Blue colored aquarium light?

[eco23]

The Wife saw a display tank that had a bluish colored light that really looked great. The guy at the store had no idea what it was.

Do different lights serve different purposes? Will one light cause more algae to grow than another? Do freshwater fish care what type of light is being used? Any idea what type of light has a bluish color (almost looked like an LED)?

 

[neilanh]

THe blue light was probably an actinic light. Commonly used in Saltwater aquariums, they can be used in freshwater as well, although you'd probably want to mix it with a white bulb as well to keep the tank from seeming too dark.

Different lights do affect different things, but if you're not growing plants or anything it shouldn't matter too much on your tank. Your fish won't care too much about it.

 

[severum mama]

I agree with Neilan. Depending on what fish you have, some hobbyists use the actinic bulb to bring out the color in the fish. This is common with Malawi Mbuna. Plants do not utilize actinic light so they aren't a great choice in a planted tank. If you do not have plants then it's just a matter of what is aesthetically pleasing to you. I also suggest mixing the actinic with a white bulb if you choose to use an actinic.

 

[eco23]

Yeah, I don't have any real plants. I just want something that looks really nice and won't cause problems for the fish or algae outbreaks or anything.

 

[severum mama]

Well then, it's all about what you like. You should post some pics of your tank.

 

[mfdrookie516]

If you have a single bulb fixture, a 50/50 bulb might be something you should check out. They're bright enough to light up the tank, but also give a nice blue effect. About the same as having an actinic and daylight bulb. Only reason I suggested is because you said you didn't have plants or anything... typically that means stock lighting which is single tube

 

[eco23]

Thanks for the advice mfdrookie. I started looking online at a few LED lights, and some of those things cost a fortune! I saw one that was really cool as it had the lights staggered white, blue, white blue, etc... It cost $150 and didn't include a power adaptor! Right now I do just have the normal stock tube light and I think I saw the 50/50's at a store around here. I'll definitely go check them out.

 

[severum mama]

Yeah, mfd is right, there is really no reason for you to drop all that cash on an LED fixture for fish only. Great advice there.

 

[eco23]

I'd be happy to post some pics, but at this point the only things swimming around in there are the bacteria I'm growing in my fishless cycle

 

[mfdrookie516]

Haha... let me show you what my 150g looked like (it's no longer set up) with one 10,000k and one actinic. This is about the equivalent of a 50/50 bulb (in terms of color).

Is that kind of the look you're going for?

 

[eco23]

Yeah man, that looks great! Do you have a background behind the tank or is that all color from the light?

 

[mfdrookie516]

It did. I took that tank down last night. It was a dark blue background, but looked lighter blue with just the daylight bulb. The tank looked really good in person with both lights running.