Color Temp

[rcsguy]

I have tube lighting over my 55 gallon. Plant growth has been decent, but one of my bulbs broke in an accident a few months ago. Ever since, I have been using a 4100k cool white bulb and the other three are 6500k. Apart from the look that I'm not sure I'm so keen on, would I achieve greater growth by getting another 6500k bulb (which I will anyway for the look). Is it even worth having the 4100k bulb on the tank?


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[Delapool]

Does the 4100k show as a more reddish light? How deep is the tank?

Red light is lost very quickly by tank depth but if tank is say a foot deep I don't think so important.

 

[rcsguy]

Does the 4100k show as a more reddish light? How deep is the tank?

Red light is lost very quickly by tank depth but if tank is say a foot deep I don't think so important.

It looks more orange than red. It's a standard 55 gallon so 21 inches high.


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[Delapool]

In theory it is useful to have that light to add more red light but I have never noticed a huge difference as long as there is a red light source (which the 6500k should be providing).

I think you could even swap that for an 8000k to get a cool blue light for aesthetics if you wanted to. Or put it at the back so the output is masked by the front tubes.