Best Lights for Color?

[Tipton34]

What do yall think the best bulbs are for intensifying the fish's color? Is it higher the Kelvin the better or is it the opposite???

 

[needmorecowbell]

A good color to make your fish pop is red. LEDs are great because they are soo customizable. If your not willing to pay the high price, go with t5s. The kelvin temperature is the span of color. The lower it is the more yellow the tank will be, which is good for growing plants/ coral. The higher it is, the more blue it will be. Things grow quite slow in this lighting but it is what many people like. I personally use 20k for a reef tank, but if you have plants 7k to 10k is good.

 

[Tipton34]

I think my hood uses t8s! It holds one on the left side and one on the right. Do they make a 10k or greater bulb? They are 18in long

 

[needmorecowbell]

Im pretty sure they do but you'd be better off buying a t5, just because of all the possibilities with them. What are your tank specs? If you only have fish it's different, but a 2 bulb would bring fish colors out very nicely.

 

[Tipton34]

I only have fish. The tank is a 55 gallon. I just have the stock hood, so it will only take one bulb per side.

 

[needmorecowbell]

So you have two 18" t8 fixtures? You could buy one higher temp bulb and one blue bulb, which would look nice together. I took this picture in 2 10k bulbs and 2 blues..

 

[Tipton34]

Ya I could but would that make the tank look two sided. Like where you can definitely see two different types of lights? And what does the blue light do?

 

[Tipton34]

And yes I have two 18" lights

 

[needmorecowbell]

Oh, there on two different sides.. Maybe just add a really high temp bulb. The blue just brings out color, some things fluoresce in it. I personally like tones of blue, it looks crisp.

 

[BillD]

Colour temp is not the only consideration. A lamps CRI , Colour Rendition Index, will tell you more about it's ability to display colour correctly, than colour temp. Natural sunlight has a CRI of 100, and the closer to that a lamp is the more naturally it will reproduce colour. Different brands and even within a manufacturer, of a specific colour temp can have vastly different CRI. As an example, Philips has lamps with a colour temp of 5000K and a CRI of around 94. They also have some with the same colour temp that have a CRI of only 82. while the two will appear basically the same, they will not render colour the same, so some things will look different under the two lamps.

 

[Tipton34]

So what bulb would yall pick?

 

[BillD]

My choice would be a 5000K lamp with a 90+ CRI or a 6500K light with 90+ CRI, or one of each.

 

[Tipton34]

Would the Aqua-Glo be a good choice? It has a 18000K rating but i can't find the CRI

 

[Laser]

I'm no expert, but I find my aqueon 8000k T8 bulb adds a pleasing and gentle tone to my 10g. I really like the color of the LED hoods, but I only now have them on tanks without live plants.

 

[Tipton34]

What's the CRI index?

 

[Laser]

I have never seen any indication of CRI on my packaging, although my hood came with the 10g.

 

[BillD]

What's the CRI index?

The CRI is Colour Rendition Index. It is an indication of how well a lamp will render colour. Sunlight has a CRI of 100, and the closer to that you can get with a lamp, the more naturally rendered the colours will be. The CRI is usually included with the tube packaging. One needs to look for it as different tubes of the same colour temperature may have vastly different CRIs. As an example, Philips has 5000K tubes with a CRI in the 90s as well as some that are only 82. While the two may look similar when viewed, the one with the higher CRI will display colours more accurately and naturally.

 

[Tipton34]

I ordered the aqua-glo. It has 18000k but I couldn't find the CRI