My Pacmen and African bullfrog are all together, each in their separate tanks in the one room. During the day the lights from the three large (40, 55, 75 gal.) fish tanks come on and light the room. At night, when I want to feed them, I want to use an incandescent light that will seem more natural than the compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) I now use….It doesn't’seem to bother them, but I’m sure when the room goes from dark to bright light at night, then I feed them, it just doesn’t seem “normal” for these guys.
So, a couple of questions:

What kind and where can I get an incandescent bulb that would be more natural and less stressful when feeding the frogs at night.

Is feeding the frogs at night, because they’re nocturnal, better, easier, than during the day? Is the African bull frog an exception to this?

What’s the optimum day/night time that should be used?

If I have to change the fixture to a fluorescent one, for better lighting, that’s no problem, I just want to do what’s best for the frogs.



Thanks, I certainly appreciate your feedback.

Lloyd

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking for. Are wanting a light for the fish tank or the frog enclosures?

For night time you want a infrared or moonlight blue bulb. Neither of these bulbs affect their day/night cycle. These are nocturnal frogs so yes they should be fed at night. Some species will eat whenever you offer food and they're awake, but they usually sleep during the day.

When using an incandecent bulb go no higher than 50 watts and use a lamp that has a dimmer switch so that you can reduce heat if needs be. As long as long as any lighting you are using for your own vision is dim it won't affect their cycle and they probably now have made the connection that when that light comes on it means food.

[Lija]

Agree with Grif, you should feed them after light are off, but i must say both my ornates would eat any time of day or night, as long as it's food they're happy. Pixie, would better eat during the day.

for lights I use infrared plugged into hydrotherm for heat and low voltage regular energy saving lamp plugged into timer to provide day/night cycle.

[GrifTheGreat]

Agree with Grif, you should feed them after light are off, but i must say both my ornates would eat any time of day or night, as long as it's food they're happy. Pixie, would better eat during the day.

for lights I use infrared plugged into hydrotherm for heat and low voltage regular energy saving lamp plugged into timer to provide day/night cycle.

Ornates and Joazeirensis can be diurnal and will be active sometimes during the day, but are still nocturnal most of their lives.

[never quit]

Thanks Lija and Grif: Appreciate the feedback....Sorry for some of the confusion on the fish tank lights then jumping to the frog lighting....You were able to figure out through my not so clear note, and that's exactly what I wanted to know.....What lighting to use at night...
With regard to the lighting cycle, is a 12 hour/12 hour what they need?...I've got some wiggle room to make changes to the fish tank lighting timers, which also light up the frog area....Currently, they come on at 4:00AM and go off at 4:30PM..........If you have suggestions on better or more effective timing, please let me know.


Thanks
Lloyd

[Lija]

Lloid out of curiosity, why would you do your light to come on at 4am? I personally like to see fish in the evening, so my fish tanks are on 10am/8pm cycle, frogs are on 12 hours cycle (8am/8pm). I had algae problem, thus had to reduce hours for fish tanks, but if your tanks are ok with 12 hours cycle, you can easily do same for frogs

[never quit]

Ah!....Good question......My other pastime, besides Herpetculture, is long distance running. So I get up at 3:30, out the door at 4 then back at about 5:30....Shower, eat, and in work by 7. My reasoning for having the lights come on early is to acclimate the fish to the light before feeding, which is around 5:55. I've tried having the lights come on later, then have my wife feed the fish.....well, that didn't work out too well, they were fed whenever she got around to it....And I think ALL animals get used to a routine, be it lights on, lights off, feeding, whatever.
As I stated earlier, I do have some wiggle room where I can slide the on/off cycle forward a bit. However, I would like to make sure I'm the one feeding my fish.....Then I know it's done. And the latest, I think, for the lights to come on would be 5:50?....The fish would have about 5 minutes to acclimate to the lights. If you think pushing the light cycle out later would help the frogs and it won't bother the fish, I'm all for it...In fact it may be a great idea, then I get to see the fish when I come home from work ( 5:30pm) for a bit.
I have all live plants in my tanks and don't have any problems with algae.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks
Lloyd